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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-11-06, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, November 6, 1991 Candidates look for votes, answer public's questions By Adrian Harte Teta-Adrocab editor EXETER - The very first question at last Wednes- day evening's all -candidates meeting came right out of left field. While most of the 10 candidates had ex- pected questions about taxes, the economy, and plan- ning, a woman stood up in the audience of about 50 people gathered in the fire hall board room and asked if council had considered setting up a reliable day care facility in town. Incumbent candidate Ben Hoogenboom was the first to address the question. He said that when one was looked into in 1973 no interest was expressed. He also noted today there are two excellent nursery schools operating in town that meet some of the need for child care. "I don't need the day care, but I do sympathize," said Hoogenboom. Councillor candidate Don Winter agreed that care - giving is a necessity for some families and said coun- cil might consider it "but watch out for cost". Incumbent reeve Bill Mickle said the issue had not been brought before council in a long time, but agreed it may be a legitimate concern worth considering. However, he said financial constraints could prevent the introduction of a day care program for at least a year. Incumbent councillor Dave Urlin noted that with many young families in town the time for a day care may have come. He suggested that the youth centre or recreation centre might already be an ideal location. Incumbent councillor Ervin Sillery said government grants are available to establish and operate day care centres and that a Tuckersmith program has been run- ning well for several years. Q•Hoogenboom was quizzed about his suggestion the town could cut back on its wage budget by requir- ing days off in lieu of overtime. "If a person has worked a day overtime, they should take a day off in lieu of overtime [pay]," said Hoogen- boom, who said he was concerned that the town's po- licing budget has grown from 159,000 since 1973 to approximately a half million dollars. "I'm quite happy with our police force, don't get me wrong..but it has to stop somewhere," he added. Q•The reeve candidates were asked what restraints on spending were being made at the county council level. Mickle replied that he has taken "a very hard line" on county spending, but he pointed out Exeter has only two votes on the council. However, he said he and deputy -reeve Lossy Fuller were able to lobby for a cap on the museum project budget, but have not yet got one for the Huronview Nursing Home projects. While the Waste Management Master Plan is expen- sive, Mickle conceded that he didn't think "any one municipality in Huron County could go that route by themselves". Seaforth tried and failed, he noted. Mickle did agree the focus of municipal taxation has shifted. While the town used to keep 48 percent of tax- es collected, that has dropped to 38 percent with the re- mainder going to the county and the board of educa- tion. Challenger Harry Klungel noted that while the county budget went up nine percent this year, he asked "what do we really get from the county council?" Mickle replied that the health unit, social services, the libraries, and the county roads are some of the things administered at the county level. Klungel said he was concerned that many programs are, "implemented by staff without county council ap- proval." Mickle disagreed, saying that impression was "totally false" and that the relevant committees all present re- ports to the council for debate and approval. "The elected people have control of what's going on up there," insisted Mickle. Q•Hoogenboom was asked why he spoke out against raising impost fees on new lots in town. He re- plied that council has to be careful because there is in- terest in building in Stephen Township "practically at our doorstep". When responding to the suggestion that the present $750 lot impost fee is "cheap", he said subdividers are already required to install streets, sewers, and other ser- vices, to the tune of about $17,000 per lot. "Let's not price ourself out of the building market," said Hoogenboom. Q•Councillor candidate Tom Humphreys was asked if this term he would have the time commitment avail- able to spend on town council mauers. Humphreys was a councillor from 1981-88. He replied that his present position with Northern Telecom now allows him six weeks holiday a year, which he can take at random so that he can attend meetings. Q•Humphreys was also asked why he favoured a sewage treatment plant for the town when the system had to be upgraded. Reeve's chair and six councilsats up for grabs He answered that the lagoon system is unable to be expanded any further due to the capacity of the Ausa- ble River and a treatment plant is a necessary, but ex- pensive option. Humphreys was asked how the sewer system could be expanded when the Anne Street sewer has trouble with the present capacity. He agreed that Anne Street has its problems which would require a separate solu- tion. Hoogenboom agreed with Humphreys, saying that a treatment plant is likely to be a main item an the next council's agenda so that a development freeze can be prevented. (:).The candidates were asked whether development had to continue, no matter what the cost of a sewage treatment plant. Hoogenboom agreed "these are some of the ques- tions council will have to ask". Klungel said he doubted the warnings that the present sewage system is at its capacity. "How do we really know at this time an expansion is needed?" he asked. Works superintendent Glenn Kelps replied