The Citizen, 1997-03-05, Page 1Sports_________I_________Feature ______I__________News
Brussels Tykes bring
home the year-end A
championship
Blyth Figure and Power
Skaters strut their stuff
at carnival
Blyth Festival unveils
the 1997 season
poster
See page 9 See page 17 See page 19
Blyth council votes
to amalgamate PUC CitizenTheNorthHuron
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
In co-operation with a system
which is sweeping the province, the
Blyth PUC voted to amalgamate
with all other utilities in the county,
to form a single unit for the provi
sion of electrical service.
Clerk-Treasurer John Stewart
gave council a summary of the pro
gression of the idea at its March 3
meeting, saying the Perth utilities
had become interested in restructur
ing several months ago.
Huron and Perth County utilities
had set up a co-operative many
years ago for things such as pur
chasing, but Perth began talking of
amalgamating all their utilities into
one as they had some which were
very small, said Stewart.
A consultant was hired, with the
involvement of Huron County
PUCs, to determine if amalgama
tion would be beneficial.
The four options offered were:
four larger utilities to serve each of
Huron and Perth; two utilities in
each of the counties; one utility in
each or one for both. The consoli
dation would eliminate Ontario
Hydro in all the rural areas.
Blyth PUC chose to vote for one
utility per county, which proved to
be the preferred choice among all
the utilities.
Stating that Blyth PUC was still
opposed to amalgamation, Reeve
Mason Bailey said they would not
be allowed to stand as an island.
“We would be snowed under. We
chose the option which was the
least (objectionable).” (Bailey is a
member of the Blyth PUC Com
mission.)
When questioned by Councillor
Doug Scrimgeour on the fact that
the PUC had voted to amalgamate,
Bailey stressed that they were
opposed to it, but “we "didn’t want
Continued on page 3
Vol. 13 No. 9 Wednesday, March 5,1997
Trustees talk division
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
In re-assessing the Huron County
Board of Education’s position with
the amalgamation of school boards,
Director of Education for HCBE
Paul Carroll asked trustees, at the
March 3 meeting, for suggestions
on the division of ridings for the
next election.
Information from the provincial
government has indicated that an
amalgamated Huron-Perth board
could have anywhere from seven to
15 trustees, down considerably
from the number at present. HCBE
alone has 26 trustees.
Based on the population per
municipality, trustees were asked to
help the board develop new areas
for trustees, with possible consider
ation given to ridings at the south
end of the county flowing into
Perth to better distribute representa
tion.
From the numbers, an area such
as Morris, Grey, Tumberry, How-
ick, Hullett Twps. and Blyth, Brus
sels and Wingham, which now
have five trustees would be allowed
.73 of a trustee.
One possibly positive component
to amalgamation with Perth County
and the redistribution of monies
could see the new amalgamated
board receive an additional $9.8
million in funding if spending
remained at the present level.
In the most likely scenario, Car
roll said the board could still
receive additional funding of $3.3
million if the provincial govern
ment cut spending by $700 million
to achieve the median, over-ceiling
spending by boards.
In the worst case, which Carroll
said is unlikely, the province would
cut another $1 billion from educa
tion spending and the Huron-Perth
board would lose another $.3 mil
lion.
The statistics Carroll presented at
the meeting show that even with
amalgamation Huron-Perth would
still be the lowest spending board
in the province, both in the public
school system and the separate
school system.
70c <-5e gst75C
Nature wreaks havoc on fencing
McGuinty visits riding
Responsible government isn't just
about curbing spending. It's also
about no reckless cutting.
This was the message Ontario
Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty
brought to the Huron Liberal Asso
ciation's annual meeting on March
3 at the Seaforth Legion. McGuinty
said he is concerned about the pre
sent government's downloading to
municipalities in exchange for the
expenditure in education taken over
by the province.
"Consultation is the secret to suc
cess. The only consultation the
Harris government believes neces
sary is on election day."
McGuinty was elected leader of
the official opposition on Dec. 1.
He said he has moved through the
"Who are you?" phase into the
"Aren't you...? phase, as the recog
nition of his leadership becomes
more familiar to Ontarians.
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
Debris, branches and broken fences.
That is what Keith Elston of Cone. 2-3, Morris Twp.,
will be facing once the huge blocks of river ice melt off
his 40 acres of land which stretches along the Maitland
River.
The breakup of the river, he said, has caused thou
sands of dollars damage to his fences, which have
stood in place for 35 years, as well as bringing in litter
which will require cleanup time.
"The (home) section of the farm can't survive without
the grazing and hay land along the river, but I can't
afford to spend $2,000 to repair the fences to pasture
50 cattle," said Elston.
"It is not just the cost of the fencing, but a lot of time
will have to be spent picking up bottles, garbage and
branches from the land so it doesn’t get caught in the
hay binder."
Flooding is not a new occurrence for the Elston land.
Having lived on the property all his life, Elston said the
family was accustomed to their road being flooded two
to three days each spring and a small, central section of
the grazing land being flooded and needing a cleanup.
However, he said it was nothing like it has been in the
last two years.
Elston contends that the reconstruction of Morris
Twp. Cone. 2-3, Lot 5 and 6, which was built up during
the summer of 1994 to prevent the gravel from being
washed out each spring, has contributed to the problem.
A 1977 engineer's report said that if built up, the road
would cut off a portion of the natural flood plain and
cause the river to turn at a 90 degree angle as it hits the
road.
Council's decision to rebuild the road was based on a
1993 engineer's report, which stated "the raising of the
concession and/or sideroads would have a very small
impact on the flood water elevations for 10 year, 20
year and regional storm situations."
"The water level in the river has been high this year
and there have been several ice jams," said Morris
Twp. Road Superintendent Lloyd Michie. "In 16 years,
I have only seen the water level this high once before."
Saying he didn't believe the reconstructed road con
tributed to Elston's problem, Michie explained there
was an ice jam upstream from the Elston property
which released on the Saturday morning of the flooding,
Continued on Page 19