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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-02-12, Page 7• i ves DOUG GOUGH, R.I.B. (ONT.) CAIB, Manager IVES INSURANCE BROKERS LTD. - BLYTH OFFICE 184 Dinsley St. W. Box 428 Wyth, ON NOM 1H0 Tel: (519) 523-9655 Fax: (519) 523-9793 All Classes of Insurance WVVIN.IVESINSURANCE.COM PUBLIC NOTICE RE: BY-LAW TO ESTABLISH RULES OF ORDER, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR THE COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES OF THE CORPORATION OF THE COUNTY OF HURON This notice is given under the provisions of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, as amended, Section 238(2) - Every municipality and local board shall pass a procedure by-law for governing the calling, place and proceedings of meetings. Section 238(4) - Before passing a by-law under subsection (2), a municipality and local board shall give notice of its intention to pass.the by-law. The Draft Procedural By-law will be presented for deliberation and consideration at the Committee of the Whole meeting on February 17, 2004 and at the County Council Session at 9:00 a.m. on March 4, 2004 in the Council Chambers, Court House, Goderich, Ontario. Barbara A. Leathen County Clerk The Corporation of the County of Huron 1 Court House Square Goderich, Ontario N7A 1M2 (519) 524-8394 *** Council approved allowing a six- THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2004. PAGE 7. Campground owners plead for tax relief By Cheryl Heath Clinton News-Record A capacity crowd packed the Clinton town hall auditorium recently to plead for tax relief on late-arriving tax assessments on properties parked in area campgrounds for the 2003 years. Gerd Keller, owner of the Old Homestead Campground, and Bob Szusz, owner of Kitchigami Family Campground, managed to pitch successful pleas for Central Huron council's show of support as councillors agreed to write a letter to Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbora requesting the province abolish the 2003 assessment. Council is also writing a letter to Huron County council, asking for a unified front on the issue. Keller and Szusz said the assessments, which arrived retroactively and unexpectedly in December, leave campground owners in an unenviable predicament of trying to collect taxes from trailer owners for the year gone by. "It's quite obvious why we are here .tonight," said Keller, noting forcing campground owners to collect taxes for 2003 and then for 2004 in the same year will be a daunting task. Keller said council should consider nearly 6,000 residents occupy area campgrounds and pump about $4 million into the local economy. "Let's not forget the municipality did not plan for this money in the budget for 2003 either," he said. He adds 2003 was already fraught with challenges for campground owners because of the rising strength of the Canadian dollar, bad publicity about Lake Huron's water quality and fears of terrorism that keep some American customers away. "You actually do have the power to forgive the taxes for 2003," he said, adding there are other municipalities, like Lambton Shores, that have written letters of support for campground owners to the finance minister. Szusz said the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is wreaking havoc on the livelihood of campground owners. He notes both campground and trailer owners only have until March 24 to appeal assessments, but many owners are away meaning they will miss the deadline. He also questioned the accuracy of the assessments and noted some campground residents have moved out in the past year. "Campground owners can't be expected to pay taxes on something they don't own," he said. Szusz said the province has an obligation to ensure the system is fair and equitable before handing out assessments. He notes introducing assessments retroactively is a step in the wrong direction. "We're trying to promote our area. Does assessing trailers do this?" he asked, adding the Region of Niagara has forgiven taxes on campgrounds for 2003. Deputy-reeve John Bezaire, who chaired the meeting, said council has the responsibility to ensure the greater good of the municipality is protected. The fear, he said, is if campground residents do not pay the taxes for 2003, Other residents will have to pick up their tab. Councillor Alison Lobb said it makes sense for council to ask the province to reconsider enforcing the 2003 assessment. "I agree that it's totally unfair," she said. County council briefs Lift to be installed at Brussels apartment building Huron County council Feb. 5 approved installation of a lift for handicapped residents in Huron County Housing's apartment building at 400 Alexander St., Brussels. The lift will cost up to $50,000 to install but provincial funding will cover the capital costs. Huron County Housing will be responsible for annual maintenance costs of $1,000 to $1,500. However John MacKinnon, social service administrator said the .lift would make it easier to rent the second floor apartments in the building which has had frequent vacancies. *** Huron County's homes for the aged were more than $500,000 over budget for salaries and wages last year. Ben Van Diepenbeek, councillor for Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh questioned treasurer David Carey why the figures were so badly out of whack. Carey explained that the By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen The strategy of sharing the costs of constructing two similar schools in two different counties only goes so far, at least when it comes to the 2004-05 plans of the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board. As a result, the replacement of St. Joseph's elementary school in Clinton will now move ahead for a possible completion by December, 2004, while the relocation of St. Marys elementary school from Hesson to Listowel will not be quite as rapid. At a regular board meeting Monday, Feb. 2, Huron-Perth trustees approved two agreements