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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-01-24, Page 1>lpwt `heck— Measels Immunization program planned for local schools. New Business A familiar face is back on Main Street &with a new store. See page 2 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario Briefly Council addresses Home Care move The controversial Home Care move at the end of this month by the Huron County Board of Health, which has been questioned by employees who recently sent letters to the editors of all arca newspapers with the Chair of the board in turn responding, was touched on briefly at last Tuesday's Scaforth Council meeting. "Why didn't they organize their leases better if they've been working on it for 10 years," Deputy Reeve Wil- liam Teal! asked. Reeve Bill Bennett said, after talking with McKillop Reeve Ron Murray who is also the health board Chair, he is convinced the board's -consolidation and move is fiscally prudent and will pay for itself in the first year. "I don't know why" leases weren't more in lint; said Benn;,tt, who is Seaforth's representative to county council. Dogs to be muzzled Pit bulls and crosses of the fierce breed that experts say is dangerous am soon going to have to be muzzled in public in Seaforth, and owners will have to pay a S100 per year registration fee. Council decided to amend the amendment that was to update its animal control bylaw, so only gave it first reading Tuesday night, with the intention of passing it all complete at a February meeting. Animal control officer Robert Trick told council earlier this month that sur- rounding municipalities have recently passed rules to muzzling the breed, and that there are a couple of pit bull crosses in the Seaforth area. He said statistics indicate pit bulls kill more than twice as many people as any other breed of dog, are almost impossible to get off the victims they attack once the dog's jaws are clamped, and they find it hard to distinguish children from other dogs. Bell system needs upgrade At last week's regular meeting, Scaforth Council once again decided to send a letter to Bell Canada ur- ging them to upgrade their switching service in this arca, especially since local rates are scheduled to rise by $2 both this year and next. Telephone services now par for the course in other areas, such as call forwar- ding and call identification, aren't yet available around Seaforth. Council claims this is because of the state of the switching system, which was originally scheduled for an upgrade in 1996 (that may have bccn since delayed). Huron lone hid So far Huron County has the only bid on the table to host the 1999 International Plowing Match, which will be decided in Waterloo by 51 provincial plowman's directors Feb. 12. Huron plowmen previous- ly selected a Dashwood -area site to the south of this county as their candidate for that last IPM this century. Neighbours of planned tower will move if it's built BY DAVID SCO'T'T Expositor Editor If they build it, some will move. Eight neighbours • of a pro- posed Bell Mobility tower near Becchwood and St. Columban on • Sideroad 10, McKillop Township, gathered for a meet- ing at the farm of Jim and Janeke Murray on. Monday afternoon with Industry Canada representative Peter Allen. Allen, manager of Western Ontario District, has the author- ity to issue the necessary feder- al licence for Bell Mobility to. build its tower in McKillop. He took time Monday to hear concerns and opposition of neighbouring landowners to the location. Thc Murrays have circulated a petition to neigh- bours and have obtained more than 40 nannies in support of moving the tower to a more remote area. The main concern of the Murrays is the possible health effects and the fact that there are more than 50 children living one and a half miles from the site. Just over two mites from the proposed loca- tion is St. Columban School. "We've certainly got some concerns in this area about this tower going up," Jiin Murray told Allen. "One of our biggest problems with the whole thing is how Bell Mobility went about it. They basically snuck in the back door," said Murray. The St. Columban location was chosen as a mid -way point between two existing towers in Stratford and Godcrich to improve reception for cellular phone users on the Highway 8 corridor. Both towers have been operational for five years and both are located on com- mercial property - farm machinery dealers. Although promotional material from Bell Mobility under the heading "Safety Update, Fast Facts, Cellular Transmission Towers" states firstly: "Community interests are considered in locating lowers," Jim Murray said only a few landowners, not all neighbouring farmers, received information on the proposed tower. Neighbours were also won- dering why the arca was approved and staked out so quickly by Ontario Hydro. Allen said federal approval is not needed to turn on power or to build the foundation. Bell Mobility only needs Industry Canada's approval to construct a tower. (This has not been granted yet). A. building permit for initial work was recently issued to Bell Mobility by Building Inspector Paul Josling of Blyth. (Josling was unavail- able for comment before press deadline Tuesday). "On January 2nd McKillop Council had a meeting. (There was no information on a tower being built at that meeting). On January 6th, a building permit was issued - on a Saturday. Bell Mobility is trying to sneak this in. If you wrote a license today they would be in tomor- row building," said Murray. "They probably would be," said Allen. "They're anxious to get this going." The proposed tower near St. Columban is just one of 500 new towers planned for con- struction this year in Ontario and Quebec by Bell Mobility, said Murray. Construction for this tower is scheduled to start this March with the tower being operational in May, he added. Murray told Industry Canada representative Allen about a controversy over a tower site in Flamborough Township near Hamilton. McMaster University professor Doug MacPherson led the battle to have the tower moved. A citizen's . group called "Cellular Alert" was formed, took Bell Mobility Cellular to court and stalled the construction of the tower for 63 months, according to Murray. The company agreed to move the tower to another loc t a ion. Murray shares MacPherson's concerns about safety standards for electromagnetic emissions. The regulation from Health Canada governing the emissions is called Safety Code Six: The code was based on tests done with a styrofoam model of a man filled with chopped liver and a meat ther- mometer. The model was sub- jected to radiation and deemed to be safe when temperatures didn't rise. Thc