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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-09-22, Page 3IN THF NFWS Times -Advocate, September 22,1993 Pap• 3 Sod turii.i 1g ,for Exeter %'ilia expansion The Exeter Villa held an official sod turning last Wednes- day afternoon to mark construction on a new wing on the east side of the building. From left are Villa resident Mary Brown, president of Kannampuzha Holdings Tom Kannam- puzha, president of the resident's council Bob Ellerington, citizens committee chairman Ross Haugh, MP Murray Car- diff, and mayor Bruce Shaw. The addition will create 17 new nursing home beds, with the possibility for up to 30 new beds in the future. Paint collection days set for local communities EXETER - What are you going to do with that paint leftover from re -doing the living room? If you don't think you'll be needing that . colour again, a collection program being held in several local munici- palities will take it off your hands to prevent it ending up in the dump. Old tires found dumped on Hay Township roadside e.EXETHR - Used tires are being dumped on local.roadways, say the Exeter OPP, who are looking for information to help prosecute those responsible. Last Monday, the OPP investigat- ed a report of about 50 old tires found dumped at a Hay Township roadside. Some of the tires were still on rims, note police. More than 30 tires were found dumped at a Conservation Authority in Ste- phen Township last month. The OPP say they are investigat- ing some suspects in this latest inci- dent, but are welcoming any tips the public might have to offer in the case, particularly if anyone wit- nessed the dumping. Calls are wel- comed at the Exeter detachment, or at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-265- 1777. Not only does indiscriminate dumping concern the property own- ers involved, but also violates the Environmental Protection Act, say police. "As far as I know, the township has to pick them up," said constable Ray Jack at the OPP, which means the cost of disposing of the tires will be borne by local taxpayers. Boy on, bicycle escapes with minor injuries EXETER - A nine year old boy escaped with minor injuries after ‘his bicycle was struck by a car in Huron Park last Wednesday. The Exeter OPP say Mathew Les- lie, age 9, was riding his bike on Algonquin Drive when he was struck by a pickup truck driven by Derek Kenney of RR3 Exeter. Les- lie was taken to South Huron Hos- pital and treated for what police say were minor injuries. Friday evening a two -car acci- dent on Hay Concession 2-3 result- ed in a power butage for some local residents, and the loss of cable tele- vision services to Exeter. The OPP say a car driven by Walter Brown of Hensall was pass- ing a car driven by Ivan Triebncr of RR1 Exeter when it went into the ditch and snapped off a utility pole at about 10:45 p.m. The Tricbner car was not damaged in the inci- dent. Power in the area was off for about 3 1f2 hours, and cable televi- *sion was restored in about 1 1/2 hours. Sponsored by the Bluewater Re- cycling Association, the paint col- lection days will also include col- lections for old car batteries, old propane tanks. Exeter and Usbome Township are going together on their paint ex- change on Friday October 1, from I. Social contract pushing Board of Ed towards deficit CLINTON - The Social Contract issue is on the backbumer for most government sectors, but for education officials it's a major con- cern as they face a potential fuiancial crunch. Teachers unions are still negotiating at the provincial level, ieav- ing local teachers, education boards and taxpayers waiting in the wings for word about settling an agreement. "The taxpayers and local trustees are caught in the middle of something we have no control over," said Paul Carroll, director of education for the Huron County Board of Education, in an interview last Monday. The problem is that the provincial government began cutting grant revenue to the board in July. By December more than $900,000 will be taken back from the board. But while income has decreased, spending hasn't and the board cannot legally do anything about it until a sectoral agreement is in place. But there is no deadline for this. "We may be facing a huge deficit situation," Carroll said. When the issue croppped up at the September 7 board meeting, some trustees asked if it would not be cheaper just to let the govern- ment impose cuts. Carroll said it would not be a wise move. "We would only be tying our hands." Trustee Norman Pickell wanted to know how much the Social Contract has cost the board so far. Although an exact dollar figure was not known, Carroll estimated that at least two senior staff members have been working on the is- sue full-time since July. "It's lost time that could have been used to deal with educational matters," he said. Province continues to tighten belt Layoff, program cuts on table at ARCA November meeting EXETER - The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority has got its bad news for 1993. Written verifi- cation from the provincial govern- ment confirms that the ABCA will be short about $156,000 this year when compared to last year's trans- fer payments. Still, that is not as bad a deficit as the Ministry of Natural Resources predicted in May when the ABCA drew up its budget on the assump- tion grants would be down $ 195,000. "They [ARCA board) have a bit more money than they though, but (the ministry] has changed the rules on what they fund," said Kate Monk, ABCA communications manager. The problem is that even though the authority might have some more money to work with, the grants are more specific than in pre- vious years - and can only be ap- plied to projects of provincial prior- ity. Major projects also don't get the same level of grant funding as they used to. Most projects were done with 70 percent provincial funding, but now have only a 50 percent subsidy. 