Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-01-22, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, January 22, 1997 Regional wrap up Van Riesen accepts position as fire chief CLINTON - A new. -fire chief brings 39 years of experience'to the job, reports the Clinton News Record. Robert "Tex" Van Riesen of `Clinton began as chief on Jan. 2. He is retired from a firefighting career that included working for Transport Canada, and the De- partment of National Defense. He was hired as part-time paid chief and will be responsible for the overall operation of the fire hall as well as a "good amount" of paperwork. In addition to administrative duties, -Van Riesen also expects to; attend most fire. scenes and complete inspections. Milk cooperative may take over former lumber yard SEAFORTH - A_new plan is in. the works for an old lumber yard on High Street, reports the Huron Expositor. - A Jersey milk cooperative, comprised of 14 arca members, will meet with council on Jan. 23 to look into the. zoning of the property. The cooperative told the Ex- positor only cosmetic alterations will be made to the building if the plan goes through and a, milk truck will make its delivery dur ing normal business hours. The business is- expected to employ three people.,'. , Cromarty family loses home to fire MITCHELL . - A Cromarty family. was left with only the clothes on their back after their home burned to the ground on Jan. 7 reported the Mitchell Ad- vocatc. The fire destroyed the 100 - year -old home on Lot 15. Con- cession 12• of Hibben Town- ship. Bruce Dow, his wife Joan and her three-year-old daughter, Leanna Jackson, were not in- jured. • According to Mitchell Fire Chief Bill Elliot. the initial' call reported a fire in the home's wood stove chimney. High winds may have have accelerat- ed the fire. . To aid thc Mows family, a bank account has been set up in the family's name at the Mitch- ell branch of the CIBC. Dona- tions will be accepted through local arca branches as well. catholic board untouched by amalgamation HURON -PERTH - Ministry announcements of school hoard .amalgamations left the Huron - Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board untouched, report- ed the Clinton.News-Record. Rumors that the board would be merged with its neighbor in Grey -Bruce. were not realized. However, the number of trustees will likely be reduced from the board's current number of 14. Director . of- Education Dr. James Brown told the Record he doesn't expect the amount of work will diminish for trustees but is hopeful funding of boards will be more equitable. Biddulph plans public meeting BIDDULPH TOWNSHIP - After realizing there was a shortage of mon- ey for the Granton sewer design system, Biddulph.Council is planning a public meeting in April -in an effort to outline it's -position. Although an environmental assessment has determined the police village of Granton needs a new sewer system to replace its malfunctioning sceptic tanks, the township can't afford the estimated cost of $1.7 million. The public meeting will inform the public about the unavailability of funds as well as possible water saving devices 'and other options that may help al- leviate the situation. - . "We want to tell the public where we are so -far. People are starting to wonder what's going on and- I don't blame them," said Clerk -Treasurer Larry Hotson. • • Council directed Hotson to get comparative figures of water usage to see if water meters would reduce the amount of water used in the system. - • "It's something that may alleviate part of the problem for the time being, but it's not a solution," said Hdtson. adding the long-term solution is find- ing funds needed to pay for the new system. "At•this point we don't know where themoney will come from." In other business, council received and filed a report presented to War- den Allan Marr from.the Single Tier Study Committee but expressed con- cerns.• "At this point some councillors are a .little frustrated -with the fact we • keep having studies but we don't have any results," said Hotson. . After county council decided it_ should conduct. an in-house study on a single tier govcrnhent, Hotson said members have only had one meeting prior. to the release of the Cromby Report, which recommended a strong two tier system. - "As soon as the Cromby. Report suggested a two tier system, we felt it wasn't very prudent to continue wasting taxpayers' money -studying a sin- gle tier," said Hotson,-adding the committee is now dormant. "We made a recommendation that the committee no longer meet until we get further di- rection from county council." Ministry responds to request for mediation • EXETER - According to a latter addressed to Grand Bend Mayor Cam Ivey, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has re- ferred a request for •mediation•assistance in thc South Huron amal- gamation process to Rick Temporalc; Manager. Special Projects Re gional Operations Branch. \ • . "The minister has referred your request to me. Ple.rsc note that I will be -contacting you in the