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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-09-13, Page 13PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2000. Winning effort The owners and staff of the Grand View Restaurant put together a first-place display when they created a whole family of straw people, including the pet dog, for the Blyth Business Association’s scarecrow contest. Joining the family are, from left: Eleanor Babcock, Kerry Nesbitt and Carol Gross. The straw figures are to be on display along Blyth’s main street until Thanksgiving. The CIBC placed second and Sparling’s Propane, third. County says no to Legion tax break Travel time worries some councillors Despite several councillors who spoke in favour of giving a tax rebate to Royal Canadian Legion branches in the county, county coun­ cillors Thursday voted against the move. The vote doesn’t prevent local municipalities from granting exemp­ tions for the municipal and county portions of the property tax on Legion halls, as Brussels, Seaforth and Goderich already do, but it means that the school portion of taxes will not be forgiven. Taxes on Legion halls range from a County council briefs Miller declares candidacy Doug Miller, reeve of West Wawanosh, declared his candidacy for the warden's chair at the September 7 meeting of Huron County council. Miller is the only declared candi­ date for the position at this time. Generally candidates declare them­ selves in June or July but amalgama­ tion and a November election, have created a great deal of uncertainty about who will be on the upcoming council. Amalgamation will reduce the number of people on council. There’s uncertainty about who will run for the new councils and many sitting members won't be back either through retirement or through defeat in the election.*** Sheryl Feagan, acting director of the Huron County Health Unit was officially presented with a distin­ guished service award which had been presented at the alPHa conven­ tion earlier this summer. Feagan was unable to attend the convention and the award had been accepted on her behalf by Howick Reeve Norm Fairies who turned it over at the council meeting. In a speech delivered at the con­ vention Feagan was praised for her 20 years of public service starting with Health Canada and continuing when she joined the Health Unit in 1982. *** When new plaques go up to hon­ our those buried in the Huronview cemetery, misspellings of some ol the names will be corrected from the original tombstones, if the Huron County Historical Society can verify the corrections are right. Members of the committee involved in creating the new cairn to mark the cemetery researched the low of $575 in Blyth to a high of $9,444 in Goderich. Brian McBurney, reeve of Tumberry was one of those who spoke in support of forgiving the taxes, pointing out the Wingham Legion, of which he is a member, gives everything it makes back to the community and provides rent-free space for many groups to meet. But Mason Bailey, reeve of Blyth and a Legion member, argued that giving a tax break to Legions, which operate bars, would give them an unfair advantage over licensed com­ spellings of the former residents buried there. *** Clerk Administrator Lynn Murray assured councillors they would not lose out on the $300,000 in revenue from fines under the provincial offences because of a late agreement between the province and the county. Letters had been sent by the province to various municipal offi­ cers warning that if an agreement wasn’t reached by Sept. 15, the money would be forfeited. But Murray said negotiations are now taking place with the solicitor gener­ al’s office to resolve the issue and the revenue will not be lost. *** The county’s Westfield-area gravel pit known as the Kroeze pit, will be rehabilitated and sold at auction. Please Recycle This Newspaper mercial establishments which must pay high taxes. Jack Coleman, reeve of Stanley Twp., said other service clubs might also come forward seeking tax rebates, but John Doherty, reeve of Goderich said the Legion is not like other service clubs. And despite its advantages, he said, local Legibns have small numbers of clients com­ pared to nearby commercial estab­ lishments. In the end, the motion to forgive the taxes was defeated in a recorded vote by a 34-30 margin. council agreed. The 100 acre farm has been declared surplus so it can be sold. Also up for sale is the former Dickert pit in Howick Twp. *** Blyth hosts one of the busiest Community Access Program com­ puter internet sites in the county, fig­ ures in the library board reveal. To the end of June this year 519 people had used the Blyth site, more than twice as many as any of the other villages (Brussels had 182) and more than the towns of Exeter and Seaforth. The number of users nearly equals Wingham's library at 696 users. The Blyth total is well on the way to exceeding last year’s total of 854 users, which was also among the highest in the county. Continued from page 9 be sent back for more study. "This recommendation isn't a bad recom­ mendation, it's just an incomplete recommendation,” she said. Goderich Reeve John Doherty tried to get the council to look at ren­ ovating the existing Goderich ambu­ lance base at Alexandra Marine and General Hospital rather than build­ ing a new one on county-owned land in Saltford. Goderich council, he said, was worried about relocating the base outside of town. But Warden Mitchell pointed out there had been no offer of use of the cur­ rent base from the hospital. Meanwhile there was bitter debate about service to the lakeshore areas near Bayfield and Grand Bend if existing stations in Zurich and Dashwood are closed an a new base constructed closer to Exeter on County Rd. 83. Jim Love, reeve of Hay Twp., said it already took 12 minutes for an ambulance to go from Zurich to Bayfield and if the base station is moved closer to Exeter, it will take an extra 10 minutes, more than the 15 minutes recommended in the county’s plan. Moving the Clinton base towards Seaforth would also make it impossible for Bayfield to get 15-minute service from that direction, he said. "I think someone has forgotten that ambulances act under the Highway Traffic Act,” he said. They can’t travel at 140-160 km an hour like police cars, he said. But Hambides said he had driven from the proposed Exeter location to Bayfield and did it in 16 minutes. Even one of the opponents had driv­ MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2000 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS ACT, 1996 (S. 24) IN THE NEW MUNICIPALITY OF CENTRAL HURON (PRESENTLY THE TOWNSHIP OF GODERICH [Ward 1], THE TOWNSHIP OF HULLETT [Ward 2] AND THE TOWN OF CLINTON [Ward 3] ) NOTICE OF NOMINATIONS NOMINATIONS FOR THE OFFICES OF: 1-Position for REEVE chosen from entire municipality (Ward 1, 2 or 3) 1- Position for DEPUTY-REEVE chosen from entire municipality (Ward 1, 2 or 3) 2 - Positions for COUNCILLORS chosen from Ward 1 (Goderich Township) 2- Positions for COUNCILLORS chosen from Ward 2 (Hullett Township) 2 - Positions for COUNCILLORS chosen from Ward 3 (Town of Clinton) Nominations/Registrations may be filed during regular business^hours at the office of the Clerk for the Township of Goderich, the Township of Hullett or the Town Office in Clinton, until October 13, 2000 at 5:00 p m. Nominaticn/Registration papers are available at the Municipal Offices. A signed consent to the nomination, a declaration of qualification by the candidate, a $100.00 filing fee (cash, money order to certified cheque) and identification of the candidate are required. PLEASE NOTE: No person who proposes to be a candidate may solicit or accept contributions for election purposes; or incur expenses, until that person’s nomination registration has been filed. Linda Cranston, A.M.C.T. Election Clerk, MUNICIPALITY OF CENTRAL HURON en the route and found out it would be done. Hambides warned people not to get too hung-up on base locations. "The stations have to be thought of as part of a system,” he said. “We don't want a reactionary service but a system.” The stations are just the platform on which to build the system. Hambides said. For instance, new stations have to be in place before the county can look at 24-hour ambulance staffing in the Clinton- Seaforth area instead of just standby service. In a recorded vote (in which larger municipalities have additional votes), the recommendation to move ahead with costing of the proposed sites was passed by a 42-20 margin with two abstentions. NOTICE TO THE RATEPAYERS OF HULLETT TOWNSHIP Residential & Farm Property Taxes due September 29, 2000. Commercial, Industrial & Multi-Residential Property Taxes due October 31, 2000.