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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2017-02-15, Page 66 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, February 15, 2017 Huron East Delegation Request for Seaforth-Egmodnville Sanitary Sewer Servicing Huron East Council expressed disappointment with the contents of an arti- cle in the February 8 edition of the Expositor. The article entitled "Huron East looks for funding for controversial sewer system" contains incomplete comments that has generated some reaction from Egrnondville residents commented Mayor MacLellan The Mayor was highly crit- ical of the "careless" use of the context in which con- taminated water was refer- enced to Egmodnville and Seaforth. People associate contaminated water in an urban setting to mean their drinking water and that is absolutely not the case in SeafQ.rth/Egmodnville. Our municipal drinking water systems are highly regulated and maintained to high quality standards. The "con- tamination" referred to was found in the sampling of the storm drains, Silver Creek and the Bayfield River. With respect to the delega- tion presentation to the Min- istry of Infrastructure at the ROMA ( Rural Ontario Municipal Association ) con- ference, Mayor MacLellan noted that there were two significant components of Council's delegation. The first component was if there was any potential funding of upgrades to the Seaforth Sewage Treatment Plant and possible extension of servicing into Egrnond- ville . He noted that before Christmas the Water & Sewer Committee had authorized consulting Engi- neers BM Ross and Associ- ates to proceed with the design and approvals stage of the upgrades to the Sea - forth Sewage Treatment Plant and Pumping Station. -BM Ross indicated this stage alone would take 12 to 18 months said Mayor MacLellan and if Council proceeded with construc- tion, that was expected to take an additional 12 months. . The Committee felt it was being proactive in initiating the design of the upgrades. "lhere is no imme- diate or short-term need to upgrade the plant said Nlayor MacLellan noting that the plant is currently operat- ing at approximately 75 per cent of its rated design capacity. He noted that this capac- ity is sufficient for other approved developments in Seaforth, but we wanted to place the Municipality in a position that the upgrades to the sewage treatment plant were construction ready in the event that the servicing of Egrnondville was seriously being consid- ered. The second important component to the delega- tion he said goes back to one of the conclusions at the completion of the Class EA in 2010 - a recommen- dation was in that docu- ment that indicated Council would defer implementa- tion of the preferred You are invited to attend these area churches ST. THOMAS ANGLICAN 21 Jarvis St., Seaforth Church Office 519-527-1522 holyspirit@tcc.on.ca Rev. Shaun Eaton - Priest -in -Charge Sunday February 19 Worship at 9:30am Everyone Welcome BETHEL BIBLE CHURCH An Associated Gospel Church 126 Main St. Seaforth 519-527-0982 Interim Pastor: Rev. Laurie Moms February 19 - 11 am "Salvation - Can We Know for Sure?" Sunday School - 9:45 am February 26 -11 am "Testing the Spirits" Tuesday Evenings: Youth Group - 6:30 - 9 pm 8&GClub -6:45pm Wednesday Evening: . Men's Bible Study - 7 pm EVERYONE WELCOME EGMONDVILLE UNITED CHURCH 26 Kippen Road Egmondville 519-527-1991 Rev. Christine Hossack Worship February 19th 10:30 Youth Sunday School 10:30 Annual Meeting Feb. 26th 11:30 Come and be part of the spirit as it moves among us Like us on Facebook www.egmondvilleunitedchurch.com FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 59 Goderich St. W. Seaforth 519-527-0170 Rev. Dwight Nelson Lorrie Mann - Organist Sunday, February 19 11am Saturday, February 18 5:30pm Potluck & Fun Night Sunday School Nursery Provided as Needed ALL WELCOME ht ea orthhuronex i ositor.co Egmondville servicing alter- native until sufficient grant funding was obtained. The purpose of our dele- gation was to make a pitch for funding assistance and we felt the timing was right - we could show that we were being proactive with moving the sewage treat- ment plant improvements to the design stage and our engineers had updated the project costs for us. We were simply doing what we said we would do in 2010 said Mayor MacLellan - we are seeking funding for such a project and we will con- tinue to seek funding. Our presentation certainly included some of the back- ground materials that we had at the public meetings from 2008-2010 said Mayor MacLellan. We provided some of the data from our 2008 Egrnondville Septic Sys- tem investigation RepQrt that was completed by BM Ross. More than half the septic tank systems in Egmondville are more than 30 years old he commented and Council generally realizes that septic tank systems, especially the older ones or ones not well maintained are not ideal for an urbanized environment. Egrnondville, he said is gen- erally drained by municipal storm drains or private drains, which eventually dis- charge to either Silver Creek or the Bayfield River. "Their consultant con- ducted a water quality -sam- pling program at selected locations within the storm drainage systems and in Sil- ver Creek and the Bayfield River. He noted that the sampling was conducted from 2007 to 2008. The results confirmed that we have issues commented Mayor MacLellan but the results were not totally unex- pected given the age and condition of some of the septic systems Mayor MacLellan con- cluded by indicating that he was disappointed with comments in the article that the "Council of Huron East was exhausted finan- cially" Just because we are seeking sources of funding for the Municipality and Egrnondville community as a whole doesn't mean we are financially exhausted said the Mayor, we are sim- ply doing what we said we would do at the conclusion of the Class EA in 2010 - we are simply seeking any funding sources that might be available. Ile also noted that several members of Council had been called about the dele- gation with some people assuming Council was moving ahead with the Egmondville project. As I have already mentioned he said, Council has commit- ted to the design phase of the upgrades to the Sea - forth Sewage Plant only - it is a proactive step to pro- vide options but any con- struction could be years away. Norovirus outbreak in Huron County, Vanastra Daycare potentially affected Shaun Gregory Huron Expositor Suffering from stomach pain or fever? Disregard the thought of the flu, you may very well be one of several people affected by a norovi- rus in Huron County. The Huron County Health Unit has announced an "out- break" of norovirus in the region, with the highly con- tagious illness falling right on track with its habitual winter season. The better part of the sick- ness - which draws its name from Norwalk, Ohio where it is said the first outbreak hap- pened in 1968 - lasts a day or two. The most common symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea. "We are seeing (this) all throughout Huron County with all different age groups," stated Huron County Health Unit public health inspector Jessica Van Geffen. According to Van Geffen, noroviruses can pack a punch with only a limited amount of contact between person-to-person, with the young and elderly often being more vulnerable to the virus due to their weaker immune systems, she said. "(It's) a really nasty bug because it doesn't take a lot of the actual virus to make you sick," Van Geffen said Feb. 9, the same day her organization posted a media release, while also mentioning it does not totally leave your system and it's possible for reinfection. "Your body doesn't really fill the immunity." Van Geffen said the virus may also have surfaced at the Vanastra Early Child- hood Learning Centre, with some children presenting symptoms similar to those of a norovirus. However, Van Geffen said it has not been confirmed to be the virus. Though the virus is cur- rently considered an out- break, Van Geffen told the Expositor when places such as daycares and retire- ment homes notify the Heath Unit, it only takes three people to be affected in a small area to signify the somewhat alarming term. The easiest way to contract a norovirus is from hand contact, so she urges Huron County residents to wash their hands frequently with Huron County Health Unit issued an outbreak for the norovirus. soap and warm water. "It also can be on surfaces, so clean and disinfect com- monly touched surfaces, door knobs, telephones, remote controls and key- boards," she noted. Van Geffen said there could be more cases out there since "most people don't commonly go to the doctor for it." If you come in contact with the virus, here are two useful tips to recover: -Drink lots of fluids to pre- vent dehydration. -Stay home and rest for at least 72 hours. There is currently no med- icine or vaccine to treat peo- ple with the norovirus illness.