HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-11-01, Page 22 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, November 1, 2000
News
Bankrupt buildings too costly
for township to take over
Residents asked to search out landlords, have township put on pressure
using property standards bylaw to get properties cleaned up •
•
From Page 1 QuotedHe said there was nothing Seaforth location' and said
of councillor on the new they could do to prevent -it they facility is in a heritage
municipality. Also at the • from happening again but: buildings and could becomc.a
P y. urged people to have- municipal office to he proud
-meeting were Bob Broadfoot,.' backwater valves installed. of: •
Bernie MacLellan and Bill and to disconnect themselves Despite not being in :tit:
Siemon seeking the position from storm drains to help centre of the tnunicipalit. he
of Deputy. Reeve, a position . reduce the problem. - said it iS in a high -traffic
voted on by all the wards in One resident said. "I centre so people:coming to
Huron East. Broadfoot and believe the township should do business at the.town hall
MacLellan come from take a. serious. look at could make Other skips in
Tuckersmith Township. assisting us in getting some :town as well. •
Also elected at large and at type of protection until the -
the meeting were the two `infrastructure is in-place." • .
candidates.from mayor: Lin She said the City of
Steffler of Seaforth and London has provided'
Robin Dunbar of Grey financial assistance to people
Township. • - -
.Broadfoot. who currently
'sits • on Tuckersmith
Township council as reeve
:defended the township:'
He said they have tried to
deal with the decrepit
buildings but said .placing -
offers on the properties has
not worked. .
He said there are some
buildings the, township
simplycan't affordto take
over and have removed.
"The members of the
current council have been
trying to get rid of some of
thole buildings." he said,
adding the financial loss in -
taking over the buildings is
"unbelievable."
Many of the,buildingsshad
been purchased by people-
' from outside of the
community that -went
bankrupt or otherwise did not
make proper payments on the
buildings. now owned by
'The township
basically got
screwed
by someone
out of Toronto
and we don't
know what to .
do about it,' --
Bob Broadfoot,
Tuckersmith reeve
banks! -
"The township basically
got screwed by someone out
of Toronto and we don't
know -what to do about it." he
•said.
Jim MacLeod. a current
member of Tuckersmith
Township council. said he
does business inVa _anastr_and
is well -aware of .the
concerns.
"It was mentioned a lot of
. those buildings should be
burned:" he said of
conversations with residents.
But he put the question out
there to the rest of .the
taxpayefs who will make up
Huron East: are they willing
to pay to, have. . those
buildings cleaned up if it
costs. for exaritple. $ 100.000.
"I don't have a problem
spending the money." he,
'said.
what the Vanastra community
is saying but doesn't know
what the solution is to the.
problems. •
"If I'm elected mayor, I'm.
sure as (heck) going to find
out [darn] fast," she said.
Earlier in the meeting,
residents had taken the
current council to task on -the
issue of sewer back ups.
After heavy flooding in the
spring, several residences in
Vanastra were faced with
water and sewage backing up
into their basements.
One resident said the issue
of sewage problems has been
studied in Tuckersmith
Township for eight years
with nothingdone.
Others were concerned the
township was offering no
help to residents faced with
insurance companies raising
their. rates and deductibles
after multiple damage claims
After ,a series of heavy rains
this spring and summer.
There were requests for
help covering the costs of
putting in backwater valves
to stop' the sewers from
• backing up into homes.
Broadfoot said dry weather
last year delayed the ability.
to collect data on sewage
bypasses that contributed to
the problem this spring hut
that now. they can took at an
appropriate sized holding
tahk'with the data they have.
However, he' said they
don't know how quickly they
will be able to proceed with
tenders for the project.
He said the sewer system
Larry McGrath. a past
tnember of Tuckerstfiith
council. suggested residents
take it upon themselves to
find out who owns • the
hltildings or which banks
hold the mortgages and then
put pressure' on the council 16
lean .on those banks or
property owners by using the
property standards bylaws to
force them to maintain the
properties.
"If the hank owns it; it has•
to maintain it or have it
removed at its expense." said
McGrath.
Lin Steffler said she is not
on Tuckersmith council and
can't be blamed for the
current situation but said. "I
want Huron East to be the
best part of Huron County. If
grass needs to be cut or
huildiflgs need to be burned.
we have to do something
about this."
Between the buildings and
concerns about the damage
from multiple sewer back
ups. she said she has heard
is not designed to handle
three and four-inchrains but
that .they arc replacing old.
decaying parts of the ,system
as road work is done.
Dunbar assured residents
Vanastra would not be
forgotten when Huron East
forms and that the sewer
problem wot ld have to be
investigated by the new
council. ,
"We 'have to look at how
we can fund the
reconstruction of the
'sewers." he said. adding
Huron East cannot afford it
without grants and that he
can't make any promises that
the problem will be solved.
"1 would work to get that
to be,a priority project." he
said.
Paul Spittal. a current
member of council said the
- solution will take long-term
planning and would be very
costly. He also said grants
'would have to he found
before the work Could be
done.'
• McGrath said even•new
sewers would not be able to
handle the unusually heavy
rains
Howick men charged
in connection with fraud
Two Howick Township
men. aged 21 and 27, have
been charged with uttering a
forged document after an 84 -
year -old Brussels man
discovered a quantity of
• missing cheques and SS,000
missing from his hank
account.
The two men met with the
elderly man in mid-October
about two vehicles he was
selling. A few days later.
$5.000 was taken from the
elderly man's hank account
and on Oct. 25, the -two men
were caught attempting to
cash another cheque on the
same account in a Wingham
bank.
Huron OPP are still
looking for another man
connected with the case. The
two men are scheduled to
appear in court in Wingham
on Dec. 14.
The banks involved are
crediting the monies back to
the elderly man's account
and taking the financial loss.
needing sump pumps and
check valves after a -similar
situation occurred in some
parts' of the city this spring.
Other concerns included
the use of Seaforth Town
Hall as the new municipal
headquarters with more than
$200.000 worth of
renovations taking place, a
portion of which.will-he
picked up by the tax payer.
Bill Siemon, current reek
of McKillop Township.
strongly supported the
BILL TEALL COUNCILLOR
FOR SEAFORTH WARD
Please be there for
me and I will be there
for you.
Vote on Nov. 13th
so I can represent YOU
—♦ Experience
— + Leadership
Integrity
— + Honesty
—+ Forward thinking
Bernie MacLellan
Thank You
I would like to say thank you to the response -of
the people I have met while campaigning for
the'election. I would also like to apclogize to
all the people who I have been unable to meet
and talk to in person. If you were unable to get
to THE ALL CANDIDATES meeting in your
area, and I : missed you at home, I will leave a
copy of my speech from the meeting along
with my card : If you have any questions please
call me. During the day I can be reached at 233-.
7489, evenings at 233-3366. •
Your neighbour's noiv online.
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