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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-07-24, Page 1• OAR RENTALS DAILY • WEEKLY • MOMTNLY GUAVOPORMINAVOWE AKPLACEJ NT NEUW • Q„gpbN A,to J dw ft QWm Su 23 -3381 or 238-8839 atter ours Gr Gaiser-Kneaie insurance Service Experience & Value 235-2420 Serving South Huron Inside Ambassador contest Zurich Fair this weekend page 9 Gala Days More than turtles in Ailsa Craig page 24 Zurich considering two -zone approach ZURICH - In an effort to im- prove the amount of developable land within village boundaries, Zu- rich council is pursuing the possi- bility of having elevations redesig- nated under a two -zone approach with the Ausable Bayfield Conser- vation Authority. Council and developers found themselves at odds with the ABCA in May when it was discovered at least two planned streets would lie well below allowable flood eleva- tions. However, discussion with the Conservation Authority has re- vealed that a two -zone method of dividing floodplain lands from the undevelopable floodway might im- prove the situation. At last Thursday's meeting, coun- cil approved a study which will cost up to $4,000 to determine if the recent deepening of the Zurich drain will have an effect on flood elevations in the village. Engineers, have already indicated that such a benefit is likely. Overnight breakins EXETER - The Exeter Police De- partment are investigating a series of breakins which occured late Monday night, or early Tuesday morning. Officers were at both the Hasty Market at the .south end of Main Street and Exeter Chrysler on the north end. "The incidents arc under investi- gation," said Exeter constable Brad Powell. He would not elaborate and wokld not say if there were more than just two breakins. Powell said any additional information the po- lice were to give, might hamper the investigation. North Middleseal & Lambton No crisis, says gov't 75 cents Nippa asks Lucan to drop landfill purchase idea LUCAN - In an attempt to con- vince Lucan to halt any ideas of buying the C.H. Lewis dump, Petr Nippa approached council Monday night. Nippa, who won a precedent - setting court case to have the dump closed, felt there is no I�vvay the landfill should be re-openf. .. ' "I heard Biddulph and Lucan are interested in purchasing the dump and expropriating us," said Nippa. "The village of Lucan at this time has no motion on the table to buy the dunip. We do know what it involves if we do buy it," said Iru- can reeve Larry Hotson. Nippa's property is next to Lew- is' dump which remains closed since the end of May. A provincial court judge ruled in favour of Nip - pa partly on the basis that Nippa could no longer farm organically. The judge awarded him $100,000 in damages. Since the closure of the landfill, Lucan has had to transport its gar- bage to Kent County. Nippa erld Hotson had different opinions on how much it would cost the village to transport garbage to the Kent site. Nippa thought it was only an ad- ditional $1 per household while Hotson said it will cost, in total, an additional $45,000 per year. "We will pay whatever we have to to get rid of the garbage," said Hotson. "We haven't solved anything. We're just causing more pollution by hauling it," he added. Monday night, it was no d out by both Hotson and councillor Tom McLaughlin that Nippa had failed g to contact the municipal office to be put on the evening's agenda, and even questioned his right to attend. "I don't think it has anything to do with you. You live in Biddulph Township " said McLaughlin. Nippa s( emed upset with the vil- lage coun illors for not attending the court proceedings. "I wish someone from your coun- cil had been at the court hearing and seen the evidence," said Nippa. Council has also °received a letter from Middlesex MPP Irene Ma- thyssen, in regards to questions they had about the landfill. Mathyssen noted the landfill in Kent County is the closest one which is certified to take garbage from the Lucan area. She also noted the village's hard- ship does not constitute an emer- gency under the Environmental Protection Act because an alterna- tive site is available. Zurich to spend another 7$13 ,GOO on sewer mystery ZURICH - The search into the mysterious problems of the Zurich sewer system continues, and the cost of the search continues to rise. Zurich village council are convinced that there is a source of water mak- ing its way into the municipal sanitary sewer system, but individual house inspections and a smoke test have been unable to uncover the problem. Village works employees have noticed that an unusually high amount of sewage makes its way to the lagoon treatment system, more than should be coming from a community of Zurich's size. If the problem cannot be found, then the village may be forced to enlarge the treatment system that was built in the early 1970s. Rainfall also appears to have a larger effect on the amount of water flowing through the sewers than it should have. "We know there's a problem - we just have to find it," said clerk - treasurer Maureen Simmons. "Our flows are out of whack with our popu- lation." Consequently, council approved at their meeting Thursday evening a new study to photograph the interior of the sewer system in an effort to find cracks or inlets where a source of clean water is making its way in- correctly into the sanitary system. The study will cost some $13,000 plus taxes. Softening the financial blow of what is becoming a very trouble- some problem, is a Ministry of the Environment grant which will pay up to 85 percent of the inspection cost. However, once a problem is found, the MOE will only pick up the tab on third of the cost of the repairs, leaving the village with the rest of the bill. Hang on tight - Grand Bend reeve Bruce Woodley tried to convince this very large elephant not to get up in such a hurry during Wednesday's Kelly -Miller Circus. The Grand Bend and Area Chamber of 'Commfirce sponsored the Ciret�s.w!i h a&4 eldy t the P• =lake ConservationPark. Bus service choices to be finalized by Labour Day LONDON - Former riders of the Cha -Co Trails bus service through Hensall, Exeter and Lu - can may have to wait a little while longer to find out if their connec- tion will return to the area. Coach service was dropped in June when Cha -Co consolidated two routes into one. The bus now goes through Grand Bend and Parkhill and misses the section of Highway 4 on which travellers to" London from Hensall, Exeter