HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-05-16, Page 1'cSTA USHED 110./1
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Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Quadruplets
Though the Schwartzentruber children of Morris Twp. were somewhat disappointed when their
Sabaan-Nubian cross nanny gave birth to all billies, they were more than thrilled when four
arrived. Four surviving quadruplets is a rare occurrence in goat families. While three billies eat
from a bowl, one seeks nourishment from his mother as Amanda and Jonathan try to keep
them still for just a minute.
Acre-T plan worries council
Inside this week
Pg. 3
Pg. 8
Festival board pres.
gets PM award
Man's hobby for the
birds
pg
1 1
"—I'
Grey students see .
peregrine falcon
P g. 1 Report suggests 15
schools for closure
Madill Drama Guild Pg. 19 puts its 'Stars' on
Broadway
e Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 17 No. 20
Minister
Minna
to make
Blyth stop
Paul Steckle, the Member of
Parliament for Huron-Bruce
announced that the Minister for
International Co-operation, the
Honourable Maria Minna, will be in
Blyth on Thursday, May 24.
"Minister Minna is responsible
for a wile range of matters
including the Canada Foodgrains
Bank and the Canadian
International Development Agency.
I strongly believe that the people of
Huron-Bruce will have a
considerable interest in this
Minister," Steckle said.
Minister Minna wilt be at the
Blyth Arena (upstairs) from 7 until
9:30 p.m. Individuals who wish to
attend should make arrangements
prior to the event. There will be a
media "scrum" for those media
representatives who are interested.
Blyth
office open
Monday
With the Victoria Day weekend
coming up, special efforts as usual
are being made to ensure The
Citizen will reach you on
Wednesday morning. However,
there will be some changes to
deadline.
While banks, post offices and
most stores will be closed on
Monday it will be business as usual
at Blyth office. Editorial copy or
advertising, however, must be at the
office by noon. •
Because some of the staff is on
holiday, the Brussels office will be
closed, but items to be included in
that week's issue can be slipped
under -the door to be picked up at
noon on Monday.
A move by Brussels-area swine
giant Acre-T Farms to sell five of its
barns on parcels of land as small as
50 acres, caused concern for several
members of Huron -County Council,
Thursday.
But Gary Davidson, director of
planning and development, said
there is nothing the county can do to
prevent the severances from going
through because the Municipality of
Huron East has a provision that
allows 50-acre farms.
It appears, Davidson says, that
Acre-T's strategy is to sell some of
its hog barns and a small 'parCel of
land to employees who will own and
manage the barn:
The only way to stop this kind of
transaction in the future would be to
prevent creation of 50-acre farms,
Davidson said, and that might hurt
other farming ventures that would be
viable on .50 acres. (Several of the
severed parcels were larger than 50
acres.)
While councillors expressed
concern -about the new farms not
having enough land on which to
spread the manure produced,
Davidson said there are agreements
in place with Acre-T to spread the
manure on the land it continues to
hold (from 45 to 275 acres). "It's a
very- difficult situation," he said.
"Huron East is quite advanced in
keeping track to make sure there is
no double use of land," Davidson
said, answering concerns that some
farmland might be under agreement
to receive manure from more than
one farm.
"We also have concerns about
these issues," said Lin Steffler,
Huron East councillm
!'We will continue to monitor the
situation. We keep on file a large
map (marking which farms have
agreements to take manure from
which other farms). Acre-T owns
3,000 acres in Grey Twp. alone and I
just heard this week they've bought
another 400. They've given us
assurances and we'll take them at
their word."
Ben ' VanDiepenbeek, from
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
wondered what would prevent Acre-
T from applying for building permits
to build on the land they've retained.
Davidson pointed out each new
barn must have a nutrient
management plan showing where it
will use its manure. Since Acre-T's
land is already committed to the
owners of the barns it's selling there
would be no land on which to spread
the manure from a new barn, he said.
Deb Shewfelt, mayor of Goderich,
said new official plans need to be
drafted for all municipalities to deal
with large livestock operations and
manure protlems and plans must be
based on the whole watershed. "You
can have all the plans you want but
people won't obey," he -said. "It rests
with the upper tier (the county) to
enforce the rules."
But North Huron Councillor Jeff
Howson objected to the constant
criticism of Acre-T. "A lot of county
people are employed by their
operation," he said. "Sometimes it
bothers me to hear all of the
negativity. If they're following our
guidelines they need to be given the
benefit of the doubt."
75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
Bd. says
no to
special
busing
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
One Stratford trustee had to be
prodded from a desire to abstain from
voting, and another Stratford trustee
voted alongside North Huron
representative Colleen Schenk but, in
the end, there wasn't enough support
at the Avon Maitland District School
Board for Walton-area students
seeking special transportation to
Central Huron Secondary School in
Clinton.
At a regular board meeting
Tuesday, May 8, Schenk introduced a
motion asking for specialized bussing
for some of the seven Grade 8
students within the Seaforth District
High School (SDHS) catchment;area,
who have received permission to
attend Central Huron next
September. Schenk made the motion
when it became clear trustees would
support a staff recommendation to
maintain the status quo on the border-
crossing issue, meaning students
from outside a school's catchment
boundary must find their own way to
the closest Avon Maitland bus stop
leading to their desired destination.
The issue first came before the
board in late April, in the form of a
delegation from one student's
mother. In response, administration
staff prepared a report explaining 14
SDHS-catchment students already
attend Central Huron, largely to take
advantage of enhanced technical
studies opportunities, which are
minimal in Grade 9 but increase in
subsequent years. Border crossing
takes place under several conditions,
including the board's ability to avoid
additional transportation costs.
Superintendent of Business Janet
Baird-Jackson told trustees most of
the border-crossers and potential
border-crossers must travel between
five and seven kilometres to get to a
Central Huronbus stop.
Schenk argued that at least some of
the students should be considered as
having "special needs." She
suggested they'll be negatively
affected if they aren't provided a
stable educational environment
throughout their high school years,
instead of attending SDHS in Grade 9
then transferring later when the
discrepancy between technical
programs becomes more pronounced.
South Huron trustee Randy Wagler
argued there are already processes by
which special needs are identified,
and that trustees _don't have the
expertise to identify special needs
based on their own criteria. Director
of Education Lorne Rachlis noted
that provincial legislation allows for
funding for transportation of students
identified under the existing special
needs criteria.
"Maybe that's the way these
parents need to go," Schenk admitted
following the debate.
Central Huron trustee Charles
Smith argued th4t providing
transportation for the students would
"set a dangerous precedent."
Continued on page 15