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The Citizen, 1999-10-13, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1999. Goderich threatens to call in commissioner A call from the Town of Goderich for a one-month delay in county approval for the amalgamation plan of the Central Huron Group (Hullett and Goderich Twps. and the Town of Clinton) was turned down by Huron County Council, Thursday. Goderich Mayor Deb Shewfelt and Clerk- Administrator Larry McCabe had asked for the delay to allow Goderich to negotiate with Goderich Twp. for the annexation of lands south and east of the town for further expansion. Currently some urban properties, such as the Canadian Tire/Wal- Mart/Zehrs mall are outside the town limits. When the request was turned down, Shewfelt react­ ed angrily. Speaking to reporters outside following the meeting Shewfelt said /'Today council just voted to bring a commissioner to Huron County.” Earlier Shewfelt had told council that media reports that Goderich was considering calling in a provincial restruc­ turing commissioner were not meant as a threat. However, he complained that Goderich was being “cut off in the cor­ ner of the county”. Goderich, he said, “was hoping that rather than have an outside force come in and decide Goderich’s boundaries, we could do it ourselves.” McCabe told councillors that despite a letter from the Central Huron group, they have no interest in blocking Goderich's expansion. “We are being frozen and we have a concern.” He explained that Goderich has already installed oversized services within the town limits in order to be able to provide services to devel­ opers when they need to. Goderich Twp* was asked if it would like to participate in the cost of those services but declined, he said. McCabe urged council to take advantage of the oppor­ tunity presented under Bill 26 restructuring to make the boundary adjustments since annexations require consent of both municipalities involved. By expanding, he said, Goderich did not want to take land out of agricultural pro­ duction. All land would con­ tinue to be farmed until it was required for urban use. Goderich, said McCabe, did not want to jeopardize the work other municipalities had put into negotiating their amalgamation agreements by calling in a commissioner. “The town will respect the decision you make,” McCabe said. Goderich got support from Blyth Reeve Mason Bailey who asked councillors to look ahead. “What is our vision for Huron County for the next century, not just the next few years?” he wondered. While he supports agriculture, Bailey said. “If agriculture continued to develop in the next 30 years as it did in the last 30 years who will own agriculture? Everybody would benefit if the Town of Goderich would start to develop as a city.” But Robin Dunbar, reeve of Grey Twp. said the county's first goal was to get restruc­ turing completed by the end of this year. There will need to be boundary adjustments later but the amalgamation plans must be completed and approved now. Exeter Reeve Roy Triebner wondered what would be done to address Goderich's concerns if the Central Huron amalgamation plan was accepted by council. Gary Davidson, director of planning and development said the issue was much larg­ er than just adjusting a bound­ ary as Goderich wanted. Other issues, including finan­ cial concerns and staffing, would also be involved. Laurie Cox, reeve of Goderich Twp. agreed that it would be a lengthy procedure to open the boundary issue with Goderich now. The township, he said, was ready to talk about a friendly annex­ ation if the landowners involved asked for it. Losing the built-up areas around Goderich would send the whole Central Huron plan back to square one, Cox said, because the loss of assess­ ment would alter all the eco­ nomics of the amalgamation. Warden Carol Mitchell, reeve of Clinton, stepped down from the chair to say she didn't think the approval of the Central Huron plan stopped Goderich from achieving its goal of expand­ ed borders. The municipalities involved had been negotiating for four years to bring this amalgamation about and don’t want to see the plan stalled now. People wanted a local solution to amalgama­ tion and that is what has been reached, she said. In a recorded vote, the motion to delay approval of the Central Huron plan was defeated 53-10. Supporting the Goderich position, besides Doherty were Bailey, Ron Murray of McKillop and Stewart Steenstra of Colbome. County, council briefs County okays $9,000 contract for bat removal A contract for $9,900 for removal of bats from the attic of the Huron County Museum was approved by county council at its Oct. 7 meeting. The Critter Ridder, a com­ pany from Zurich, has been retained to undertake a two- stage program for removal of the bats. It will begin work this fall, then complete the project