The Citizen, 2001-11-07, Page 6INCLUDES...
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PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2001.
New bylaw could require 25 per cent ownership for NMP
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
A new model nutrient management
by law being drafted for Huron
County may require 25 per
used ownership of land to be used used for
spreading manure from large live-
stock operations.
Scott Tousaw of the Huron County
Planning Department told county
councillors Nov. 1 that the nutrient
management working group, meet-
ing the previous day, had felt the 25
per cent ownership ratio was reason-
able. This would create some securi-
ty that all the land wasn't under the
control of others while allowing
beginning farmers not to have too
much tied up in owned land.
The agreements_covering the other
75 per cent of land would be record-
ed by the municipality and the coun-
ty, Tousaw said, in answer to ques-
tions from councillors. Because it
was felt it would be an onerous
expense to have the agreement regis-
tered on the title of the land, this will
not be needed.
A three-year renewal of the NMP
would be required, Tousaw said, so
that if one of the agreements with a
landowner who was allowing his
land -to be used for spreading was
discontinued, it wouldn't be too long
before the change was noticed
because the new NMP would require
an accounting of land necessary for
spreading.
Since the municipality can only
require the completion of an NMP in
order to receive a building permit,
the development agreement neces-
sary to receive that permit would be
registered on the title of the property
where the livestock facility was
located, Tousaw said.
Questioned about how the bylaw
could deal with an existing barn,
Tousaw said municipalities can't be
retroactive in their legislation, that
the building permit application is the
only place where the municipality
and county become involved.-
Tousaw said the county's records
of all land being committed for
manure spreading should catch
situations where two farms were try-
ing to claim the same land for
spreading.
"Theoretically this would (eventu-
ally) mean that all land is used and
there is no more room for livestock,"
Tousaw said.
The draft model bylaw is expected
by the end of the year to go before
council early in the new year. It will
then be forwarded to the local
municipalities who can choose to
adopt it if they wish.
County declares whole county medically underserviced
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Faced with a request from
Seaforth Community Hospital to
have Huron East designated a med-
ically underserviced area, Huron
County council Thursday decided to
declare all nine county municipali-
ties medically under serviced.
The motion to include the whole
county in the designation will allow
county staff to write a letter of sup-
port when any municipality wants to
be declared medically underser-
viced.
Such a designation means the
municipality qualifies forr provincial
incentives to help attract new doc-
tors.
A community qualifies as being
underserviced if it has a ration of
more than 1,380 patients to each
doctor. The request came from the
Seaforth hospital which said that
Huron East has 2,000 patients for
each doctor.
The motion to include the entire
county came after some good-
natured fencing between East Huron
Councillor Lin Sterner and Central
Huron Councillor Carol Mitchell.
Mitchell pointed out the Clinton
Hospital served part of Huron
East.
While Mitchell said she was in
favour of supporting Seaforth
Hospital's request, "I don't feel
comfortable with this. I'd feel
better if the whole county was desig-
nated."
With that Clerk Administrator
Lynn Murray suggested a motion to
cover the whole county and it was
quickly put forward and passed.
County circulates next draft o new. tree bylaw
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
The third draft of Huron County's
forest conservation bylaw is being
circulated to interested groups in the
county.
Popularly known as the tree
bylaw, the new proposal will replace
the tree-cutting bylaw of 1986 which
put restrictions on the cutting of
trees to prevent the wholesale clear-
ing of land. The new bylaw was
required after the province replaced
its trees act of 1980 with the Forestry
Act of 1990.
While retaining many of the size
restrictions of the earlier tree bylaw,
the new proposal outlines require-
ments for "good forestry practice"
for both the health of the woodlot
and the wildlife within it. In one of
its more controversial clauses, it
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Three months into the two-year
Huron Healthy Futures program,
nearly two-thirds of the money allo-
cated for septic tank improvements
has already been allocated.
• Ben Van Diepenbeek told county
council, Thursday, that $298,430 of
the $500,000 originally earmarked
for septic tanks has already been spo-
ken for by 51 applicants. It had been
anticipated that 125 septic tank
upgrades would be undertaken
Union vote,
Dec. 12
Continued from page 1
positions in hospitals instead. In the
case of one Goderich paramedic, he
will be rehired and given up to five
years to take training required meet
the new requirements.
In the case of two paramedics who
chose not to upgrade their skills to
meet the new standards and went to
work in hospitals instead, the county
reached an agreement with the SEIU
to explore ways for them to use their
settlement from the provincial gov-
ernment to extend their years of
service with the county enough to
qualify for retirement under the
municipal employees retirement pro-
gram which allows retirement at age
50 rather than the hospital program
under which people must wait until
55 to retire.
calls for a "certified tree marker" to
mark trees before they are harvested.
"There is concern about the 'certi-
fied' tree marker," Rob Morley,
councillor for South Huron told
county council's Nov. 1 meeting.
Each business has its own require-
ments for the kinds of trees needed
and bringing in an outside marker
instead of using their own staff
might hinder that selection.
However, several of those com-
menting on earlier drafts of the
bylaw, including the Maitland Valley
and Ausable Bayfield Conservation
Authorities, supported the need for
certified markers.
The bylaw retains the old defini-
tion of a woodlot of 400 trees per
acre but converts it to the metric
equivalent of 1,000 trees per hectare.
The proposal forbids anyone from
cutting enough trees to bring the tree
before the program runs out in March
2003.
It might be possible, Van
Diepenbeek said, to reallocated
money originally set aside for other
environmental categories within the
Healthy Futures program to septic
tanks. For instance there has not been
a single application to date for
manure spreading equipment modifi-
cation, for which $295,000 had been
allocated.
count below the 1,000 tree threshold
so that the woodlot would no longer
qualify as a woodlot under the
bylaw.
It also forbids unnecessary dam-
age to younger trees adjacent to trees
being harvested.
The bylaw provides exceptions
that allow people to harvest up to
five trees per hectare with fewer than
20 logs without having to seek a
notice of intent.
Healthy Futures proving
to be popular program