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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-06-18, Page 101'it,\'e 10 Times -Advocate, June 18, 1997, IN THE NEWS Hole -in -one fundraiser The Stephen Township Arena Board is holding their second annual Million Dollar Hole -in - •One fundraiser on July 2 to 6 at the Exeter Golf The 120 golfers who qualify; will shoot for a'chance "to win a. new Sunfire from Huron Motor Products and the. 10 closest to the pin will shoot for the million dollar prize.. Heavily supported by the Centralia -Huron. Park Lions Club. the event is -designed to. raise funds for the Stephen Township Arena Board. From • left, •Bill Chadwick; president of the Centralia4Huron Park Lions Club: Cam Stewardson, chair- person of the fundraising committee, anti Jack glavin, chair of the Arena Board.'; huddle around a 1997 Pontiac Surefire with Jini Guenther from Huron MotorProduct§. I Injuries sustained in collision DASH\\ C)OD - Huron County... Unt:uu, Prriymetal Police report in • - luries s(.erc <ustaint d :is a result of •m i, r schicle collision that tic • - urred on June (i at approximately •, - 10 p nr on Centre Street in Dash- „ \,; ordmg to police. 1') 5 Ford. driven by Brian Rayne. 25. of Ste- phen Township. collided witli a 19tt7 Ches. (Iris en .by Thomas Cyr. 15. of Zurich Dios n LeCl;ur. 3.1. - and Jeremy_ LeClair. five. were pas- engers.tn the Payne sehicle and received injuries. Jim Brown. M i n i ster confirms ' Lucan s request of Dashwood was -also injurer). Brown .,rad I).awn LeClair were both taken by ambulance to South Huron Hospital in Exeter. Bi tilt vehicles received moderate damage and changes have been laid. - • Council raises mill rate 12 per cent For a residence with a $100,000 assessment the tax increase is $36 per year. By Kate Monk were decreased by $9.570 'and the T' A Reporter Urban County Rebate was eliminat- ed for a decrease of $2,4(0 in rev ZURICH - Faced with decreased enue.. provincial grants, Zurich Council .n 1997, Zurich will keep only increased. the 1997 'mill rate by 12 23.3 per cent •of. the taxes it col - per cent to balance its budget. Ac- leets. Huron County -receives 15.8 cording to village figures. for a res- per cent. 38.7 per cent goes to the idence with an assessment of puhlic school . hoard- and 22.1 per $100,0X)0 the tax increase is $36 cent goes to the separate school. peryear: • -hoard. Although •expencjitures will be decreased by $45.472. Zurich coun- Amalgamation discussions • cil has round it. necessary to in- Council discussed the pros and crease taxes by $11,868. Council- cons of supporting municipal re- passed- the hytaw at it; regular structuring. The. largest- issue was meeting Thursday night. - _• whether the Municipal Re- : Huron County has. not increased stiucturing Committee •shollld con. its taxation levy. however. the Hu- tintie before Huron, County mu- ron County Board of Education has nicipalities make 'a decision 'on -increased its rate by $26 per year , single -tier -government. per $100,00() assessment.. In addi- The MRC.has asked Zurich for a lion. the Huron -.Perth. Roman C;uh- inotion to proceed with its•study!- ' olio Separate School Board levy is -•" T can't sec how something like •up $9 per.vearper $1.00;00( assess- that can go through without gettine- Ment. . ;mother consultant;' said Coun- Theretore. a residential puhlic' cillor Marg Holmes. school supporter with an assess- After • considerable discussion. tient of $I00.0(0 would pay` $62 council passed a motion to direct more per year and,a residential sep-, the MRC to.procced to prepare -the irate school supporter with an as-. restructuring proposal. The motion sessment .Of $i(X),IXX) would pay` alsrt states -the MRC is. 10 present $45 more per year. the restructuring prcippsal for each The village will he receiving less -.•municipality for approval prior -to money from the province this year.. .its submission -to the County of Hu= Unconditional.- provincial grants • ion. "We have to look at all the op- tions and look at what's hest lite the . tax payers," said Reeve Dwayne LaPorte:. Dogs at large A delegation of doer owners and concerned citize •rled the meeting to -di_ on the loose in Zuric "lust one .. it takes to Maim or kill a child." said Gerald Coleman adding- his JauFhter is _afraid to' walk her hest friend home from school after an untied dog'ap- proached her. ' ; • According to Coleman. three othL er families_ have chmplaigeli about ;the dog.: , , ' The dog's owner 4ontests the dog • "just loves kids". and although. the - dog dad get away• from its vard th4t day. it has heen'secured eZe2 ,ince thd'incutenl. —There Are penalties for dogs run- nime loose anti the, dog catcher has discretion of .wbat otion,to take.'if it's .t -constant pn}hlem and repeat offenses. -Mae. is possibly :i tine. said Councillor Brad Claausius. -Connell directed the•village'clerk to put • an advertisement in- the -newspaper concerning , dogs run- ning,at large.' . . to rescind amalgamation proposal •, v01k Views Letters to the editor' Although the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, sympathies with council's - reasoning, he did not offer any solutions to. the Farm Tax Rebate issue Vo'l ti n teers deserve thanks l Th ohen,TwPl rd..