with the Municipality of Central Huron: one development agreement regarding the board's site plan for the new St. Joseph's site, and another setting out how funding will be allocated for the provision of services and the development of an unopened road allowance extending from Princess Street. Tenders will be called for selectiVe harvesting of woodlots near Auburn and St. Augustine and a committee will be created to design a forest management plan for county forests. Huron County council at its Feb. 5 county had to pay a settlement for employees who were laid off several years ago as well as a pay equity settlement. In addition, Carey said, on average homes employees took 18.3 sick days in 2003. It means that not only must the county pay the employee for the time off but also must pay a replacement. *** Councillors agreed to seek additional funding from the province that would allow an extra ambulance to be put in service. The county had special funding to operate an additional ambulance in the lakeshore area near Bayfield and Grand Bend last year and this helped dropped average response times for the county to 16 minutes and 14 seconds from more than 18 minutes. When funding ran out and the extra ambulance was dropped after Nov. 15, average response times went back up to 20 minutes and 28 seconds. The cost of operating the Trustees also accepted the lowest of eight tenders submitted for the construction of the new school, planned for a property adjacent to existing schools in the east end of Clinton. Tenders for the project clbsed Jan. 19, with the low bid coming from Bronnenco Construction of Ilderton, at a value of $2,936,622. According to business superintendent Gerry Thuss, the agreements with Central Huron and the approval of the Bronnenco bid put the board in the position of foreseeing the project completed by the end of 2004. Aside from the servicing and school construction, the only other outstanding work should be some minor yard improvements, he explained. Until now, the steps taken by the board toward the construction of the new St. Joseph's Clinton have come in tandem with steps toward the relocation of St. Mary's Hesson. Those include architectural drawings and preliminary site plans. meeting agreed to a management harvest of the Robertson Tract, a 172-acre forest along the Maitland west of Auburn and the Moreland Tract, a 100-acre parcel south of St. Augustine. Money from the harvests will be used to finance management ambulance would be $335,000 a year, with the province picking up half. *** Area communities could be welcoming visitors from cruise ships starting this summer. Goderich councillor Ellen Connelly told councillors that Goderich has joined the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition and though the main benefit of this is not expected until 2005, one ship, holding about 100 passengers, has indicated it will be making four stops in Goderich this year. "This is a lot bigger than the Port of • Goderich," Connelly said indicating cruise visitors would likely visit Bayfield, Clinton and Blyth during stops at Goderich. *** Howick councillor Rosemary Rognvaldson said she had been receiving complaints about road maintenance in her area of the county. County engineer Don Pletch said the Wroxeter patrol had experienced At previous meetings, Thuss informed trustees these services were being shared between the two facilities in order to decrease costs. However, the St. Mary's project presented a more complicated challenge for the board, first because some residents of the Hesson area resisted the relocation to Listowel, then because there wasn't a suitable, readily-available property in Listowel currently zoned for educational purposes. In an interview following the Feb. 2 meeting, Thuss explained the board's application for rezoning the Listowel property has only just been submitted, and the board hopes to initiate a tendering process for the relocated school "in the next couple of months." As a result of the diverging timelines, as well as the distance between the two communities, the two projects will no longer continue in tandem. "They're too far away from each other to be considered joint projects," Thuss said. of 13 county forests totally nearly 1500 acres, almost all north of Hwy. 8. Among those appointed to the committee designing the forestry plan will be North Huron councillor Murray Scott. some equipment breakdowns and had to shift equipment from the Wingham yard. "We've managed to maintain the minimum standards but it (people's impressions of satisfactory maintenance) depends on which day and which storm," he said. Warden Bill Dowson wondered why roads were still being reported on the radio as closed hours after bad weather ceased. Pletch said it's the Ontario Provincial Police that declares the road closed and it's up to them to tell the radio station when the roads are open again. *** Local municipalities will now have to pay the full price for 911 signs created in the county's sign workshop, council decided. The cost for a road name sign will be $100 with the smaller number signs for properties being $45 each. month phase-in period for compliance with the new forest conservation bylaw for those who had already marked and sold their woodlots before the bylaw came into effect. Councillors agreed it might take that long for the harvesting of some bushes sold before the bylaw was passed. The new bylaw has a requirement for a minimum volume of wood to be left per acre of the woodlot, a proyision not previously in force. *** Council turned down a request from the Town of North Perth, supported by Howick Twp. that a flashing amber light be installed at the intersection of Perth Line 88 and Perth Rd. 178 on the Huron County border. Engineer Pletch said he felt the light was not needed. But Rognvaldson said the light was needed because there had been several fatalities at the corner because of people not stopping. HPCDSB halts cost-sharing project County to harvest area forests