5-9 p.m. at the Exeter works depart- ment building. Council members from both mu- nicipalities have volunteered to help at the collection depot. Oil paints will be mixed and later used to paint cars for a demolition derby. Latex paints will be mixed togeth- er into a "Bluewater grey" or "Seat- tle beige" for use as an interior primer for anyone willing to take it away. Sludged or solidified paints will be trucked away for recycling. Hensall will also be having a paint collection the same day at the public works shed from 4-9 p.m. Zurich's will be on Saturday Oc- tober 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the municipal shed. With a further 10 percent transfer payment reduction expected for 1994, the ABCA directors are look- ing at some grim possibilities for local environmental programs. A management team meeting Monday morning agreed that if funds drop, so might the programs. "We're going along with the idea that the municipalities can't come up with that extra money," said Monk, referring to the annual Con- servation Authority levy paid by lo- cal taxes in the,32 watershed mu- nicipalities. Once the 1994 grant picture is made clearer, a November 25 meet- ing is planned to make the tough decisions, if need be. "We're going to bc deciding if . we're going to let programs go," HH shirk Monk, adding that the staff ; members responsible for those pro- grams would also .have to be laid off. The one bright note about the current grant situation is that since grants were highei than budgeted, the ABCA will be able to balance its books for 1993 without having to dip into its reserve funds, said Monk. Blowing sand solution Ratepayers group to decide if dunes. will be built on the beach By Fred Groves T -A staff GRAND BEAD - The decision of whether or not to create sand dunes on the beaches of Grand Bend, will be left up to the Grand Bend Ratepay- ers' Association. Last Monday night, Pat Donnelly of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority presented a final report on methods of controlling blowing sand on the popular beaches. In the report, Donnelly confirmed that the only way to stop the sand from blowing was to build dunes which could eventually reach over six feet in height. Since several cottage owners along Lake Huron have signed a petition asking that something be done about the sand, council had decided that they will take the advise of the GBRA to go ahead with the work. However, as pointed out by GBRA president Marfan Siren, her group does not have a general meeting again until October 16 and if the dunes are to be effective this year, they will have to be built in the next few weeks. Siren suggested that the GBRA executive could make the recommenda- tion to council before that so the project could get started. Donnelly highlighted five troubled areas with blowing sand but pin- pointed two which would require dunes to be built. One of those is a very long stretch along the main beach to the north of the condos and the other is at the south basin which is the entrance to the harbour. "I think it's very important for Grand Bend's future to put something like this in place," said councillor Phil Maguire. Sand quality changes: He hinted that if this docs not happen, there not be a beach in 10 years. However when questioned about that comment from Siren, he said he meant that the quality of the sand could change dra- matically. Donnelly's plan which came on the advise of several experts in the field of sand management, suggested it would cost about $4,200 to begin the program. That cost he said does not include vegetation which would be planted and the labour which would be required to erect snow fencing which is the way in which sand would be piled up to build the dune. "The higher up it is, the more effective it is; but the higher up it is, it's less of a view," said Donnelly. If the dune did reach it's full length along the main beach it could be as long as half a mile if not more and ten metres in width. "We are putting the beach, to some degree, back to the creation it was in the past. It's a benefit to the environment and the asthetics for the beach." As far as funding is concerned, Donnelly pointed out that Southampton which has also built dunes, received some funding from Shell Canada and Canada Trust. Donnelly did not know if this funding was available to Grand Bend. Kincardine and Port Burwell have also recently built dunes. Grand Bend councillor Cam Ivey said that landowners have asked some- thing be done about the problem. "They're asking the village to put up a row of snowfencing. Will that be effective?," asked Ivey. Donnelly said putting fencing up and then taking it down each year would be expensive in the long run. 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