�tid..the. Ste- phen Twp. Minor Hockey, executive are prime examples;of'iridividuals showing _ community spirit. • Dear Editpr . • Being an avid reader,uf the Exeter Times and often reading about er',mmunity spirit and volunteerism. I'd like to take this opportunity to give credo -where credit is far overdue. , ', , 1'he•second annual Centralia/Huron Park Lions Club Million 1)ol- Iar.Hokin •(enc is quick)} eonnng upon us. '..his event which IS run at the Exeter Gull Club (rout July 2 tri 6. is considered to he Stephen Township :\renal Board's manic fundraiser for the 'year. For those who dnn'I.knoSv. the Stephen i'ownship Arcna Board has been svorking vigorously for the last three years rasing mond to • fund the'cxpansion of the Stephen Township Arena:These expan_ sion plans include new and large dressing rooms. enclosed warns room viewing area. and a Netter ,:oncessic n booth .aid ,i larger. Wrote convenient toyer to Netter serve the public's needs. . . I'm sure most pei,plc, unless they've been involved In a similar • event wouldn't realize the amount id. tune: and effort that goes mita. or_:nriing-an event such as this. -Fhe'hoard stated planning this hack • in the middle of March and their efforts will continue Into the middle of Jul Jack Glavin. chairperson of the alma htiard.-Is without a doubt. a • perfect example of a true euinmumty-minded volunteer. lack and all the members ,,l the arena hoard are it determined group of individu- als who are .ledtcated in seeing these expansion plans take place. Last sear. this fundraiser .alone took well over !tO() volunteer hours to rr.,tke it the success it ss as. - k: • Their efforts do not stop here. They are envied in .all aspects 'I the arena: which are ongoing twelve months of the year. Without a group like. this. there would he it lot of things that would not happen. The Stephen Township Arena Board is determined to continue to do whatever is necessary to mnprosc the facilities we have now and they do this not for themselves but for escry one that uses our ,arena. ,\ tmei gnn,p of individuals.wrth-the sante goals s%ould he hard t .0\emthle flu is community spirit at its finest''' Another prone example of community spirit was shown • ccuIi of Stephen I osynship Minor Hockey flyer the years we hase seen Stephen Minor hockey grow and flourish. This again would not he possible without a strong executive and a hard-working ha. • of votuniecrs. This year. two devoted and unselfish Individuals resigned. Dick Lord and Dianne Frnkhcincr have.moved on aOcr bring on the exec- utive xec utile for close to ten years. 'T'hese two individuals always gave their all and were definitely an Intricate part of Stephen Minor Hickey's growth and success. They have left big shoes to be tilled. So. on heh,tl I of Stephen Township arena. 1 would like to thank 'Dick and Dianne for their hard work and dedication. • . The Stephen Twp. Arena Board -and. the Stephen Twp. Minor Hockey executive are prune examples oI individuals showing coin- . inunity spirit . __ Keep_up_the-)resat-work • • By Chris Skalkos T -A Reporter I.1 (.\''. :\ request by the \ il- lace of I await to -rescind .ur:unal- gaination .prupc,sal with Biddulph f.isymship was tontirmed by; the Minister oI' Municipal Affairs and Housing -recently. but some mem- bers of council feel •the proposal' Wray he rekindled in the future. Boih municipalities began talking .about restructuring last year, alter dfe "Who Does -What" panel. was introduced ,end. agreed lo send` an amalgamation • proposal to AI Leach's office.- _ However. Lueati council decided to put their re-• structuring • plans • on • hold last .month. in. order to digest the ti- nancial impacts of the prtvincial governmet is Mega -Week an- nuuncement. The province planned'• to Iranstcr billions of dollars in-ser- blCe costs -to the municipalities by downloading social services in re-- . turn kir picking -up the education hill Iro,n.local property taxes Because preliminary :nal Is in- .