near future to assist in this matter," states the letter dated Jan. 14. - Mayor Cam Ivey is optimistic that Tcmporalc will assist -by look- ing.at ways to get South Huron/North Lampton niunicipalities hack to the table., He added Larnhton restructuring efforts haven't been • successful. "We spent a. lot of money here,': said Ivey. "We spent $70,000 in taxpayer's money and i think we have to try a little bit harder." Exeter Administrator Rick Hundey thought thc wording of the brief letter was unclear as to whether mediation will take place or if the request is still hcing considered. Hundcy was surprised this request is hcing considered despite thc fact both Lampton and Huron- counties as well as Exeter and Bo- sanquct have stated they will. not support the amalgamation pro- - posal. . - - Larry Brown, Stephen Township administrator, also received a copy of -the letter as one of the involved municipalities. At first glance, he said he understood the letter -indicates Grand Bend's re- quest for mediation has been approved. Roads closed• A motorist stops to observe an Emergency Road Closed sign on Thursday night as OPP. closed off Highway 4 at both' ends of Exeter. Many. area Highways were closed , on Thursday and. Friday as blowing snow severely reduced visibility and icy roads made driving hazardous. According to Huron OPP, failing to obey the closure can. result in a $90 fine and three demerit points. • Cemetery Board still alive EXETER - Excitement erupted at 'Exeter Council Monday nigh -wcr the minutes of the Cemetery 1'' : ird. One paragraph stated that a delega- - tion of councillors advised •the hoard council "has no intention of abolishing the board nor of re- pealing the bylaws . which es- tablished the hoard.:.". Just the op- posite was the case judging by council's decision at the end of the meeting." • That statement isn't accurate; Something will happen but we don't -know what," said Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin. - • Clerk -Treasurer Liz 'Bell, who is also secretary of the Cemetery Board replied, "The problem -is no one (from Council] has been up front with them [members or the Cemetery. Board]." Discussion then followed as to what was said, what was implied • and what is to be done. . "We may have to make changes 10 the bylaws of the board but we don't know what they are at this Clock tower gets a face-lift • The deteriorating wooden clock faces on the Olde Town Hall were replaced with a more durable and weather resistant material By Chris Skalkos T -A Reporter EXETER - If you take a look at the Olde Town Hall during thc eve- ning, you will notice something dif- fcrent about the building. The cluck near the, top of the 76 . foot tower received a much needed 'face-lift last week as employees from Consolidated Signs in Credi- ton replaced all four sides with a new clock face. The difference is not very notice- able during the day since the new design is similar to the old one, however, when darkness falls the clock will glow as eight florescent tubes will illuminate it at night. Dave Moyer, building super- intendent and zoning supervisor said the old face, which dates back to 1888, was made out of wood which was beginning to rot. According to Moyer. the new -ma- terial, Texan, is a thick plastic often used in outdoor signs because it's weather resistant. It is also slightly flexible and won't shatter jf. struck by a bird, but may still he sus- ceptible to large hail. The tower is part of the original town hall which came close to dem- olition in 1974. it survived to find new life in thc 90's after renova- tions and the construction of the new addition which saved the 108 - year -old building that now houses the municipal office and council chambers. The renovations, designed by ar- chitect Terry Markcvitz, attempted to maintain the historical integrity of the hall keeping much of the • original woodwork. Floors and windows were refurbished and the interior colors reflect the historic period of the hall during its con- struction. The' landmark building, along with an adjacent civic area, has be- come an architectural focal point Hoisting the face. Employees of consolidated Signs from Crediton gave the Olde Town Hall clock tower a face lift on Tuesday and Wednesday. Company co-owner John Parent, right, hands Rick Labreche one of the new clock - faces made out of lexan while Darryl trip peers out through the south opening high above. for Exeter and Moyer feels the il- "We've had it working con - clock is the finishing sistently for about a year now, but in -the past it would break down or a fuse would blow," said Moyer. "It was very temperamental." Moyer isn't ready to promise the clock will never malfunction again, but said the new makeover will ex- tend its longevity. "i expect it will keep chiming for another hundred years," he said. laminated Much. Due to the landscape and other buildings. the clock tower is not visible from the north. But when the clock is illuminated on a clear night Moyer expects it will be vis- ible for 10 blocks south of the