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Huron Expositor, 2006-01-04, Page 2Page 2 January 4, 2006 • The Huron Expositor News Farmers hope other municipalities follow suit during one of worst years of recorded farm income From Page 1 help the struggling farmers in its area by allowing farmers, for the second year, to defer their property tax on farmland until the fall. The move is hoped to leave more than $900,000 in Huron East farm economy while farmers plant their crops this spring. Huron East Mayor Joe Seili said he hopes the option to pay farmland tax without penalty in the fall will give local farmers more room finan- cially. "This gives you the option not to have to get a loan to pay your taxes," he said, adding "it's the best we can do with what's been down- loaded on us" with the costs of polic- ing and ambulance service. As well, Seili said he hoped other rural municipalities in Huron County would consider doing the same thing for their farmers. H. REID ALLEN I' RNFI'l RE RESTOR.\'I ION & REFI\ISI1I\(; SEAFORTH 527-2717 MUNICIPALITY OF HURON EAST CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES COMMUNITY OF SEAFORTH NOTICE. OF STUDY COMMENCEMENT The Municipality of Huron East is undertaking a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) to investigate the best long-term solution for upgrading municipal water supply facilities in the community of Seaforth. The purpose of the study is to define how the existing water supply facilities can be upgraded to address the short and long-term needs of the community and accordingly has identified a study area at the north end of Seaforth, adjacent to the existing Welsh Street well supply, for further investigation. The study is needed to resolve certain deficiencies with the Seaforth Water System, as identified by recent hydrogeologic studies. The project is following the planning process set out for Schedule B activities under the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) document. _Schedule B. projects are approved subject to a screening process. The purpose of the screening process is to identify any potential environmental impacts associated with the construction of the facilities and to plan for appropriate mitigation of any impacts. The need for a screening process is triggered in this project because the work may involve the establishment of a new well supply and may require the decommissioning of an existing well supply. The process includes consultation with the public, stakeholders and government review agencies. For further information on this project, or to inspect a copy of the Class EA document, please contact the consulting engineers: B. M. Ross and Associates, 62 North Street, Goderich, Ontario, N7A 2T4. Telephone (519) 524- 2641. Fax (519) 524-4403. Attention: Kelly Vader, Environmental Planner (e-mail: kvader@bmross.net). Public input and comment are invited for incorporation into the planning and design of" this project and will be received until February 2, 2006. Subject to comments received and the receipt of necessary approvals, the Municipality intends to proceed with the planning, design and construction of the project. This Notice Issued January 4th, 2006 Jack McLachlan, Clerk -Administrator Municipality of Huron East "Rural areas are struggling. Agribusiness and towns are strug- gling when farmers aren't buying anything but sta- ples," he said. He cited statistics from the Hensall District Co-op showing the low price farmers a -re still . getting for grain and oilseed crops. The statistics show the price of $2.80 a bushel for corn in 2005, compared to $4.64. in 1995, $6.65 a bushel for soybeans today com- pared to $8.80 in 1995 and that doesn't work for grain farmers," he said. Hamilton also point- ed out that Canadian farmers have doubled their debt in the past decade, up to $47.7 billion with the aver- age farm debt in Canada in 2003 at $199,024. "We've put ourselves into a real hole - even if the government came up with some .support, we'd have to } pay off that debt and 'This gives you theoption not to have to get a loan to pay your taxes,' -- Huron East Mayor Joe Seili and $3.20 a bushel for soft red wheat in 2005, compared to $6.60 in 1995. Bluewater farmer Wayne Hamilton, who is also a director with the Huron Federation of Agriculture, . also thanked Huron East, adding that Canadian farmers are facing the worst three years of realized farm Jet income in record- ed history. Reading from a letter from Peter Tuinema, the chair of Ontario's . Grain and Oilseed Safety Net Committee, Hamilton said in con- trast, U.S. agriculture enjoyed its best three years in a decade. "The solution is a Canadian farm bill or a risk management program. This year, we're left without any support other than CAIS (Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization) interest," he said. Seili said he'd like to see the provincial and federal government come up with programs the average farmer could figure out without "having to hire a lawyer and accountant to understand it." "It's time for them to come through and announce a program and its details. Generally, a lot of these programs so far wouldn't give a farmer a. week's groceries," said Seili. Hallam agreed saying that the CAIS program has ended up costing him money because of accounting fees. "The government never listened to us on CAIS - a lot of the money under the heading of agriculture goes to multinationals, engineers and consultants," said Hallam. Church demolition taking longer than expected Susan Hundertmark While former parishioners hoped to see St. Columban Church demol- ished before Christmas, the process has been delayed by the need to determine if any hazardous materi- als exist in the building. "The process has taken longer than we expected," says Kevin Kale, a member of the closed 173 -year-old church's transition committee. , He says discussions with an architect and engineer uncovered that any hazardous materials in the building needed to be listed in the tender for demolition "to take the liability off our hands." For instance, the committee has to determine if any asbestos exists in tiles, wrapped pipes or insula- tion. "We really don't expect to find anything. It's a formality we have to go through. We have no choice," says Kale. He says he's not sure when the inspection will be completed but once it's done, it will take another month or so to get a tender out. "That puts us into late spring or early summer for the demolition," he says. Apart from the stained glass win- dows that have been donated by families who attended the church, Kale says the buildinglias been emptied and is otherwise ready to be demolished. "If a donor wants a window back, it will be theirs to take but the win- dows won't come out until we've tendered (for the church to be lev- eled)," he says. The church .was closed by the London diocese last June. SEAFORTH INSURANCE iii• BROKER LTD./HIMG / - .. ' —• • Home • Commercial •Auto. • Farm •• Out of Province Travel insurance 41 Main St. S. Seaforth 527-1610 Ken Cardno, Joanne Williamson, Christa O'Neil and Barb Watt H. REID ALLEN I' RNFI'l RE RESTOR.