Murrays are also'con- ccrned about some studies that say there is a link between incidents of leukemia in children and living near the towcrs that emit electromag- netic fields. In response, Peter Allen said, "I'm not a doctor, or scientist." He said Health Canada set up the Safety Code Six regulation. And if the Murrays objected to that, they would have to take it up with Health Canada. Allen said movement to another location is a possibility. "You have to have transmitters every so many milts. Thcy have some flexibility." He added that the tower could probably be moved within a few kilometres of thc proposed site. Continued on page 5 January 24, 1996 — 75 Cents Plus GST GREGOR CAMPBELL PHOTO NEW DOCTOR IN TOWN - Dr: Daniel Rooyakkers is a new doctor in Seafor{h.' He was on emergency duty at Seaforth Community Hospital on the weekend and is scheduled to begin working at the local medical clinic Feb. 5. Dr. Rooyakkers is,origlnally from St. Thomas. Sees no health risk Landowner in support of tower on property BY DAVID SCOT' I' Expositor Editor • Kevin Shea, of Bccchwood, feels his side of -the story hasn't been told. The McKillop farmer has signed a contract with Bell Mobility Cellular to erect a transmission tower on his land. Stories carried by The Huron Expositor last week and The Beacon herald on Monday didn't include tiny comments from Shca. "The reason that site was picked was because•it was the best point for interception. If I didn't accept it, there's two other people in the block that would accept," he said. • Initially Shca did have health concerns. "We researched it all before "we signed the lease They (Bell Mobility) have to operate within the 1Icalai C'odc and government regulations. And one person has got every- one stirred up over this. With that petition, he threw the Icar into everybody with this story of leukemia and there's nothing to back it up." Shca claims the Murray's petition only gives one side of the story. "Bell Mobility mailed him the package with thc facts sheets on it, with the health codes, the safety codes and the wattage the tower was going to put out. But he didn't provide anybody with that material when he went around petitioning." Shea says the reason MP Paul Stecklc didn't stand behind Murray is because "they're (Stecklc's office) is going on facts and he isn't. That's why Industry Canada was there putting that meeting on." The tower will probably be operating between 10 and 1(X) waits and the maximum it will operate at is 5(X) watts, said Shea. "Your police radios arc 500 watts. Your UHF T.V. antenna on your house is 10,000 watts. Thcy say it will operate within one -thousandth of the safety standard. And that isn't very much`." "This is electromagnetic energy and they (Bell Mobility) ensure me that it's safe." Shca also challenges the number of people who have signed the local petition. "I got more phone calls here last week, everybody joking after the paper came out about 'who is the family with the 40 kids.' Thc other neighbours have went around and 35 of those kids' parents out of the 50 didn't sign. Last week's paler was blown up so bad. And the Stratford paper says '40 landowners' - it's probably more like six or seven." Shea says he has had people come back to his farm after they signed the petition and apologize. "They said 'we didn't even know what we signed: Thcy apologized for signing because they only had half the facts, one side of the story. And the other side of the story is available from Hcalth Canada or Bell Mobility." Phone calls to David Haines and Angela Hislop of Bell Mobility from The Huron Expositor were not.retumed by press deadline. "They've been setting these things right on top of apart- ment buildings in Toronto and this thing is out in a field, in a hush. It's not interfering with any agricultural land. I can't understand." Shca said he talked to other landowners who have had these towers on their land and "they haven't had any problems." Information he has from Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association states that: "RF energy used by cellular towers and cellular telephones is a form of electromagnetic energy known as non -ionizing, Continua on page 5 Huron Plowmen ready to promote site for I BY AMY NEILANDS SSP News Staff The Huron Plowmen's Asso- ciation is ready to promote Huron County as the perfect site for the 1999 International Plowing Match (1PM). „We're bringing the county down to Waterloo," stated Gerry Thiel speaking about the the Plowmen's Convention on Feb. 12, where the Huron Association will be making its presentation. "Feb. 12 - that will tell the tale." The Huron County Plowmen made the presentation they will be making at the convention at a meeting held in Clinton on union said. "Huron County is a Jan. 17. The presentation con- vacation destination with sists of a video from Huron charm, culture and beauty," the County tourism and shows video added, as it went on to scenes from all over the county tell of many of the county's including rlany attractions and communities and their of - accommodations. Also involved ferings. in the presentation is a slide "That's as busy as we're show, with slides byDan gonna be," said Thiel pointing Hahne of Hcnsail, of many to the final slide of the prescn- agricultural scenes from around tatiort of a bee hive. "And it's the county shown along with starting now." the video. "I fuel the county speaks for Huron County, known as itself" he said. "It's one of the "Ontario's west coast" and the hest counties and it's one to be "agricultural heartland of On- proud of." taro" has a agricultural The association hopes to heritage that dates back over name the match "'99, the year 200 years, the video presen- of the great one" and hopes to • have Wayne Gretrky open the match, but it is not "etched in stone", said Neil McGavin, representative for the Huron County Plowmen's Association. 1999 also marks the 75th an- niversary of the Huron Plow- men's Association. McGavin said the main theme of the bid will be a "back -to -the -basics" plowing match to go back to where the plowing match got its roots. Thc site chosen by the Huron committee is on 2,000 acres of land near Dashwood which is owned by Earl and Michael Becker and their neighbors. McGavin added that although Huron is the only county making a bid for the match, the association felt a full presen- tation would improve their chances of being chosen for the site. The county plowmen will be taking two buses down to Waterloo for the convention for the presentation. Thiel stated that "more numbers make a difference." Thc 1999 host will be announced at the convention during the banquet. "Wc'rc going to promote the best county there is," said McGavin.