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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-05, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, March 5, 1997 IN THF NF W.S Regional wrap up Steckle joins fisheries and oceans committee GODERICH - Paul Steckle, MP for Huron -Bruce, has been appointed as a member of the Standing -Committee of Fisheries and Oceans, effective Feb. 10, reported the Goderich Signal - Star. "I will have the opportunity to he directly involved with issues that relatesto our Great Lakes_ and oceansespecially-consider- ing that Huron -Bruce is bound by the beautiful beaches of Lake Huron," said Steckle. Study suggests `FCuron-Perth PUC merger MITCHELL - A consultant hired by 17 Huron -Perth Public Utility Commissions has recom' mended one utility -to govern both counties, reports the Mitch- ell Advocate. The draft report, presented re- cently by Dominic Guarasci of Nepean, was discussed by the participants at ' a -meeting in • Mitchell last Wednesday. The Municipal Electric Asso- ciation and the Ministry of Envi- .ronmcnt and Energy has asked. that restructuring plans -be suh- mittedby. March 1. _ According to the .report, the proposed merger would serve an • estimated 67.300 customers and • gave approximately $4 million: .The utility would require be- tween 150 and 170 employees. The initial study costs are to be shared by municipalities on a per customer basis. Champion Machinery sold to Volvo L ;CH - Champion Roup •'. ,:hinery Ltd. has been sold to the construction equip- ment division of AB Volvo. for $175 million. reported the Godc- rich Signal -Star. Volvo has offered $15 per share to Champion shareholders in•the deal and major stockhold- ers have already agreed to re- lease 34 per cent of Champion's outstanding shares to the Voivo offer. Thc.sale is considered a "win- win" situation for Champion that will tap into an internation- al network of sales. distribution, technology and research and de- velopment. Reform committee welcomes public input MITCHELL - As the Munici- pal Reform Committee moves toward its. May 15 deadline, there are still many issues to deal with, including local boards, an interim council and a boundary description of the new . municipality. Some of these is- sues were discussed at a meeting held last Wednesday. The committee stresses the public is welcome to meetings to observe and ask questions. Committee members claim re- sponse to the proposed amalga- • mation is positive. Planning fees prompt council to send letter EXETER - The conflict between titled and will charge the town in - Exeter and Huron County over -serest at therate of two per cent -planning fees will not go-away. As over prime (a higher rate than any .background, provincial legislation charged against any other mu - allows municipalities to set fees for nicipality). zoning bylaws,- minor variances Councillor Robert Drummond and -for severances if they are del-- "has had enough": -"Let's send a egated to, the local au- thority by • the county. "We reject Exeter Council did °-not comply -with the county • the extortion fee rates and adopted its threatened by own as the town' has its own planning expertise. the county. fl • An agreement had been -previously struck- with the county which, in effect, allowed Exeter to go its own way because of that expertise. When Exeter re- fused to pass on the new county rates to its residents, the county de- cided to withdraw the consent del- egation. (The county is apparently alleging that Exeter did, indeed, charge the high county rates and is keeping the funds in reserve.) The county has now passed a res- olution saying that it will deny Ex- eter the rebates to which it is en - letter to • them stating that we are com- petent to do the job and we will not pay the fees. We reject the extottion. threat- ened by the county." Deputy Reeve- Dave. Orlin agreed : "We have an agreement and have not violated it. I_f they deduct the fees and charge interest, we will 'hold hack our levy to the County." Councillor' Roy Triebner asked. what happened to mediation/ arbitration organized by •the Min- istry. Administrator . Rick Hundey replied, "The county was not inter- ested especially when the Ministry supported the .town." A letter will be sent. . Workshop focuses on integrating chidren Children have said they don't want to be iso- lated in Sunday School EXETER - More than 20 Sunday .School teachers and committee Members from area churches met last Monday night to discuss how children -can be more fully in: tegrated into the life of the church. National Program and Resource • Consultant Jean Olthius, of Min- istry with Children for the United Church of Canada. was the meeting facilitator. She discussed what the church is lacking in its ability to . nurture (he spirit of the child. Olthius said many congregations. forget children arc spiritual beings from the moment theycome into existence and that the church needs to recognize the spirit of God in L each child. • "We forget that quite often," she .said adding, children arc telling the church, "Don't isolate .us in our Sunday Schools." in 1988 the -United Church de- veloped a vision for an inclusive church with the help of children and youth. According to a survey, many left the church because they didn't form a bond. From' .this• vision, -a curriculum was developed to creat new models for worship and education. - This curriculum helps teachers make connections between bible stories and our lives today. , Olthius told participants more work is: needed to include youth in regular church . services. They want to be involved in decision- making and be able to share ex- periences and ask questions. By changing the language and music, an atmosphere can be created in which young people feel a part of the whole church. Jean Miles Waitin' for spring Six-year-old Ryan Consitt lounges in his vehicle in Hensall, soaking up last weekend's warm temperatures. ' Lucan public works superintendent • Doug Johnston - displays •-a Seesnake mini -camera the Village is using to in- spect sanitary - sewer pipelines. The camera allows a visual inspection in- side pipes up to 10 inches in diameter by sending a signal back to a monitor. The Village purchased the $8,000 sys tem to help complete a disconnection program designed to divert storm water from the sanitary sewer system. Mini -camera helps Lucan Public Works inspect. pipes The high-tech systeni is not common in small municipalites. By Chris Skalkos T -A Reporter LUCAN - Lucan is in the pro- cess of correcting an infiltration problem and its puhlic works de- partment _ is using some high- technology