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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-09-16, Page 28• Pape 28 Times -Advocate, September 16. 1992 So. Everything a go for Grand Bend's annexation on Jan. 1 By Pred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEND - la's a done deal. Effective January 1, 1993, Oland Bend will annex 150 acres from Bo- sanquet Township and 450 acres from Stephen Township. The boundary application was first made back in 1984 and the reasoning for the expansion has remained the same More land for more Grand Bend development which consulting engineers say could see the village's pro- jected population boom to 3,223 by the year 2008. Last month, representatives from the five major groups involved; Grand Benj; Bosanquet Township, Stephen Township, Huron County and Lamb - ton County, met in London with the assistant Deputy Minister of Munici- pal Affairs. "He reviewed the whole procedure again. A lot of times, one municipali- ty isn't in favour of it," said Stephen reeve Tom Tomes who attended the meeting. i For the past three years, the Lambton Boundary Application Committee has met with Grand Bend, Stephen and Bosanquet and after many detailed reports and public meetings, it looks as though this issue will finally come New housing lots in Zurich ZURICH - Steve Haberer attend- ed Thurillifs council meeting to give an spate on the progress Of his connpltrs 14 lot subdivision, the third *me of Parkside SYert. He said- the devkj nicer ripse- ment with the village mans ac- ceptable and added that the whole plan only needs some "fine tuning" by his engineer before it all goes ahead. Haberer said the project's biggest stumbling block has been to get approval from the Conserva- tion Authority and the fact that the Ministry of the Environment has only given verbal approval and nothing in writing. "Steve, if there's anything we can do..." offered reeve Bob Fisher, who added that problems with the MOE are common among Huron municipalities. The subdivision plan includes a walkway, but since the street is right beside the community park, there is no need to set aside park- land for a park as per a normal sub- division agreement An alternative is for the developer to pay the mu- nicipality five percent of the value of the undeveloped land. "Which amounts to a little over $1,000," said Haberer. Councillor Barb Jeffrey asked if a bridge would be built over the drain and Hebert!' replied he had consid- ezed giving "people direct access to the park, just pedestrian traffic." "'lite cost of that bridge could be' considerably more than $1,100...as much as I would like to do it, it might cost $10,000 or $15,000," he said and noted it too would need engineering and ABCA approval. Haberer said he would, for the moment, like to leave his options open. "The bridge is the better deal," said Haberer, "But I don't want to be obligated to putting in a $20,00() bridge." Council agreed they had no ob- jection to leaving the options open. Haberer also expressed confi- dence in his development, saying there does appear -to -be a demand • for new building lots in Zurich. Exeter to plow Main Street EXETER - When you see a snow plow touring along Exeter's Main Street this winter, it won't be from the Ministry of Transportation. In- stead, the town's awn works depart- ment will be taking over plowing duties in accordance with a new agreement with the ministry. Since the MTO relocated its Grand Bend road yard to Port Franks, Exeter found itself in the middle of a "no -mans land" be- tween London, Stratford, and Port Franks offices. Consequently, the MTO deckled Exeter might be bet- ter off taking pare of its own Main Street portion of Highway 4, with the ministry picking up 90 percent of the post. Previously. the MTO plowed Main Street with the town billed for 10 percent of the cost. Works superintendent Glenn Kells told council that the extra maintenance will likely require one additional full-time person on duty for the winter months. Council will also be looking at an agreement with the ministry to es- tablish a connecting link for High- way 83 similar to the agreement for Highway 4 (Main Street). The agreement would give the town ju- risdiction over driveways and prop- erty setbacks. Otte drawback to the proposal is that the ministry still appears to tx pursuing the idea of downgrading Highway 83 to a county road - P plan opposed both by Exeter coun cit and county cotutail. 44 to rest in the new year. Tomes said it just needs the government to approve the final agreement. it will go to the minister and then be reviewed by the cabinet," said Tomes. He said the reason the meeting in London took place was because the Lambton Boundary Application Committee made the application but it does not have jurisdiction over Huron County or Stephen Township. So, representatives from the ministry just wanted to make certain all parties agreed. Tomes added one reason there was no disagreement was that the three municipalities decided to form a Liaison Committee to meet on a regular basis, although the ministry highly recommended no such committee be established. When they did meet, they seemed to be able to iron things out. "It was opposed by the ministry but we went ahead anyway," said Tomes. Stephen Township council are not happy about losing some of their rate- payers but they agree it's in the best interest for the entire area. Grand Bend mayor Torn Lawson said the agreement may not be perfect but it is a step in the right direction. "It's allowing several subdivisions that have been on hold, to go ahead," said Lawson. One of those developments is Green Forest Estates which has been on hold for several years and now, and it now appears as though new houses will soon be -built. While Grand Bend will have about 130 new ratepayers from Bosanquet, there are few residents to be gained from Stephen. "Not a whole bunch, it's more of a land thing," said Lawson of the 450 acres coming from Stephen. After many years of ongoing diprssion, he is glad it has come to an end. "It shows co-operation with your 'ghbours does work." One of the original agreements'in the draft report prepared by the Boun- dary Application Committeeago, was that an election be held in November, 1992 so the new ratella ers of Bosanquet can have a voice in the current municipal government. Lawson said that election will no take place and it will be a financial saving to the village. 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