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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1989-12-06, Page 34Page 34 Times -Advocate D : e r.1 Briefs council on road study TUCKERSMITH - Bill Kelley, from the engineering firm of B.G. Kelley, appeased before Tucker - smith Council ast Tuesday night to go over the oads Needs study that had been commissioned by the Township. The study, recommended by the Ministry of Transportation as a guideline in determining the government's allocation of supple- mentary funds for Township road, bridge and equipment improvement and upgrading, has been in the works for quite some time and was admittedly ".. put on the back burn- er" by Kelley Engineering. The study, which examined all of the roads and bridges in Tucker - smith Township with regards to present conditions 'and necessary maintenance over a five-year period, recommends that over $4 million would ideally ensure that the Tuck- ersmith road system would be re- paired and maintained to its opti- mum state. Extra expenditures on equipment upgrading and repairs would push this figure well into the $5 million mark. Mr. Kelley briefed Council mem- Anniversary Pat Pollock (centre) was honoured for 25 years of service as an employee of the Bank of Montreal. She is congratulated by Hensall branch manager Sandra Rivett and Wes Nelson, area manag- er for Huron -Perth. Hidden taxes worry PUC EXETER - The 'tax portion of utility bills in Ontario may sky- rocket ky- roket if the Goods and Services Tax takes effect in 1991. The Ex- eter PUC were discussing "hid- den" taxes on utility bills •at their meeting last Wednesday, and were concerned ratepayers could be hit with a substantial increase within the next few years. Taxes currently account for six percent of every hydro bill, but if the proposed nine percent GST comes into effect in January 1991, that taxed portion rises to 15 per- cent. The Municipal Electric Associa- tion has also suggested that taxing hydro with the federal GST sets a dangerous precedent for taxation, possibly paving the way for the province to apply its eight percent sales tax to utility bills. "Nobody seems to be cutting Merit awards USBORNE TOWNSIIIP - Rcpresentatives of Imp] branches of the Womcns 1n= - stitules were presented with certificates of merit by Reeve Gerry Prout at the November 21 meeting of township coun- cil in recognition of their con- tribution to organizing blue box recycling in Usbornc. Fresh tar and chip on paved, roads in the township, and they possible purchase of a new road grader were discussed as projects for 1990.' The purchase of a S25 can- dy tray to be presented to the - History Book Committee was approved. Additional com- mittee members' are Mervin and Nolen Shute, and Bill and Louise Pincombe. any spending," said mayor Bruce Shaw. "It's tax, tax, tax. I'd sym- pathize with anyone who started a revolution against tax - and this is a Conservative speaking too." • The Exeter PUC continues to do battle with Canadian National Railways over the rental of CN land by the utility. The PUC sent a letter of protest to the railway's real estate division protesting the increase in rental for a hydro line right-of-way. The 1984 rent of S450 will be increasing to S2,022 for 1990. PUC manager Hugh Davis said he was told by CN that the new rental was based on a land value of S27,000 per acre. Davis then said a check with Exeter's building official, Dave Moyer, confirmed that land has been typically selling lor around 515,000 in town lately. Davis will.bc sending the new in- formation directly to CN. "Hopefully, they'll reconsider," said Davis. Pay Equity information has been sent off to the provincial committee for evaluation, said Davis. "It all has to be in place by the end of the year," said commissioner Harry DeVries. Davis agreed, but said the Pay Equity association is so far behind in its work that a point system for comparing the wage scales of utili- ty employees is still a long way off. Any adjustments in salaries, would be retroactive to January 1990 any- way, stated Davis. "To my mind, Pay Equity is an extremely unfair way of evaluating wages," said Davis. Shaw agreed, noting there was no provision in the legislation to com- pensate underpaid male employees should a disparity be found. BcII- Canada will be installing new equipment in its switching of- fice next year, and has requested the PUC install a three-phase sup- ply for its use. Davis said the supply would cost the utility about $14,000, but the revenue generated by the telephone office would not be enough to war- rant . the expenditure. The PUC manager said the utility will be looking for a capital contribution of. S11-12,000 before installing the service. The PUC also re-elected its com- mittee for 1990, with Murray Greene remaining as chairman and Harry DeVries as vice-chairman. bers on the contents and methods of the study. The roads, both paved and gravel, were graded on a scale of 0 to 5, with both present condition and expected condition (within the next 3-5 years) taken into considera- tion. A road graded as a '3', for in- stance, may be adequate now, but will possibly be inadequate within 5 years, after calculating stress and either a maintained or increased lev- el of traffic volume. The study's figures show that it would take a total- of $3 million dollars to bring inadequate roads up to standard, and an additional $773,000 to maintain them over the next 5 years. Gravel roads, Mr. Kelley stated, "..are either deficient now, or they won't bedeficient (within 5 years) because maintenance is supposed to maintain that road's efficiency." A number of Council members commented on the study's projected figures. "This report is a bit of fiction versus reality," Deputy Reeve Bill Carnochan remarked, noting that Tuckersmith Township has no - Lifetime member - The Huron Lodge 224 Masons have made Stan Love, (centre) a resident of the Queensway Nursing Home, a lifetime member of their lodge. Love has been a Mason for about 45 years, and received his certificate of lifetime membership on Friday from Jack Lavender (left) and Charles Hay. where near the financial resources to cover their estimated share of ex- penditures if the Road Needs study was used as a yardstick. • Mr. Kelley replied that the Town- ship's share of upgrading and main- tenance costs would be determined by the Ministry's subsidy contribu- tion. He also noted that the level of service to the Township's roads should be consistent with the roads' uses. "Some townships are trying to operate as County road systems." he said. "You can't maintain it to the same system level and people can't expect that." Varna by Joan Beierling VARNA - Sunday, December 3 marked the first Sunday of Advent Worship Service in Varna Church. Rev. Sam Parker told the Chil- dren's Story on the lighting of the Purple Candle, which is the Candle . of Repentance, and Barbara Ann Parker read why we light this can- dle. Jordan Parker helped tolight the candle. Michael Stephenson and Darcy Rathwell received the offering. Concert The Sunday School is busy pre- paring for The Mystery of the Bells Concert to be held at the Complex on December 17 at 12 noon. Each family is asked to bring sandwiches and dessert for a pot luck lunch. Next Sunday, December 10 is the Second Sunday of Advent with an- other family taking part in the can- dle.lighting. Coming events Varna U.C.W.- meeting is Thurs- day, December 7 at 6:15 p.m. This is to be a pot luck supper. Monday, December 11 at 10 a.m. the boxes for. the shut-ins "will be packed at the church. Anyone hav- ing anything for these boxes may drop it off at Church on Sunday or bring it Monday morning. Youth Group will be Thursday, December 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Sam Parker's house. Tickets available New Year's Eve tickets arc still available and may be bought from Deb Rathwell at 233-9153, Sandra Johnson at 263-2623 or Clarence Rau at 236-4698 after 6 p.m. Personals Marg - McClymont has returned home from the hospital and is wished a speedy recovery! makes Christmas Wishes come true with the selections of the season! A• For over 33 years, Fincher's has been devoted to making "Christmas Wishes come true!" By serving our customers needs through convenience and better selection at the time of year when you need it most, we know you'll find "Gifts Galore" at the best price possi- ble...and that's .a "Wish come true!" 3 DAYS ONLY! 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