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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2005-09-28, Page 1TRAVEL SPAIN & PORTUGAL Long & short stay Vacation Packages Call Now for Details 482-7771 Toll-free 1-800-668-7477 45 Albert St., Clinton Ont Reg 2420885 In brief Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 911•11121101111%044,k, -I14.,- . $1.25 includes GST Doug Eisott, CFP, B.Math Ftrancial Planner crc air, is it s(*r3, 3wa N OtJRSO�aI ,apt U. r.dtu az sal ter. Best G.I.C. Rates ear 3.275% Year 3.61 % 35% MeV DUNDEE MIMATW INVUTO1 $ Inc.! • 0*00 •1&1,I N0*IAO(Yt (slat I R ti■lolill 26 Main St., Seaforth 527-2222 Grey ratepayers watching Hensall's progress A core group of 14-18 Grey ratepayers are watching Hensall as the village moves forward in an attempt to de - amalgamate from the municipality of Bluewater. "We have not let go of the idea of de - amalgamation. We're watching Hensall and learning," says Diane Diehl, one of the organizers of several meetings last fall exploring de - amalgamation in Grey from Huton East. Diehl, who attended last Monday's de - amalgamation meeting in Hensall, says she was impressed by the attendance and huge community support in Hensall. "I was sitting in their arena when they asked for the 'yes' vote and it was so beautiful to see the support they have in that community. They all just stood up - it was awesome;' says Diehl. -to -the. lady behind me and said, 'Way to go,"' she says. More than 100 people packed the Ethel Hall last October to talk to Huron East councillors about whether or not Grey has benefitted from joining an amalgamated municipality in 2000. Complaints at the time centred around services, including road maintenance, funding of recreation facilities and the Vanastra daycare centre. "Services are a huge problem. A lot feel our services have declined," says Diehl. As well, ratepayers expressed concern that under Huron East, Grey is losing its identity. "I don't think that meeting appeased anyone," she says. Like Hensall, Diehl says Grey ratepayers are aiming to figure out a budget that would allow it to operate by itself. "We went door to door and we have quite a few signatures. People are saying we should keep exploring," she says. Diehl says a number of observers attended Hensall's meeting last Monday to watch if the former village is successful in its attempts to de -amalgamate. "There were quite a few from other communities like Chatham -Kent, Ailsa Craig and Kincardine. It's nice to see we're not alone in exploring this," she says. Hensall stands up for de -amalgamation More than 100 residents in favour of taking process to next step at Bluewater council By Jeff Heuchert Expositor Staff Hensall residents stood up for de-amalgamaton last Monday night. In a tremendous showing of unity, 100 -plus Hensall residents rose from their seats, voting overwhelmingly in favour of taking Hensall's de -amalgamation process to the next step. That next step is Hensall's Community Development Action Committee presenting the proposal to Bluewater council, as soon as possible. The vote came after residents were presented a business plan by two of the committee's 10 members, Kay Wise and Nick Bjelan. Bjelan brings 25 years' experience as a finance officer to the committee. The plan showed, by comparing financial statements for Hensall, for the years before amalgamation and after, how it could survive as a village once again. They also explained why they feel the need to de - amalgamate. Wise said the municipality of Bluewater has neglected Hensall when it comes to expected services, such as leaf pickup, maintaining street flags, and repairing damaged sidewalks. "(Bluewater) council has a lack of respect for Hensall," Wise said. Costs for these repairs and maintenance have come from the pockets of volunteers. Another area for concern to Wise is that the municipality will soon be eliminating their wards. This means if the representative for Hensall does not win in his running Hensall would lose their only voice on council. Jeff Heuchert photo Nick Bjelan watches as Hensall residents stand to vote in favour of pursuing de-amalgamtion from the municipality of Bluewater. Wise said Hensall's de - amalgamation means a lot more than just financial stability. "We're involved in a lot more than dollars and cents precedence for this in the province," she said. Bjelan said there is nothing in - the books on de - amalgamation. "We're flying by the seats of our pants," he said. What they do know, is for Hensall to de - amalgamate, they must fit the criteria