Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-11-22, Page 1Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 16 No. 46 Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2000 75 Cents (70c + 5c gst) Acre-T, Norfolk Packers combine to build Listowel packing plant Inside this week Grey council honours volunteers (Also page 7) Candidates debate at Madill Stockwell Day stops in Exeter n 1 - 400 attend Joe rg. 17 Clark Rally in Listowel Pfi. 20 Ambrose cwl donates OPP warn of phone scam A province-wide alert is being issued for a major phone scam going through the area. Should any person be the recipient of this type of call, contact “PHONEBUSTERS” immediately at 1-888-495-8501 or the Huron OPP at 1-524-8314. Don’t respond to e-mails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call an 809 phone number. This is spreading extremely quickly - can easily cost you $24,100 or more, and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it, said OPP Sr. Const. Don Shropshall. This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Centre. There are lots of different permutations of this scam, but HERE’S HOW IT WORKS, Shropshall said. “You will receive a message on your answering machine or your pager, which asks you to call a number beginning with the area code 809. The reason you’re asked to call varies. It can be to receive information about a family member who has been ill, or to tell you someone has been arrested, died and of course to let you know you have won a wonderful prize.” In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long tas possible to increase the charges. Why it Works - The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas). The code can be used as a “pay-per-call” number, similar to 900 numbers in the U.S. regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call “pay-per-call” number. There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Whereas many U.S. phones have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, 900 number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 area Continued on page 6 Ontario’s newest, most modern pork packing plant will be built in the heart of pork country at Listowel. The plant is being built by Oxford Packers, a new company that is a 50/50 partnership between Miriam Terpstra of Acre-T Farms of Brussels, and Larry and Glenn Tulpin of Norfolk Packers in St. Williams. It will be a federally- inspected kill and chill plant capable of handling 150 hogs per hour. It’s expected ground will be broken early in 2001, pending successful negotiations to purchase the 50-acre parcel of land from the Town of North Perth. The site, west of Hwy. 23 south of Listowel near the town’s sewage treatment plant, will be developed as a food processing industrial park with the packing plant taking up 16 acres. Gas, water and electricity will have to be provided to the site and a roadway through the parcel to serve the various lots must be constructed. It’s very difficult to find a suitable Car/deer collisions up from last year If the law of averages prevails one in four automobile collisions in the county this year will be involving a deer. This is the conclusion reached by Huron OPP Sr. Const. Don Shropshall, who noted that of the 1,000 accidents police have responded to this year, there have been 270 car/deer collisions. Perhaps even more worrisome, he said, is the fact that the number of accidents involving deer has increased steadily. In 1998 the total was 160, while 1999’s total was 240. “With a month and a half left to go in 2000,1 estimate this year’s total will be around the 310 mark,” said Shropshall. The last quarter of the calendar is the worst time, the officer said. He warns drivers to be cautious when travelling, particularly in areas of bush or swamp. Deer are also prevalent around streams and rivers. Key times to be on the alert are dusk and dawn though some collisions do occur at night, Shropshall said. While the deer whistles are effective when deer are in the ditch or on the road, Shropshall said, that don’t work if a deer comes bounding out into your path. “They don’t have time to pick up the sound.” With the heaviest areas being in central and northern Huron, the MNR has been given a listing of locations where deer accidents have been reported and is taking measures to address the issue. site for a packing plant, said Claude Robin, the broker for Zahnd Real Estate who put the land deal together. The chosen location is in the middle of farmland, farm from urban areas, even though it is serviced. Everything to the east of the plant is industrial property. It also is located so that trucks do not have to go through an urban area to reach the plant. The partnership had grown after both parties discovered, about a year and a half ago, they were moving in the same direction, said Terpstra. Acre-T Farms was looking at building its own packing plant. Norfolk Packers, which was provincially inspected, was looking to build a new plant to meet tougher federal standards, said Larry Tulpin. Both sides bn ng strengths to the partnership, said Dave Frank, marketing manager for Acre-T Farms who is acting as a marketing consultant to Oxford Packers. The Tulpins bring expertise in packing while the Terpstras bring strength in Testing the merchandise Stacey and Matthew Hallahan couldn’t resist a closer look at these unique items offered at the Home Sweet Home Craft Show on Saturday morning. The event, held at the Belgrave arena was well-attended as folks came out to get a start on their Christmas decorating and shopping, with everything from baking to handiwork available. (Vicky Bremner photo) pork production and will provide a steady supply of pork. “When you’re operating a plant like this, volume is fairly critical,” Frank said. Acre-T has contracted 50 per cent of the capacity of the plant to provide that critical flow. Initially about two-thirds of Acre-T’s hogs will go through the plant but eventually it will handle 100 per cent of the company’s hogs, he said. But, says Terpstra, the plant also creates opportunities for other farmers and small processors. It will custom kill hogs on a per-hog fee. This will allow some small provincially-inspected plants to contract out their killing operations and concentrate on upgrading their processing operations to meet federal standards, a much more economical proposition. It would allow these plants to double their capacity and, because further processing is more labour intensive, would create more jobs. It also creates export opportunities since the plant is federally inspected. The 30,000 square foot plant, expected to open in the fall of 2001, will operate at about half capacity for the early months as staff becomes trained. Initially, 50 people will be employed, with a capacity to handle 5,000 hogs a week. Plans are to move within 15 months to two shifts, handling 10,000 hogs a week with a workforce of 100, then to 200 employees within five years. The plant will be the most modem in Canada, said Tito Guglielmi of Mallot Creek Associates Inc.,Fergus, the engineering firm handling the design. While seeking a location far from neighbours, Terpstra said the plant will be much like any other industrial plant. Everything will be contained inside the ordinary­ looking building including by­ products. All carcasses and by­ products will be shipped on a daily basis. There will be no smell, she said. As well, says Guglielmi, because the plant is refrigerated, it will be heavily insulated which will reduce any noise to the outside.