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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-03-27, Page 1Hockey St. James wins Sr. consolation at Knights of Columbus tournament. See page 6 Feature Local speed skater travels; to Red Deer to defend title. See page 8 Letters Local woman takes exception to William Thomas column. See page 4 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario March 27, 1996 75 Cents Plus GST flBriefly Singers offer spring show to beat blahs Man in critical condition after • accident in van A 28 -year-old Seaforth man -remains in critical condition in the intensive care.unit at Victoria Hospital in London, result of an accident last '0;ednesday morning\ in a Snowstorm on an icy Highway 8 at Scebach's Hill. hetwecn Stratford and Mitchell. Martin Andreassi was still listed as critical yesterday (Tuesday) at noon. Provincial police - at - Sebringvillc say he was west- - bound when his 1983 van collided with an east -hound, fully loaded tractor -trailer, driven by -John Christiansen, 39, of Cambcllville.' Andreassi was rushed by ambulance to Stratford General, and then to London. There were no passengers in either vehicle. The OPP closed the high- way 'briefly while emergency crews responded. • - The accident was one of 14 handled by the Schringville detachment last Wednesday. although the most .serious: Police from Tavistock, St. Marys. Mitchell and Listowel assisted Schringvillc OPP-, because of the heavy volume_ of accidents. Rebates sliced ..Clerk. Jim Crocker says. although final details haven't crossed his •desk yet. it appears • Seaforth's road • rebates have been sliced dra= matically this year. because of changes to the 'funding formula and fiscal belt -tight - citing by the province and ;Aron County. • He says last' year Seaforth got about $27,000 in road .rebates from the higher levels of government, whereas this year it looks like the town will get about $6.600. The missing $20,000 is on top of the Ontario govern- ment's recent reductions in grants. announced laic -last year and now being incorpo- rated into Seaforth's budget for this year. expected to he approved next month. • - No discounts NO discounts will he avail - .able for arena staff at the pro shop. after complaints from a - local sporting goods business. led thc Seaforth and District Community Centres manage- ment committee to recently amend its draft policy. which originally included a 15 per ccnt discount. Trent and Dch Ward. own- ers of Second Period Sports • on Main Street. objected to the practice in a letter to .the arena hoard which later sur- faced at council earlier this year, which was referred to committee. The Wards felt such non-profit public facili- ties should not he undercut- ting local merchants. Minutes of thc manage- ment hoard's committee meeting note arena manager Graham Nesbitt and Mr. Ward met "and reviewed the instances of special orders, how sales tax was remitted and the audit procedures that were carried out annually." BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Nothing like an old fast"- ianed "duster" to take your mind off this winter that won't go away. - So "Westward Ho! Oh, Oh" might just he the ticket here in Scalorth Saturday, the 14th annual spring show put on by Seaforth's singing Harmony Kings. These-gun-slingers do good work and are nice guys. - The shows, with 'a western theme to go with healthy por- tions of skit and slapstick. will start smack dab at the now traditionally weird cur- tain times of 1:59 and 7:59, that's p.m.. at the Seaforth and District Community Centres. "We pride ourselves on being on time and it catches your attention." says cowboy Bruce Whitmore. a .member of the choral group and cast. "Thc object is to entertain. It's a fun thing - not your typ-, ical western nor sometimes your traditional barbershop singing." he warns: - - Not so typical also in this weekend's shows is a large local quartet, which defies Oxford by having 11 vocal- ists and is kind of like a little group of Kings, called the Maitland . River Chord Company. And we're not talking pants! They've been in the saddle before at Sarnia, then pilled -simply 'as a"Very Large Quartet," but Saturday will he the first time they have sung in Seaforth. Cowboy Bruce says it's not OK .to let the little doggies out of the corral, or give any- PHOTO°BY GREGOR CAMPBELL GET THE WAGONS IN A CIRCLE - Cowboy Bruce (Whitmore - left) and Davy Crockett' (Doug Procter) will be singing up a storm around the old campfire with the rest of Seaforth's Harmony Kings in their 14th annual spring,show at the local arena. Saturday.. thing away, hut we towns town- for the show Saturday - Lone Ranger, as well as Davy folk can expect to once again for instance Tonto (" What Crockett, of Alamo and coon - see some Former Duster you' mean "we" Paleface?;' ), skin cap fame.- and Hoss and Boob -Tube Greats riding into- and his faithful sidekick the Huron County Politics • Meeting explores. amalgamation. BY AMY NEILANDS SSP News Staff Further review of Bill 26 and an exploration of "all avenues" before amalgama- tion lakes place was the con- sensus of Huron municipal councils during a strategic planning day held on the weekend. "What's the bottom line?."one• municipal repre- sentative asked. "Saving money; saving money and amalgamation do not neces- sarily go together. We must look at all avenues before we amalgamate. Amalgamation is not cheap." Councils from across the county gathered in Clinton on - Saturday to discuss issues. concerns, and ideas regarding county restructuring - as provincially legislated through Bill 26. Ideas gener- ated from the day will he consolidated into draft princi- ples. -procedures an guide- lines to he used by county municipalities in restructur- ing talks. The draft will he presented at another strategic planning day for review