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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-05-16, Page 1'cSTA USHED 110./1 zairgesameristazwisimizi,...-, 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