set out by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Hensall must be financially viable on their own, require no funding from the provincial government, leave a fair taxation on the rest of Bluewater, and have the consent of council, all of which the committee believes they can get. More questions were brought up about the possible $6 million water line, that could be coming from Exeter. But at this point, Exeter has put the water line on the back burner, halting the plans for Hensall. If Exeter goes through with Quoted 'I think we can make Hensall the poster child for de - amalgamation,' -- Kay Wise, of Heiman here, we're involved with people," she said. Many Hensall residents questioned how successful the entire process will be, asking what will happen if council turns down the proposal. Wise could not give a clear answer. "There's no guarantees, because there's no Good Food Box project restarts in Huron... Goderich students get to meet their little hero... Turning a deaf ear Caden Lee, 4, of Seaforth, patiently counts his kernels, ignoring a shower of corn as Kristen Walsh, 6, dumps a bucket over her head in a sandbox full of corn kernels during Ciderfest festivities at the Van Egmond House on Sunday. Jeff Heuchert photo the project, Hensall, who have already voted in favour of the line, will combat the cost with a grant, worth $3 million. Bjelan said unfortunately, Hensall would have to raise taxes to help pay the remaining $3 million off. Otherwise, Hensall should remain free of a tax increase, due to a large reserve fund. Bluewater also has a "chunk of money," according to Bjelan, that can only be used on Hensall projects. He assumes that money would be given back if they de - amalgamate. There are three steps left for the committee. Following the presentation to Bluewater council, and depending on how it's taken, they could still go to the County of Huron or even the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Wise believes with the show of support Hensall can break new ground. "I think we can make Hensall the poster child for de -amalgamation," she said. Hurricane threat creates frenzy at Seaforth pumps By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor Panic over rising gas prices caused huge line-ups at Seaforth's two gas stations last Wednesday night and Thursday morning as drivers scrambled to take advantage of 99 -cent -a - litre gas in anticipation of hurricane Rita. "I kept looking down the road and thinking, 'Where arc they coming from?' I didn't think Seaforth had that many people," says Shell manager Karen Martin. "People were buying gas cans and filling up everything they had in preparation for the price spike that's supposed to come after this next hurricane," says Archie's UPI owner Marc Robinet. As Hurricane Rita closed in on the U.S. oil -refining industry off the Gulf of Mexico last week, dramatic price spikes in gas were predicted. Line-ups started at both gas stations around 6 p.m. on Wednesday and continued steadily until past 10 p.m., UPI's normal closing time. At UPI, the gas station finally closed at 11 p.m. and line-ups continued until 1 a.m. at the Shell station. At 5 a.m.. they began again at Shell and started to form at Archie's UPI at 6:10 a.m., when the station normally opens at 6:30 a.m. Robinet says that headlines in the London Free Press shouting of $1.80 a litre prices and a rumour that gas prices had reached $2.25 a Titre in Stratford fueled the panic in Seaforth, where prices remained at 99 cents a litre until close to noon Thursday. "We had lots of phone calls asking, 'What's the price, what's the price?' People came in saying the media was telling them to fill up their tanks. There were frenzies everywhere." he says. Archie's UPI went through double the normal amount of gas Wednesday and expected to sell triple the amount on Thursday. "The last time we saw lines like that was after the power outage two summers ago. People want that peace of mind from a full tank of gas," says Robinet. Martin says she's not sure how much gas was sold at Shell but says she was afraid the station would run out. "I've been in the gas business for six years and I've never seen anything like it. It was a long day. We were just swamped," she says. At Shell, Martin says she had to stop a few people from filling containers that are not meant for gas. However, she says, despite the long line ups, the customers were "wonderful." "There was no fighting or bickering. Everyone was superb," she says. Huron ()PP stopped by at various times through the evening See PANIC, Page 2