and approval sometime in late spring. Municipal representatives were divided into 10 discus- sion groups to discuss such issues as Bill 26. municipal scrviccs, and the develop- ment of a made -in -Huron solution. One question posed to the discussion groups was how municipalities should respond to Bill 26. Many felt more information was needed on the hill hut with-thc infor- mation understood by the groups; several possibilities were presented. - Onc group felt that inter- nal restructuring must take place before partnerships with other municipalities takes place: "We have to clean up our own house first."said one municipal rep- resentative, suggesting that. municipalities along with the county and province do a thorough review of services - dclivcred and eliminate any duplications. One group used road maintenance as an example. On roads travelled by both county and township snowplows. they suggested a possible agreement could he established where only one. plow would do a road,.rathcr than both. "If there arc ways we can save money let's do it," stated a municipal representative. Several .groups felt that amalgamation was not the only solution an -d that the focus should he more on shared services between municipalities. "Bigger is not always better," stated Hensall Councillor Richard Packham. -echoing •the sentiments of several other municipal rep - resentatives. One group felt that sharing services was the, most important issue. Many felt that thc county should become more involved in restructuring talks by offering assistance and encouraging more chun- ty-wide meetings to ensure common guidelines arc being established. "More direction is needed from the' county,"said one representa- tive who felt that the county has been holding back but should get involved shortly. One group presented pos- sible restructuring scenarios that could be established within the county. These include setting.up four or five . municipalities based on high school or hospital.bound- arics; one municipality for the entire county; 26 munici- palities and no county; reduc- ing the number of municipal- ities by half; or simply do nothing, which was later established as not being a viable option. But while working at establishing potential partner- ships hetwecn municipalities, "egos must he Icft at the door," said Goderich Councillor Lynda Rotteau, as some communities have shown concern as to losing their individual identities. "Getting rid of the egos will help the process go faster." She added that "going in dif- • CONTINUED on page 3 Little Joe, away for the day from the Ponderosa, not the steak house. Songs such as Cool Water, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Happy Trails- ( could it he - Roy, Trigger. High -Ho! Silver, Away! ), , and Tumblin' Tumbleweed may. Once again ring off the Naked beans simmering on the old campfire. This is the 14th year for the ,Harmony Kings. made up of about 25 men, about 15 . charter members. Ages range from 1.4 to 80.. "Wanted" signs are now,hcing postal for -new members, .and the practice in Seaforth at the., high school • of Tuesday nights at- 8..Thcy come from•- - here, there and everywhere around the arca, for instance Hensall, Grand lend, . Brussels, Mitchell, Stratford and Clinton. Five or six .of 1. those belting out tunes Saturday joined the group -after 'Homecoming last August in Seaforth. • The Kings' favorite charity i • is also certainly in character - thc Harmonize for Speech fund. which helps childreii with speech and heari-ng problems. - Mid -Huron Landfill As usual the local -cowgirls. - the Seaforth Harmony Hi-- Litcs, our women's-harber- shoip chorus of some renown, will also sing in the second half of Saturday's shows. The. guest quartet per- formed here in 1988, called the Tri -City Sliekcrs,.from. 7down thtitrail Kitchener way. Emcee is Lee Paul. Tickets arc available front. any King, at Boh and Betty's or,at the door. Site Board Toxic fumesfrom leachate seep to nearby building BY DAVID SCOTT Expositor Editor The Mid -Huron Landfill Site (MALS) Board is taking action after toxic fumes from its leachate holding facility at Parsons Court in Goderich recently seeped into neigh- bouring buildings. Readings taken by Ken Hunter, Commissioner of Works for Goderich and Pollution Control Plant Supervisor Duane Forth on March 12 after complaints were received from the Knights of Columbus hall and Suncoast Enterprises, revealed high levels of toxic fbmea, likely hydrogen sul- fide. . At 10 parts per million (ppm), the maxitfium allow- able limit for exposure to hydrogen sulfide is 10 min - dies. The toxic fumes were greater than the meter could read (over 100 ppm), says Hunter. "It could have been 1,000 (ppm). I don't know." Hydrogen Sulfide is a colourless, flammable gas with a characteristic odour of rotten eggs detectable at con- centrations of 0.02 ppm. Higher toxic concentrations can rapidly deaden sense of smell, according to occupa- tional hazard information from the Huron County Health Unit. - "Concentrations of 500- 1,000 pp:n cause rapid unconsciousness anddeath through respiratory paraly- sis," states industry literature. -As well, methane readings were above the allowable combustible level in two locations including the Knights of Columbus hall which read 17 per cent. "I attended thc site and found that the building was indeed full of leachate smell. We opened a cleanout in the building and thc odour com- ing out of it was unbeliev- able," stated Hunter in his report to the board. Leachate is liquid created by rainwater which falls onto the landfill and soaks into the waste and enters tiling which flows into a holding facility at the Holmesville site. An 8.000 -gallon tanker truck owned by Ross Pannabecker of RR 5 Goderich regularly hauls the leachate. It's taken to the leachate facility at Parson's CONTINUED on page 3 •