t� get the job done. _ The Village began a program last November aimed -at separating storm run-off water from the san itary sewer system by dis- connecting foundation drains and installing sump pumps. The work would not be possible without a newly -purchased - mini -camera that. allows an internal inspection inside sewer pipelines. Doug Johnston, public 'works su- perintendent, said his department has acquired a Ridgid Kollmann Seesnake camcra system that 'en- ables him to sec inside pipes up. to 10 inches in diameter. A small in- fra -red camcra (which looks like a small shower head) attached to a 200 foot push cord, feeds a signal back to a seven by five inch black and white monitor. The macro view of the lens makes an object the size of a coin look five timcs'bigger and the monitor's resolution is clear enough to magnify a speck of dust. "This is some high-tech equip- ment for a relatively small mu- nicipality," said Johnston, adding the camera is useful for inspecting breaks and illegal hook-ups as well as. locating .where tree roots have blocked a pipe. . Johnston is using the camera to help correct an infiltration problem in the Village. - in the late 1960's and early 1970's, Lucan councils had Ontario ministry of Environment approval: • to allow developers to connect weeping tile into the sanitary sewer. lines, which directed rain run-off water into thc sanitary, sewer sys- tem. This practice has since been phased out. Lucan's lagoon .system handled the infiltration without added cost hut: with the .opening •of the new sewage plant infiltration became an issue as rain water entering the san- itary sewer system through man- holes, • weeping tiles and down- spouts could - affect the • overall functioning of the system. A more immediate problem oc curred last summer when a rain storm followed by three days of steady rain flooded basements. "The water coming from founda- tion drains was overloading the sys- tem. We need to disconnect them and keep rain water out," explained Johnston. "The system was de- signed to take" sewage water, not storm water. We're putting ton much water into the sewage treat- ment plant." The Village has encouraged res- idents to install sump pumps on 'their properties or in their base- ments and has subsidized the pro- ject by providing home owners with a grant of up to $1,500. Between 350 and 400 homes have foundation drains hooked into the sewer system and to date, John- - ston has disconnected 55 of them. He is currently concentrating on the south eastern portion of the village. Because he doesn't have draw- ings to work with, Johnston said - it's difficult tolocate where the connection - takes place. A chal- lenging if not impossible task he claims, considering the connection could be tither inside or outside the . house. Being off by inches could be • a costly mistake. It would be difficult for Lucan to:: justify the purchase of the_ $8,000 camera if it wasn't for the scope of thc program. According to John- ston, the Village would' pay much more to have this work contracted out. Besides. he added. the camera .could bc used for other types of in- spection work. • "We knew we needed something to inspect the pipes," said Johnston adding the camera allows him to Complete an inspection within an hour. "This technology wasn't around 10 years ago." Exeter Council highlights EXETER - A decision to provide just one special pick-up a year was postponed until the budget is con- sidered. Councillor Joe Rider:, This could he a mis- take. People have come to expect two pick=ups a year." The recommendation from the Public Works Committee is one _-pick-up in May, but 'free days' would be available in July, September and October for residents to take garbage to the landfill. Council. after considering the terms of a new agree- ment with the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Author- ity for maintenance of the Morrison Dam, decided the town has no need of the dam in that Nabisco no longer uses river water in any of its operations. As a result it will no longer be party to the special agreement with the ABCA and Osborne Township. It appears Exeter will be undergoing another major capital works project: expansion of the sanitary sewcr system. "It is essential that at least Exeter commence its Sanitary Sewer Expansion this spring. It will take 4 to 5 months for the capital engineering, drawing of specs for tender, the calling and awarding of tenders. . .. Based on B. M. Ross' most recent estimate, the Phase I cost for the Exeter portion would be $3,13M." (The major question to be asked is where will the money come from? One possibility is to raise the sew- er surcharge from 120 per cent of the water bill to 156 per cent.) Council learned that the Exeter and Area Fire Board will now be charging for false alarms. Apparently some institutions and businesses have produced sever- al false alarms. -The policy will now be that the first false alarm will be followed with a warning, and sub- sequent calls will incur a fee of $300 or $500, de- pending on whether or nor men and equipment arc dis- patched. ' The Fire Board also removed the chief's powers w grant burning permits. As of now. "no open burning lis] allowed in Exeter and no permits (will) be issued for industrial and commercial burning in Exeter. Also from the Fire Board, Councillor Roy Triebner told Council "1 am embarrassed that again, we are not ready to approve the Fire Board budget: we are the only ones: 'we have to have more facts'. I understand that some departments have not yet submitted budgets. We are all frustrated, and it is hard to justify such a de- lay. Reeve Bill Mickle advised Council, "We will have something ready for next meetings even if all de- partments are not prepared." - Council also learned that the 1997 Amendment to the Police Act reflects many of the issues for which pre- vious councils had fought: a) municipalities that are provided with OPP services must now pay for that service (primarily townships, villages and hamlets) •. b) Council (and not the Province) will appoint the majority of Police Services Board members (head of council, one citizen and one provincial appointee) c) the budget will now be the municipality's re- sponsibility (and not the Board's):' Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Hous- ing, wrote to Exeter Council, expressing his dis appointment that all municipalities did not participate in the mediation process, "... restructuring is best done at the local level. He advised council that he will be considering his options over the next few weeks and will issue a decision at that time. 1