that the problem is not the lagoons, but the river, into which they can be discharged only twice a year. A treatment' plant's cleaner output would allow more flow into the river. Q•A woman at the back of the room said that coun- cil minutes show that there were only 10 council meet- ings in 1990 at which all council members were present. In 1991, that happened only three times. She asked if councillors should be paid the fixed per diem rate they now receive, or a per -meeting rate to encour- age better attendance. Hoogenboom responded by saying he has only missed one council meeting in the past 10 years. Councillor candidate Don Winter promised good at- tendance, as did Bert Branderhorst who said he has al- ready cut down his vacation plans to two weeks. ' Councillor candidate Robert Spears said he has missed few planning meetings, but said he did not fa- vour a per -meeting fee because it encouraged the crea- tion of unnecessary meetings. "You shouldn't expect to get extra pay for extra meetings," he argued. Councillor candidate Robert Drummond said he fa- voured the per -meeting rate and that councillors should not get a "blank cheque at the beginning of the year" regardless of attendance. Urlin said with the extra committees he sits on, he averages seven meetings a month, and that he hasn't missed many. Mickle conceded he had "missed a few" meetings, but said he was not ashamed of the amount of time he has put into the town's affairs, which totalled 1,200 hours the one year he kept track of it. Mickle said that meetings are only part of a council member's duties and no one .keeps track of the frequent visits to the town office. Sillery said he was also not in favour of the per. meeting rate and said that council meetings are not everything. Councillors have to remain up to date, re- gardless of attendance. Klungel pointed out he missed only three meetings each year. Q•Robert Spears was asked whether or not council should be considering alternate traffic routes through town to relieve Main Street congestion. He said that while the subject has been often dis- cussed at planning meetings, there are cost factors to consider, and which residential areas could receive the traffic. "If you flow traffic away from the downtown of Ex eter, that's going to be a problem. The retailers aren't going to like it," he said. Q•Hoogenboom was asked if Exeter's plan to sell and zoneindustrial land at the north end of town had been as much of a success as hoped. Hoogenboom said that while plans were in the world to encourage three or four smaller industries to locate in the town, the industrial land had seen more relocat tions of existing industries than new ones. "Has it provided more jobs to the community? 1 would say no," said Hoogenboom. "It's there, and hopefully we will have some changes there in the next year." Q•Winter was asked why he did not favour the clo- sure of the town dump in favour of a county site since the local landfill is leaking leachate, is in a low-lying area, and is nearing capacity. Winter replied that he had "a problem with those ex- perts up there. They're garbage experts". He said he did not favour the "semi -regionalization" that would require only one northern -county dump. Why could there not be two or three landfill sites? he asked. Mickle pointed out that 1997 is the earliest a county landfill can be expected to be open, so Exeter will need to expand its present site before then, likely at less cost than trucking garbage for those years. ert randerhorst Branderhorst is a retired farmer and former Tuckersmith councillor who moved to Exeter last March. He spoke of his moving to Iowa from Holland in 1949, and then to a farm in the Hensall area as part of a family of 12. Branderhorst said his reason for running for council was that he felt he had the time and experience to serve the ratepayers. He said that the present high un- employment rate meant council had to keep local taxes down. "I don't believe any government can borrow itself out of debt," said; Branderhorst. He also said he was concerned about environmental issues. "This earth can only take care of our needs and not our greeds," said Branderhorst. Robert rummond The former Tuckersmith council- lor and former director of the Hen- sall and District Co -Op said his main concern is to "tighten the rein on public spending." He said local plant shut downs will be hard on the local economy and council must make an effort to keep taxes down. "We may be on hard times now, but with the businesses closing we will be on harder times," said Drummond. Without being specific, Drum- mond also questioned the necessity of some espy projects the town has undertaken in past years, and he said council must work harder to get taxpayers the "best value for our dollar". Ben Hoogenboom Incumbent candidate Ben Hoo- genboom has been chairman of the public works committee and a member of the executive committee of council. He said in the last election he had three concerns as his campaign platform: the relocation of the fire hall, the ongoing conflict with the county planning department, and that the town was not getting its share of provincial capital funding. The fire department has since been relocated, an agreement has been reached with county planning, and the supplements from the province through the ministry of transporta- tion and the PRIDE program have allowed large capital projects to per. This election, said Hoogenboom, his concerns include trying to keep Exeter competitive with surround- ing municipalities. Tom Humphreys Humphreys served as a council- lor from 1981 to 1988 and was a member of the recreation and ce- metery boards. He noted that in the three years he has been away from