\'I ION & REFI\ISI1I\(; SEAFORTH 527-2717 MUNICIPALITY OF HURON EAST CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES COMMUNITY OF SEAFORTH NOTICE. OF STUDY COMMENCEMENT The Municipality of Huron East is undertaking a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) to investigate the best long-term solution for upgrading municipal water supply facilities in the community of Seaforth. The purpose of the study is to define how the existing water supply facilities can be upgraded to address the short and long-term needs of the community and accordingly has identified a study area at the north end of Seaforth, adjacent to the existing Welsh Street well supply, for further investigation. The study is needed to resolve certain deficiencies with the Seaforth Water System, as identified by recent hydrogeologic studies. The project is following the planning process set out for Schedule B activities under the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) document. _Schedule B. projects are approved subject to a screening process. The purpose of the screening process is to identify any potential environmental impacts associated with the construction of the facilities and to plan for appropriate mitigation of any impacts. The need for a screening process is triggered in this project because the work may involve the establishment of a new well supply and may require the decommissioning of an existing well supply. The process includes consultation with the public, stakeholders and government review agencies. For further information on this project, or to inspect a copy of the Class EA document, please contact the consulting engineers: B. M. Ross and Associates, 62 North Street, Goderich, Ontario, N7A 2T4. Telephone (519) 524- 2641. Fax (519) 524-4403. Attention: Kelly Vader, Environmental Planner (e-mail: kvader@bmross.net). Public input and comment are invited for incorporation into the planning and design of" this project and will be received until February 2, 2006. Subject to comments received and the receipt of necessary approvals, the Municipality intends to proceed with the planning, design and construction of the project. This Notice Issued January 4th, 2006 Jack McLachlan, Clerk -Administrator Municipality of Huron East "Rural areas are struggling. Agribusiness and towns are strug- gling when farmers aren't buying anything but sta- ples," he said. He cited statistics from the Hensall District Co-op showing the low price farmers a -re still . getting for grain and oilseed crops. The statistics show the price of $2.80 a bushel for corn in 2005, compared to $4.64. in 1995, $6.65 a bushel for soybeans today com- pared to $8.80 in 1995 and that doesn't work for grain farmers," he said. Hamilton also point- ed out that Canadian farmers have doubled their debt in the past decade, up to $47.7 billion with the aver- age farm debt in Canada in 2003 at $199,024. "We've put ourselves into a real hole - even if the government came up with some .support, we'd have to } pay off that debt and 'This gives you theoption not to have to get a loan to pay your taxes,' -- Huron East Mayor Joe Seili and $3.20 a bushel for soft red wheat in 2005, compared to $6.60 in 1995. Bluewater farmer Wayne Hamilton, who is also a director with the Huron Federation of Agriculture, . also thanked Huron East, adding that Canadian farmers are facing the worst three years of realized farm Jet income in record- ed history. Reading from a letter from Peter Tuinema, the chair of Ontario's . Grain and Oilseed Safety Net Committee, Hamilton said in con- trast, U.S. agriculture enjoyed its best three years in a decade. "The solution is a Canadian farm bill or a risk management program. This year, we're left without any support other than CAIS (Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization) interest," he said. Seili said he'd like to see the provincial and federal government come up with programs the average farmer could figure out without "having to hire a lawyer and accountant to understand it." "It's time for them to come through and announce a program and its details. Generally, a lot of these programs so far wouldn't give a farmer a. week's groceries," said Seili. Hallam agreed saying that the CAIS program has ended up costing him money because of accounting fees. "The government never listened to us on CAIS - a lot of the money under the heading of agriculture goes to multinationals, engineers and consultants," said Hallam. Church demolition taking longer than expected Susan Hundertmark While former parishioners hoped to see St. Columban Church demol- ished before Christmas, the process has been delayed by the need to determine if any hazardous materi- als exist in the building. "The process has taken longer than we expected," says Kevin Kale, a member of the closed 173 -year-old church's transition committee. , He says discussions with an architect and engineer uncovered that any hazardous materials in the building needed to be listed in the tender for demolition "to take the liability off our hands." For instance, the committee has to determine if any asbestos exists in tiles, wrapped pipes or insula- tion. "We really don't expect to find anything. It's a formality we have to go through. We have no choice," says Kale. He says he's not sure when the inspection will be completed but once it's done, it will take another month or so to get a tender out. "That puts us into late spring or early summer for the demolition," he says. Apart from the stained glass win- dows that have been donated by families who attended the church, Kale says the buildinglias been emptied and is otherwise ready to be demolished. "If a donor wants a window back, it will be theirs to take but the win- dows won't come out until we've tendered (for the church to be lev- eled)," he says. The church .was closed by the London diocese last June.