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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-03-12, Page 7Paying tribute Brussels Legion hosted 13 other branches for the annual fall Zone C1 convention on Sunday. A wreath-laying ceremony was held at 1:45 p.m. Zone C1 takes in the area from Kincardine to Exeter across to Mitchell. Brussels hosts the fall convention in 1999. Waste management mess remains THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1997 PAGE 7. County delays 0-based budget Huron County's efforts to open a county landfill site may have been abandoned, but the mess over waste management continues. A good portion of the March 6 meeting of county council was taken up dealing with waste man­ agement matters, from the final report on the Waste Management Master Plan to the financial support for Morris Twp. and the Town of Exeter as they prepare to serve as zone landfill sites for the north and south of the county. Craig Metzger, project co-ordina­ tor for the Waste Management Master Plan said he had met with both Morris and Exeter councils in the past month to discuss details about the zone system and try to clarify their concerns. Work was going on to try to come up with a compensation policy that would be fair to the host municipalities and fair to the users, based on a user­ pay system. But some councillors objected to the county still being involved in waste management now that the proposed site in Ashfield Twp. has been abandoned. Mason Bailey, reeve of Blyth, wondered why municipalities like Blyth and Hul- lett Twp should be involved, through the county, in updating the two zone sites when they may never use them. "What we're really talking about," said Gary Davidson, direc­ tor of planning and development, "is that for Morris and Exeter to expand their sites, they have to amend their (operating) plans and they need engineering." The county has been involved in helpingrthem fund this engineering. Exeter has indicated it will contin­ ue to study the zone proposal as long as the county pays for the costs of its engineer: and estimated cost of up to $20,000. Morris expected its costs to be $40,000, with $15,000 for engineering con­ sultant fees, $10,000 for township administration costs and $15,000 for an economist's consulting fee. The council approved picking up "all costs incurred in the develop­ ment phase". But Bill Carnochan, reeve of Tuckersmith, wondered if the same funding would be available to all municipalities which wanted to undertake expansion of their land­ fill sites. "I think there has to be equal access to this money or why should we be paying?" he asked. "We're dealing with two sites with long-term capacity that can act as zone sites," Davidson said. Councillor Carol Mitchell of Clinton zeroed in on the inclusive nature of the motion, saying agree­ ing to pay all costs of the develop­ ment of the site was too ambiguous. "To me, this is just a licence to start sending in bills," she said. Bob Hallam, reeve of West Wawanosh, agreed, saying there needed to be terms of reference as to what expenses were eligible for payment by the county. Laurie Cox, reeve of Goderich Twp. and chair of the Planning and Development, said the committee was "basically looking for an indi­ cation of good faith to Morris and Exeter". Pat Down, reeve of Usbome, said that other landfill sites may serve large parts of the county as much as the zone sites. "If Mid-Huron (at Holmesvile) was to expand it bene­ fits nearly one third of the munici­ palities in Huron." Morris Reeve Bert Elliott said Morris didn't expect the county to sign a blank cheque but it had already spent a considerable amount of money holding special meetings. Elliott reminded the council that Morris currently has about a 100- year capacity in its landfill, which will shrink to 40 years if other municipalities start using the site. There needs to be compensation for the 60 lost years of capacity and for possible loss in value of nearby properties. "Unless we get a deal that is going to satisfy us, the wheels could come off. We can go bye-bye anytime." That disturbed Goderich Reeve Bill Clifford who worried "if we are putting money into sites there should be some assurance. This seems to be leaving the door open to a municipality to pull out and have the benefit of the improve­ ments". Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle warned about the possible expense of try­ ing to get the "firm numbers" some councillors sought. It would require an engineer on each of the sites to establish these numbers, he said. Meanwhile, Bailey introduced a motion to repeal the county's bylaw giving it authority over waste man­ agement, but later withdrew the motion on the promise the Planning and Development committee would study the issue. Bailey said the motion came after a meeting between Metzger and the Blyth-Hullett landfill site commit­ tee when Metzger indicated the county had more power over the management of the site than the committee thought. Reading from the bylaw, Bailey said it gave the county power to establish new facilities, the power to enlarge existing facilities and the right to enter into agreements with other municipalities but "the mes­ sage to our committee