council, a lot has changed. The new fire hall has been built, town administrator Rick Hundey was hired, and new subdivisions have begun. But, he said Free Trade has had an impact on local jobs, the reces- sion is being felt, and the GST is hurting sales. "In general__ bditions are not good," said Humphreys. "Busi- nesses must be encouraged to lo- cate in Exeter. Industries must be encouraged to locate in Exeter." The town itself, he said, will be needing to look at expanding its servicing capacity including more landfill capacity, and a sewage treatment plant. Bill Mickle As the incumbent reeve candi- date, Mickle pointed to his experi- ence as chairman of the Ontario Small Urban Municipalities associ- ation and his work as the founding president of Exandarea Meadows. Exeter, he said, is a great town, but is facing challenges of future development, the way in which it relates to other governments, and 09/JALit A!c ed. Mickle said he saw "so many dif- ferent scenario" for Exeter's future, and said council must work to max- imize the situation. Otherwise, he waned there could be a develop- ment freeze, and lower provincial transfer payments under restructur- ing and "disentanglement". • "The situation is going to force us to be more careful with our budget and the way we spend taxes," said Midde. Mickle said Exeter has to make sure county restructuring does not wort " to the detriment of small municipalities", and he said OSUM has taken a strong stand an the is- sue also. He said growth in the town has caused pressures for increased ser- vicing, land rezoning, but growth must continue. "We cannot stand still, for if we do, we will deteriorate," said Mick - le. Harry Klungel The challenger for reeve council- lor in this last term, said he not only was a former Hensali reeve, but was the owner and operator of Queensway Nursing Home, and is a past director of South Huron Com- munity Living. He said one woman told him in his door-to-door canvass that Mor- ley Hall was the best councillor in _Exeter for his work in bringing the blue box program to town. "Maybe we should have the same attitude toward composters," said Klungel, pointing out that compost - able waste makes up about 18 per- cent of garbage volume. Policing, said Klungel represents a "large chunk of money" in the town budget, and said a reasonable balance has to be found between the size of the force and prevention of crime. Klungel told the audience his suggestion earlier this year to the police that a bike patrol should be established was not taken too seri- ously at the time, but has since be- come a successful part of the pollee beat. The reeve candidate also pointed to the town's traffic congestion and argued for more traffic lights in or- der to protect pedestrian children and seniors. Ervin Sillery The incumbent councillor candi- date is a retired farmer who said he has been interested in politics for a long time. Sillery said he could remember a political rally in Exeter when prime minister R.B. Bennet came to speak. Sillery said that while many com- plain about taxes and call for cut- backs, he pointed out many issues are "beyond town council" to con- trol. In reference to Winter's com- ments, Sillery said that local land- fill sites are very expensive to es- tablish and maintain. Even though a county -wide site may seem ex- pensive, it may be cheaper than the alternative. "Being on council the past three years has been a wonderful experi- ence," said Sillery, noting that he has been pleased to see many of his recommendations put into practice. i itt3bert—gpears Spears, who has been a member of the town planning committee for the past 10 years, moved to Exeter in 1979 and has worked with the Scouts and is a charter member of the Optimists. "I believe in giving back as much to the town as it gives us," said Spears. He said that the boom economy of the 1980s led to high govern- ment spending and high debt. "Te '90s present a different sce- nario," he said, pointing out that lower consumer spending and doubts about Canadian industry be- ing able to compete on the world market did not help. "Therefore jobs are continually leaving the country," said Spears, saying that these pressures are go- ing to make municipalities function more efficiently and be "vigilant and skeptical of the actions of the province government". Dave Urlin Urlin, and incumbent candidate for councillor, is chairman of the recreation centre committee and is a member of the police committee. Urlin spoke of his family support for his past term on council and said he was proud of his achieve- ments on council and committees. He noted that the recreation cen- tre adds about $75 per household to the town tax rate and serves about 35-40,000 people each year. Urlin called it "one of the most efficient arenas and facilities in the area. Urlin also said his term on the ton police committee was a learn- ing experience which he would like to continue if re-elected. �.r Don Winter Winter, a past member of the planning and development commit- tee, told the audience he had only one message to offer them and that was a warning about too -high tax- es. "We am rapidly reaching our lim- it to pay our bills and cost must be controlled," said Winter. He said that county re- organization is a main concern to him because he sees opportunities for municipalities to pay even high- er taxes to cover the costs. He cited the plan to introduce a county -wide landfill site, which he termed a state-of-the-art "single lo- cation superdump". He said that the county appears to have given no consideration to municipalities, such as Exeter, which will be locat- ed a long way from the eventual site and may have to pay transpor- tation costs for its garbage.