and' Lucan could catch it. Those most affected by the route change were seniors groups, students and other members of the public without cars. Exeter council complained about the loss of service, pointing out that the bus lines represented the last form of public transportation left in the South Huron area since passenger train service disap- peared decades ago. Council had hoped to meet with Cha -Co offi- cials to discuss the possibility of bringing the service back to town. Steve Scharien, a spokesman for Cha -Co in London, told the Tinter Advocate that bringing the bus back was still being discussed at the company. "We haven't actually come to any concrete decision at this time," said Scharien, but said he expected schedules would be revised and fi- nalized by Labour Day. By then, Hensall, Exeter and Lu - can will either become permanent parts of the bus routes, or will be permanently eliminated, explained Scharicn. "I would say we would extend service to Exeter, but that's just a guess right now," said Scharien. Reform Party says government 'out of control', preaches responsibility By Adrian Harte GRAND BEND - Maggie Visscher told the audi- ence assembled at the Grand Cove Estates Clubhouse Saturday morning that dissatisfaction with the current Canadian government accomplishes little. That is why, she explained, she joined the Reform Party. "i believe this party may be able to address the chal- lenges of the future," said Visscher, who is presently the interim vice-president of the party's Huron -Bruce riding association. The Reform Party is becoming something of a politi- cal phenomenon in Canada. With a core of support in the western provinces, it leader Preston Manning has been travelling the nation, preaching his vision of a more responsible government. Visscher introduced Norm Gurr, a retired teacher and Southampton councillor who mainly spoke on the party's platform of rationalizing the nation s tax struc- ture at the informational meeting. "Wherever you go," said Gurr, "people arc com- plaining." He said concerns over the economy and growing un- employment are all rooted in a common cause: the fis- cal irresponsibility of the federal government. Gurr pointed out that in 1984 the federal govern- ment had a deficit of some $80 billion, but that deficit has now soared to $400 billion, and is still growing at a rate of $58,000 per minute. "They've lost control," warned Gurr, adding that ef- forts just to pay the interest on the deficit have pushed the total tax bill for Canadians to over 50 percent of their earnings. income tax represents only 37 percent of all taxes. High interest rates have been caused by the banks ef- forts to keep investment in Canada, and thus support the deficit, have hurt the economy, said Gun. "it has cost us as Canadians our jobs," he said, say- ing that industries arc leaving the country in droves to seek the more profitable tax structures of the United States. "What the Reform Party is saying is this - we're go- ing to balance the budget in three years, by law,' said • Gurr, adding that could only be achieved by eliminat- ing expensive and wasteful government grants, stud- ies, subsidies and programs. Gurr suggested eliminating official bilingualism would free up billions, striking a chord with the Grand Cove residents. Gurr also said crown corporations were inherently inefficient and should be sold off. The interim riding association president then touched on the Reform Party's stand on current unrest in Quebec. He explained that Preston Manning has suggested that the predominantly francophone prov- ince be asked to seriously consider what they would need in the Constitution to meet their needs. But if an agreement could not be reached, keeping Quebec as a province equal to the rest, then it should be allowed to separate. We will come up with a solution ,that will make everybody happy," said Gurr optimistically, predicting that Quebecers would eventually realize they are better off as part of Canada than to stand alone. Gurr also said the Reform Party would like to sec the Free Trade Agreement renegotiated to better favour the development of stronger Canadian industry. He also said the party would insist on eliminating foreign tariffs that prevent the export of Canadian farm prod- ucts. "I ask you, if Mulroney will do [all this), or McLaughlin, or Cretien, or Copps," challenged Gurr, who said the Reform movement is capturing support across the nation at a surprising rate. "We are the largest party in Canada at this moment," said Gurr, saying that the organization is working on a 500 -day plan to be ready for the next federal election expected in the fall of 1992. The Reform Party presents a new approach to House of Common's procedure. Using frequent plebiscites to gauge public opinion in each riding, MPs would be al- lowed to vote according to the wishes of their constitu- ents, not according to party policy. Some have argued that will make the passage of unpopular but necessary k illation impossibbic, but Gurr said it relies on the sense of the average voter. "We believe in the common sense of the ordinary Canadian," said Gurr. While the present government has devoted consider- able time and expense to getting public opinion on how to improve the nation, namely the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future, Gurr said the Reform Party has been on that track all along. "When the Spicer Commission report came out, I couldn't believe it. it was the Reform Party platform," insisted Gurr. When asked by one of the audience if another fcder- al party was just another way to divide the govern- ment, Gurr said there was only one division. "We believe it's them and us," he said. "The rest are all the same - they get elected and they spend." Gurr said the Reform Party is prepared to expect a full 40 percent of the popular vote in the next election. When asked if the party had any connections with APEC (the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada), Gurr said no, and added there was no place for extremists in the Reform movement. The party is only interested in the views of normal Canadians, not radicals. Tough talk on taxes - Norm Gurr of Southampton brought his Reform Party philosophy to the Grand Cove Estates clubhouse Saturday morning for over 100 residents who arrived to hear how the party plans to win the next election. The information meeting was the result of a Grand Cove invitation and was not open to the general ouhlie.