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The Citizen, 2005-03-10, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2005. PAGE 11. County postpones bridge transfer decision By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher A decision to begin a process of transferring ownership of 31 county bridges to local municipalities at a saving of $l million over the next five years was put on hold at the March meeting of Huron County Council. Wistful thinking Young thespians played by young thespians Orie Falconer as Glen and Megan Vandewoude as Lauren waxed wistfully of the potential for discovery by an agent who might be in the audience for their school production of Anne of Green Gables. The scene was from F.E. Madill’s one-act play Anne-Archy, performed at the Sears Festival last* Week. (Bonnie Gropp photo) The recommendation of the agriculture and properties committee was to transfer all ot the bridges that needed no repairs to the local municipalities in 2005 and prepare a plan to provide 33 per cent of the cost of upgrading those bridges requiring repairs. The bridges in question (a small portion of the 472 bridges and culverts in the county system) are those that arc on county and municipal boundary roads or were previously on the boundaries between two municipalities which the county built, even though 26 of the bridges are not on a county road. In some cases because of municipal amalgamation the bridges are now located within a new municipality. But the idea of handing over the bridges raised the hackles of some councillors. “Apparently we're beginning to like the province’s system of fixing our budget by handing expenses down to someone else,” said Bernie MacLellan, Huron East councillor. Mike Alcock. a civil engineering technologist representing the road department explained that in some cases, such as Ball's Bridge south of Auburn, these bridges might have relatively light use and a nearby bridge might take much higher traffic. Handing over the bridges to local municipalities will allow them to determine which bridges they feel are worth repairing, he said. “I cannot support downloading," said an emotional Bill Dowson, past warden and Bluewater councillor. While he could agree with handing over bridges that were now in the middle of an amalgamated municipality, he said, those between municipalities or between one county and another will create opportunities for conflict when the municipalities can’t agree on repairs. “I will not support turning over bridges that are on the boundaries,” he said. Bluewater councillor Paul Klopp said that though council had asked department heads to come up with cost-saving ideas, he couldn't support the transfer. The reasons for many of these bridges to be county-owned arc still valid, he said. If the bridges arc no longer needed then the county can make this decision, not hand it down to the local municipal council. “1 don't think we.need to pass the responsibility on to the lower tier,” argued MacLellan. saying the county could come up with criteria as to whether a bridge should stay open or not. “If you're going to keep downloading costs to lower tiers then, as the guy who signs the cheque, I’m not going to be sending you our money,” warned Joe Seili, Huron East councillor and mayor. He Clean water project clears hurdle A program to provide up to 50 per cent funding for environmental improvements cleared one hurdle at Huron County council’s March session but faces its biggest challenge in ongoing budget deliberations. County council approved the Clean Water Project subject to the $220,000 worth of funding being approved in the 2005 budget. South Huron councillor Rob Morley voted against the proposal saying he couldn’t approve a new program when council is looking at an 18 percent levy increase. Besides, he said, some provincial officials he had spoken with said the province was close to announcing its own program. “1 think we’re going down a really treacherous road when we start giving out grants (to landowners)”, Morley said. But Ben Van Diepenbeek of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh defended the program and noted argued that bridges on the boundaries of municipalities must remain county bridges. South Huron councillor Rob Morley noted there were four bridges in his municipality listed for downloading and all four were on the boundaries of the county. “1 can't vote for this,” he said, noting that when the province downloaded roads and bridges, at least it provided money for repairs. The motion to begin the transfer was defeated and council approved a different motion asking the roads department for more information on the bridge transfer. money was provided for it within the 18 per cent target given to staff. Bluewater councillor Paul Klopp said Huron County has been showing leadership in the battle to clean up water with the program. While travelling to the farmers' protest in Toronto one farmer had asked him if the water program was going ahead and said it was one place where the county needed to spend money, Klopp said. Bert Dykstra of Central Huron felt the program was important to the county. “It shows the importance of clean water,” he said. He noted that the amount of grants was not high and would spur landowners to spend their own money as well. While the province might eventually come up with a program, he said, “This project can move forward immediately.” Rosemary Rognvaldson said clean water was a health and safety issue “that has even higher priority than roads.” llleddiny tReyi&tvy Register with Machan Home Hardware and receive a free gift! “The speed, the thrill - it’s got to be Carrera!” www.carrera-toys.com Starter Slot Car Sets now available! JuAt in time S,piinp fflieah! Hwy. 21 South Goderich, ON (519) 524-8312 ttaohiny fat the perfect 9^? Qwe them exactly what they want ~ a Jtome Jlaulwcvte yift cwtd!