structure. The mechanism that drives the hands has not been replaced, hut it has been fine-tuned. point," observed councillor Thom Hughes. Mayor Ben. Hoogenboom re- marked, "We should be working to- gether", to which Bell added, "You have a bylaw. What's this 'working together'?" She also suggested the Cemetery Board' is independent be- cause of those by-laws and is able to act on its own. Airlin jumped back in, There s no doubt in my mind that the Ce- metery Board is part of the re- structuring and there might he a' board or there might not be. This paragraph doesn't reflect the view of council that the status quo will continue". Bell again interjected, "No one has given the members of the hoard a definite answer, on two occasions, when they asked what council is planning on doing". . • Reeve Bill Mickle opined, "They will be brought into the picture when we decide to make changes". Councillor Roy Trighner jumped into the fray, "i don't 'understand why this is so difficult and com- plex. We're asking them to coop- erate and not take any unilateral ac- tion that will make our job more difficult". Hoogenboom added. . "I thought that was our message - the minutes are in error". Council discussed the issue in closed ,session after the meeting where Bell made a strong case for there being a real problem with .communication .among the board members. Council emerged from its in cam- era session with a motion by coun- cillors Wendy Boyle and Hughes that the bylaws governing. the Ce- metery Board pe amended to make that hoard an :Advisory body only. Council approved the motion unan- imously. Gratuity angers council or Continued from front page Drummond went 'further, "If the board does not rescind this pay- ment and the large increase in sala- ry to one of its employees, we should deny the board its levy from us at the end of March. We need to make a very strong statement." Mickle concluded, the discussion, by suggesting (and supported. by council), "We should tell them how we feel in the strongest terms possi- ble andwait for a reaction before we act.', • Council discusses snowmobile ban or Continued from front page tion tb ban snowmobiles from Exet- er, Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin inter- jected. "Before we do anything drastic, you should know that a lot of businesses are visited by snow- mobilers - we don't want to stop people from doing business there. It's too hard to do business now. If we're talking aboutattracting cus- tomers, we shouldn't do this. Since the letter went to the paper (the Times Advocate) last week. there have been no complaints that 1 know of, certainly none by the po- lice." Councillor Roy Triebner asked. "Shouldn't we give the notice a chance to work? Let's assess it at the end of the season." Reeve Bill Mickle added, "Let's see if the snowinohilers are interested in pro- tecting what they have now. There are a few bad apples among them who are causing all the problems. If they could correct their actions, we wouldn't have to take these steps. They- are now not policing them- selves." - Drummond ended the discussion by proposing that a by-law be pre- pared banning snowmobiles from town and that it will be acted upon if there is not compliance by every- one by next council meeting. His suggestion was accepted by coun- cil. Municipalities assess changes +' Continued from front page sponsibility to manage their library services. "Municipalities currently pro ide the major portion of library f d- ing, so it makes sense for elec ed municipal officials to have autho ity and responsibility to manage and fund thc library resources in their communities," said Marilyn Mus inski, Minister of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation in a recent press release. - Revision of the Police Services Act also gives municipalities the authority to appoint the majority of police services board members. The province will retain a minority number of appointments. Farm tax reform will also have an impact on rural municipalities. Al-, though Stephen Township Ad- ministrator Larry Brown says he hasn't seen it in writing. mu- nicipalities have been told they will ' be reimbursed for what they lose in taxes. Effective Jan. 11998, the new tarm tax rate. set at 25 per cent of the residential rate, will take effect. "In other words, the farmer is go- ing to get the rebate, directly," said. Brown. . He added an education mill rate, set by the province, will be placed on commercial and industrial prop- erties. It will be collected by the municipalities and forwarded to lo- cal school boards. - "But, what will that mill rate be? As well, there's not going to be any business tax. That's a big savings in assessment," explained Brown. The province has also announced it will reinstate the Managed Forest Tax Rebate to promote better man- agement of private woodlands and "the protection of Ontario's natural heritage." The tax rate for eligible managed forest land will be set at 25 per cent of the local residential tax rate and there will be no tax on eligible conservation lands.