early next summer (some of the bats migrate for the winter). The contract includes both stages plus a re­ inspection and follow-up over the next two years. *** A detailed report of the pub­ lic meetings held over the transfer of ambulance service from the province to the coun­ ty will be given to county council’s November meeting. Attendance at the meetings ranged from 30-50 people with three-quarters of those being people directly involved in the provision of ambulance service. *** Council deferred a decision on an application by Monoway Farms of Morris Twp. to clear land after Wayne Fear asked to speak to the agriculture and and public works committee. The committee had voted, at its Sept. 7 meeting, to per­ mit the clearing of one and a half acres of trees to make way for a tile drain into a new municipal drain but not to allow clearing four and a half acres to square up a field. *** The council agreed to con­ tribute $40,000 to Colbome Twp. toward the resurfacing of the airport road, serving the Goderich airport. The road was the former County Rd. 37 before being downloaded to the township. *** The number of people on welfare in the county contin­ ues to decline. Between July 1998 and July 1999 the number of cases dropped 9.22 per cent while the total number of benefici­ aries declined 10.53 per cent. *** Turnberry Reeve Brian McBumey moved a vote of appreciation to Claus Breede, director and curator of the Huron County Museum who was in charge of the county’s display at the 1999 International Plowing Match at Dashwood. McBumey said he had heard many comments that the county’s impressive exhibit was worth going to the match to see even if you saw nothing else. Research uncovers old cemetery limits A high-tech study of the burial site for the former Huron County House of Refuge shows the cemetery was probably about 20 by 20 metres in size, a report to the county's health and seniors committee states. The study by Duncan and Rutherford Environmental of White stresses need for input Continued from page 1 She stated the need for pub­ lic consultation and possibly an environmental impact report before the village could begin using the Grey Twp. site. “We would like to discuss a new arrangement with amal­ gamation, but not by March 2000. In the future, in the long term, it makes sense to go that way, but we would like to have as little disruption to the taxpayers as possible.” White also said there would have to be several changes to co-ordinate the systems such as blue bag to blue box, bag tag prices and pick-up dates. The councils also discussed the capping of phase one and the perpetual care costs. Wingham was conducted ear­ lier this year after county resi­ dents expressed concerns that the burial ground was not being properly respected. The company used two different pieces of electronic equip­ ment to try to locate graves without disturbing the ground. The company said the Morris council will make an effort to acquire a cost for the process from engineer Art Clark. White said the Walton (landfill) committee suggest­ ed swapping Brussels’ 50 per cent perpetual care of phase one at the Morris site for Morris Twp.'s 10 per cent per­ petual care costs of the entire Grey Twp. site. Up until 10 years ago, garbage from the Morris side of Walton went to the Grey Twp. landfill. White asked that there be a year-end review of the bag tag revenues as it appeared the income may not be 50/50. Morris Clerk-Treasurer Nancy Michie said more recent figures showed the two municipalities very close in sales and with the inclusion of equipment indicated the area is no larger than 20 metres by 20 metres and probably cov­ ers an area of about 200 square metres. The information is being provided to the working com­ mittee which is looking at the proper marking of the ceme­ tery. WIRES AND TREES MEAN TROUBLE tipping fee charges, Brussels should be very pleased with the return. Michie noted that ship­ ments from Wescast and Canadian Waste are paid in tipping fees rather than with bag tags. These are the only two commercial operators allowed into the site. Brussels will also return to weighing weekly loads to determine how much is being saved with the user pay sys­ tem. Brussels council asked that the landfill agreement be extended to the en<l of 2000, in preparation for amalgama­ tions in January. Elliott said council would consider the several options presented, at the next council meeting. Cutting down or pruning trees near overhead wires If you are touching a or branch that falls into wires, you could be seriously injured or killed. Be extremely careful. Before pruning or felling trees near hydro wires, call our Customer Communications Centre at 1-888-664-9376 for advice or assistance. For more safety information, visit our website at www.onhydro.com. 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