was that the bylaw was more far-reaching than that. If there is so much authority then Morris and Exeter may find they don't have the choices they think." Davidson assured him existing sites were never included in the county's bylaw. Thieves hit school shed The shed at Grey Central Public School, Ethel, fell victim to thieves on March 5. A report from the OPP said that the door was kicked in, causing $100 damage. A John Deere snow­ blower was taken, along with a four-litre tin of diesel fuel cleaner. The snowblower was an eight-hore- sepower, with the serial number HMSK80155418SD3229A. Value was set at $1,300. The investigation is continuing. A plan to establish a zero-based budgeting process for the county will now be two years later in start­ ing than county council originally intended. In November, a motion passed by council had instructed staff to use the system for 1997. Under zero­ based budgeting, each department starts planning as if it has no pro­ grams and has to justify each one. In February, the council decided there wasn't enough time to put the system in place for 1997 and said it should be in place for 1998. But the council decided to table the new budget system for another year after a proposal from the Administration, Finance and Per­ sonnel committee to hold 11 strate­ gic planning meetings, involving all councillors, between March 10 and Aug. 18 to prepare the budget. The committee report said that these would allow all councillors to hear first-hand about each program and decide which programs had priority. "I'd like to know why we made such a complicated situation," said Brian McBumey, reeve of Turnber­ ry. He noted that 11 strategic plan­ ning meetings would cost between $50,000and $60,000 in added expenses for councillors, plus staff time and expenses. He argued that each standing committee could look at its department and bring recommendations for the council. Laurie Cox, reeve of Goderich Twp. and acting chair of the admin­ istration, finance and personnel committee said it would take more than a few hours for the council to Downloading now in both directions While Huron County is getting highways from the province it doesn't particularly want, it is also trying to off-load some of its own highways to the municipalities. The agriculture and public works committee has recommended a total of nine km of roads be turned over to local municipalities, most of them small sections. The county would, for instance, tum over the one km stretch of county road in Aubum that goes south from Coun­ ty Rd. 25 into the village. A .9 km stretch of County Rd. 37 from the Skyharbour Airport to Hwy. 21 and a .4 km stretch of County Rd. 31 from Tiger Dunlop's Tomb to Hwy. 21, both in Colborne are also included. The county is also con­ sidering a 10.5 km stretch of Coun­ ty Rd. 28 from Hwy. 87 to the Huron-Bruce county boundary. Brussels Mennonite Fellowship (519) 887-6388 Worship Service 9:30 a m. Jesus Is Lord Guests Welcome ^524-2773 Goderich 1-800-265-5503 deal with recommendations from the committees. Norm Fairies, reeve of Howick, noted that there is still so little information available about the changes in government programs for accurate planning for 1998. The impact of some programs hasn't been confirmed and there's little idea of the cost of things like ambulance service and family ben­ efits. . "I'm not at all comfortable spend­ ing $50,000 to $100,000 of council money and staff time to shoot at a moving target," he said. Bill Vanstone, reeve of Colbome, said the committee worried that councillors wouldn't be able to attend 11 meetings, given their own jobs, and that it wasn't worth spending so much money without full participation. It would be bet­ ter, he felt, to spend the money on a consultant. But other councillors opposed the delay. Tom Cunningham, reeve of Hullett, said with all the changes now was an appropriate time to institute zero-based budgeting and examine all programs. "I think this is the time in history when this county should look at what we want to be into." Bill Mickle, reeve of Exeter, said the county must look at each of its programs so that it can be prepared to handle the new programs down­ loaded from the province. Mickle tried to have the issue referred back to the committee but the motion lost. The motion to table zero-based budgeting for a year was then passed. Meetings will be held with the affected municipalities before the transfers are completed. Meanwhile the county is prepar­ ing to take over Hwys. 83, 84 and 87 on April 1. The county approved spending $50,000 for preliminary work on Hwy. 83 and $180,000 on Hwy. 87 in preparation for repaving those roads in 1998. The county will put a $4.5 million grant from the province into a reserve until the work is done. There has been no announcement on the next round of highways downloaded by the province, but Sandra Lawson, county engineer, said the latest rumour is that Hwy. 4 north of Clinton will be aban­ doned, along with Hwys. 81 and 86. DOMINION DRIVER TRAINING G2 Exit Program Included 6 Hours of classroom & 3 hours in car For graduates of Dominion Driver Training we offer a G2 Update Course. 2 hours classroom, 90 minutes in car. For more information CALL 1-800-665-3027