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The Citizen, 1999-03-31, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1999. To clarify council •'eports Reports on municipal councils are simply an account of what hap pens in council chambers. They do not therefore always tells both sides of the story. With regards to the news item from Blyth council in last week's Citizen headlined "Tenant fights for repairs", it should be noted that the landlord, Robert Hesse was not pre sent at the meeting, nor did he have an opportunity to offer any com ment. In a statement last week, Hesse simply said that many of the tenant, John Tachauer's claims were inac curate. To back this he offered doc- Outdoor cooking It was a great day to fire up the barbecue as Henry Exel umented proof that repairs listed in the building inspector's report of Feb. 10 had been completed by Feb. 22. helped do some of the cooking for the Blyth Christian Reformed Church youth breakfast, Saturday morning. The money raised was going to missions. Mike Wynja, left and Conrad Bos look on from behind. County won’t okay hostile annexations Hostile annexations to adjust municipal boundaries under amal gamation are unlikely to meet county approval, Huron County council heard at its March 25 meet ing. A discussion of annexations was raised by Rob Morley, reeve of Usbome who wondered what the county’s policy was on the issue. “It’s not that we’re trying to stir the pot,” he said. Gary Davidson, director of plan ning and development, said the only instruction the strategic plan ning committee had been given by council was that entire municipali ties were to be dealt with and annexations were not to be allowed. That was some time ago, however, so council’s thinking might have changed, he said. The thinking of Grey Reeve Robin Dunbar hasn’t changed. Amalgamation is a long and diffi cult process, he said. “If we get into boundary readjustments we're going to grind to an abrupt stop. Hostile annexations at this time would be getting the county into a hornet’s nest.” Harvey Ratz, reeve of Stephen Twp. wondered how the county would look on friendly annexations for boundary adjustments. David son pointed out the county had passed two minor annexations between Clinton and Hullett Twp. and between Exeter and Hay Twp. in which both parties agreed. County council, he said, is the final arbiter on boundary adjust ments under current regulations. If an unfriendly annexation proposal came before council and it was voted down, the proposal couldn’t be taken to the province. 911 a year away Appeal holds up county plan A construction company, upset that the Huron County planning and development committee rec ommended its application for a zoning change to allow develop ment of a gravel pit in Colbome Twp. be turned down, has stalled the county’s official plan by appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board. For a packed public gallery of Colborne Twp. residents, mostly opposed to the gravel pit, it was an anticlimactic meeting of Huron County council, March 25. Before council could deal with the recommendation of the plan ning and development committee that the zoning change application of Jennison Construction Ltd. be turned down, Director of Planning Gary Davidson announced the whole county plan had been appealed to the OMB. It meant, he said, that the matter was out of the jurisdiction of county council. A motion to defer the matter until after the OMB deals with the issue was passed. Davidson said the county will Museum acquires rare medal A rare piece of Huron County’s history is now part of the collection of the Huron County Museum. With the help of volunteers and three donations, including one from the Goderich branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, the museum was able to purchase a Canadian Gener al Service Medal given to Gunner J. Reid who served with the Goderich Artillery Company pro tecting the town against the possi bility of a raid by Fenians in 1866. The medal was in a Clinton col lection and a museum volunteer became aware it was to go up for Principal Continued from page 2 the past." Though he admits that there are benefits to some of the changes, there will be a continuing struggle for low-spending boards like the Avon Maitland to maintain their small community schools. For now, the new administrator is busy settling into his surroundings. meet with the developers and the OMB to see which portions of the official plan Jennison is objecting to. That process will probably take three months, he said. Once that process has taken place the rest of the official plan may be approved and come into effect. The plan had been in the final stages of approval when the appeal was launched. At its March 15 meeting, the committee had recommended rejecting the zoning change from a natural environment designation to an extractive resources designation. In doing so it overturned a recom mendation from Colborne Twp. council earlier in the month. The land is currently covered by upland forest but Jennison pro posed to create a 34-acre pit on the 39-acre site. It was estimated the site contains three million tonnes of aggregates, enough to keep the pit operating 15 years. The county, however, feels there are already several decades supply of aggre gates in the area and that a com pelling need for development of a new pit had not been demonstrated. auction. The museum does not have an acquisitions budget, Museum Director-Curator Claus Breede said so it would have been unable to purchase the medal itself. However a volunteer bought the medal at the auction for $435 plus taxes and after donations were received, the museum purchased the medal. Breede said he had been looking for such a medal for 10 years but none had been available until the auction so prompt action was required to buy it for the museum’s collection. County Continued from page 1 extended the deadline for the municipalities to take over manage ment of the ambulance service for a year until Jan. 1, 2001. “I’m certainly relieved we’ve been given an extension,” said Warden Carol Mitchell. “It would have been very difficult to meet the September deadline (for having a management agreement in place).” The proposal has stirred consid erable opposition including seven presentations by neighbours at the March 15 meeting. Their concerns were backed up by a report from the Maitland Val ley Conservation Authority, with Dr. J. Bowles as its adviser. “There is sufficient evidence that the pro posed development and land use change will have a negative impact on the ecological value and func tion of this property in this signifi cant natural environment area.” The planning and development committee felt that the extractive and environmental uses of the site are mutually exclusive but that retaining the woodland leaves the aggregates intact in case future need arises. Davidson told council an OMB appeal typically takes 12-18 months to proceed through the hearing stage. The board may make a final decision on whether the zon ing change will be allowed or it may rule only on the county plan and turn the decision on the zoning amendment back to county council. The board’s decision is final, he said. Ron Murray, reeve of McKillop wondered if the council should vote on whether it agreed with the com mittee or not. "You can vote on whatever you want. It just has no effect,” David son said, saying only the OMB has jurisdiction at this point. Stappy. 19 th fRitifidap Downsizing at Bell Canada will delay the implementation of 911 emergency telephone service in Huron County until the summer of the year 2000, county council was told March 25. Lynn Murray, county clerk administrator, said staff is getting inquiries regularly from people wondering what is going on about 911 service. “Quite clearly there is nothing the county or municipalities could have done to make it happen any faster,” she said. While the county had to revise some mapping for the service it met Bell Canada’s dead- HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY WES! March 30 Old "Clinic Countru ISrcakfast Sunday, April 4 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Londesboro Hall • Eggs • Bacon • Sausage • Pancakes and Homefries Adults.....................................$5.00 Children Under 12.................$3.00 PROCEEDS FOR BLYTH ARENA Maple Syrup donated by HEATER HOOK-UP McCully Farms lines. The company was back- logged with other similar 911 planning and unable to complete the Huron plan. Hullett Reeve Bob Szusz stressed the importance of the 911 road signs remaining in place. People had been stealing signs or taking them down because they were not happy with the names given to roads, he said. In future it could cause problems for someone need ing emergency service if the signs were removed, he said. JTappy 19th (Birthday ■Kara April 1“ Love, Mom & Dad, Brent & Les