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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2001-01-31, Page 3THE HURON EXPOSITOR. January 31, 2001-3 Scott Higendorff photo Three injured Three people were taken to hospital after a Jan. 25 accident around 11 a.m. on Brussel's main street. Chad Ascher, 19, of Grey Township attempted to make a left turn in his 1998 Chevrolet pickup truck when he came into the path of a van driven by James Campbell, 36, of Egmondville. Both vehicles received moderate damage and Fischer, Campbell and a passenger in his vehicle, Kiernyn Campbell, 3, were treated and released from hospital. Increased flow into sewer system has council working with Creamery By Scott Hndorff Expositor Editor A year after an increased volume of waste was found going into Seaforth's sewage treatment system, Huron East administration has come forward to discuss related negotiations between the municipality and the Seaforth Creamery, a matter that's been discussed behind closed doors without Municipal Act justification. The Seaforth Creamery and Huron East are working to find a way to reduce the amount of waste that is taxing the sewage system, an issue that's been discussed behind closed doors for almost a year. About a year ago, the former Town of Seaforth became aware of an increase in the waste going into the plant. The material is treated to government standards for water before anything is released into the Bayfield River and Administrator Jack McLachlan said the extra load did not pose any health risks at any time. "There were no problems with treating it at the plant," said Public Works Superintendent John Forrest. The problem was not with the content of waste going into the plant but the volume, he said. The amount of material, remains of The Creamery's production of salad dressings, was causing the plant to operate at capacity and would mean either finding a way to reduce the volume of material or expanding the plant to accommodate any future development or business expansion in the area. "Our system is not designed big enough to meet the demands of the town and The Creamery together," Forrest said. Council has spent the past year working out a solution with The Seaforth Creamery in hopes the company would come up with a way to reduce the amount of waste going into the treatment plant at their site first. The discussions were held in -camera (closed to the public) for the past year including at a committee of the whole meeting held by the new Huron East Council on Jan. 16. McLachlan admitted last week council had no grounds to go into closed sessions about the issue. He said about one year ago, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, which monitors the material released from the sewage plant, informed council of the increased use of the system. While he said the plant could safely treat it, "We started investigating to determine what the source was." They took samples of waste throughout all the sewer lines, tracing it to The Creamery. Forrest said the municipality has asked the Creamery to reduce the amount of solids going into the system. He said they've had a good working relationship with the Creamery as they've worked on a solution. The facility, which produces salad dressing and mayonaise products, has come up with equipment that is hoped to both reduce the amount of material going into the system and start to treat it before it leaves the plant. Waste is treated with oxygen which contains microrganisms that break down the solid material. The Creamery's system would start this treatment before • the material was released to the sewage treatment plant. "We just don't have any comments at this time," said Murray Mackey, finance manager at The Creamery. Manager Clarence Murphy is on vacation. McLachlan said they don't have a time frame at the moment on when the equipment would be in place and that a currenty strike by unionized workers at the facility is complicated the process for the time being. Council shouldn't haveg one into closed session stration on sew plant issue admits adrri� �e . • certain situations. "I'm not saying Jack would give me bad advice," she said. Steffler is attending a course on Friday that helps outline her responsibilities as mayor and intends to seek more guidance on what matters can be held in closed sessions. "We just didn't feel it was important," said Steffler. By Scott Hilg.ndorff Expositor Editor Council had no grounds to go behind closed doors to discuss a sewage treatment situation between The Seaforth Creamery and the municipality, admitted Huron East Administrator Jack McLachlan last week. For approximately a year, council had been working with The Creamery to come up with a way to reduce the amount of material going into the sewage treatment system. While some updates were made public about reports and testing being done in relation to the issue, no clear understanding of what was happening was ever publicly presented to council. When discussions with council were needed, The Creamery was often listed as either a legal or property matter so they could occur in a closed session of council. Only items involving personnel, property or legal issues can be discussed' behind closed doors because of their sensitivity. However, McLachlan couldn't explain how the matter actually fit into either a legal or property category when he agreed to speak to The Expositor about the issue last week. He said they kept it quiet partly because they were afraid of losing The Seaforth Creamery which produces a variety of salad dressing and mayonnaise products. The Creamery employs 120 people but has recently opened a warehouse facility in Cambridge causing concerns the facility might decide to centralize its operations there. "We have to look out for the good of the community. We want to keep them here," said Public Works Superintendent John Forrest. "We have to be fair to them and the community." While Seaforth council was originally discussing the issue, the municipality has since joined four others to form Huron East. The matter appeared at Huron East council's first committee of the whole meeting on Jan. 16 when Mayor Lin Steffler, who was deputy reeve of the former Seaforth council, said it needed to be discussed without the public because it was a property matter. Later, when asked to justify how it was considered a property matter, McLachlan had indicated it was really a legal matter. After further pressure, McLachlan agreed to discuss the matter openly and admitted there were no grounds to keep the matter quiet. "I wasn't aware they couldn't go in -camera," said Steffler on Monday of Creamery issues. "I would have viewed this as a property issue," she said, adding they didn't want to raise any public alarm when there were no health concerns in the matter. "I didn't want to cause The Creamery any embarrassment," she said. She has previously stressed wanting the new council to be as open and accountable as possible but said this didn't seem like a big issue that anyone would be concerned about. "There's nothing underhanded going on here," she said, adding she has to rely on people with more experience, like McLachlan, to advise how to handle Kara L. Pepper RMT d Mase Contact: Seaforth Chiropractic Clinic 527-1242 for an appointment Kim Jamieson RMT Registered Massage Therapist Contact Seaforth Chiropractic Centre 527-1242 for an appointment NEW TD BANK BRANCH MANAGER Cheryl Ryan BRANCH MANAGER We'd like to introduce Cheryl Ryan who is now serving the Seaforth community as our new Branch Manager. Cheryl is a local resident and has over 20 years of financial services experience with TD Bank. She understands your financial needs and would be happy to discuss the many services TD offers. Drop by the branch at 56 Main St. S. to meet our new Branch Manager. We look forward to seeing you soon. 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