-dicated the change • would sig- nificantly affect the 1inanct,il nn- p;ict of. the proposed amalgamation. . -council sent it letter to the \ inisler asking hint to. retrain from signing • • the order until the provincial goy- erninent can assure -the imple- mentation of: the Mega -Week an: nouncemoents would not adversely itffect Lucan rate payers. • A major point of contention for Lucan is the impact the Farm Tax. Rebate would have •tan the proposed merger! Farm land owners now -pay . 100 per cent of the fax• hill to the municipality and :then claim a 75 per cent. rebate from -.the province. Under the provincial government's downloading plan. municipalities -would only he able .to tax farmers for .25 per cent of .what they nor: 'molly would pay: . As a result. .the municipalities would.cotlect 75 percent less from the same. farm. holdings, -effectively transferring the -cost of a provincial tarm subsidy to the municipal lax payers. This would cause an imhal ince between urban and. rural inti- . nicipalities with plans to amal- gamate.: - - • .According -to previous calcula- tiuns, the impact on Biddulph would he approximately. $510.375 based: on 1996 mill rates and- as- sessment figures. Under an amal- gamation scenario. Lucan • would shoulder 44 per cent of that amount representing 522.696.• However. it the two rnunicipal- itics do not: amalgamate. the cost remains in Biddulph. „ Recent changes in the , down- loading plans have not been :id - d sec�ifespitc repeated attempts from rural communities to hn_ng•-the issue to the forefront- of -the pros:- ince's political agenda. • A letter from the Minister of Mu- nicipal Affairs and -Housing re- ceived on May 26 confirmed, theta .request to rescind the order to amal- gamate. the municipalities. and sympathized • with .council's rca-_ •soning.hehind-it. „ - "i understand the reason for your decision. 1 -do hope. however. the rnemhers of council .ippre, tate the' intent. of the amalgamation pro-• visions to enable municipalities tri accomitiodate hroadcr transfers he- tween the municipal sector and=thc province." he stated However. at its June .3 meeting dgputy • :reeve Hatry.;j\Yraith re- quested a letter be sent lit Biddulph Township stating council" would he • willing to restart amalgamation pro- ' ceedings.if the Farm Tax Rebate is.- • sue Was resolved. • - ."My intent was to let them tBid- dulph) know we really are tiiter- ested. i've always been interested tit .unal�tamattngt I see more at- antagc:. than disadvantages." said Wraith., - . . ' Administrator )iron RevinLr doubts the proposal . will he re- . kindled unless there are changes 0)- the ,`the Farm 'fax Rebate.. •Until that issue -is addressed "we• ' arc going to have.a problem with it, • but that oi,uesn't preclude • us from - • talking 10. other interested -parties. 1 don't think. we've .closed the door on further discussion." said Revrn- er: • . . Reese Rob •Brady said he was - disappointed ,the. Minister's" Tetter• Aid not offer solution nor did it in- dicate the province is considering it ti .ill. • - • "That's starting th upset more people .is the days go by." he- said; adding other . municipalities base ,also expressed concern. .' But their message scans to be • falling on deaf ears as a recent coinpromise to the `downloading changes focused on education ;and did not address the iarm Tax Re- • bate. . • "Amalgamation will happen ,eventually .and if it isn't changetl ihe impact will he felt at ghat time. . But :t least 'me• se done the hest 011e .could for our rate payers." he said. Exeter Council wants all municipalities 'a'" " represented at county planning meeting on the ex Rob Funston Stephen p. Arena Manager When You Can't BRE T H o Ing se Matters 1 Fib LUNG A3SOCIAI ION We can help roe more information about Asthma tali The Lung Association By Chris Skalkos T -A Reporter EXE'i'ER - When it curates to county restructuring talks. Exeter Council )eels everybody should be included. • \t its regular meeting on Monday night, council passed a motion re- questing all 26 lower tier mu- nicipalitics he included at to- morrow's t'rliursday t _ county council meeting an Go derich. I'hc -'Strategic Planning Da meeting. scheduled to discuss re- - structuring options and other pro= s metal Iranstcr issues such as po- licing .and ambulance. called for the reeves Of each inunicipalily to al - tend for discussion. However, Exel- •er Reeve 13111 Mickle disagreed - there.' " if aII councils were. there. it from the discussions.. and Grandu Bend called for a cnunission. ed participating to restructuring pointing out amalgamation talks in However, most councillors believe talks insisting •that any. discussions the past worked better when each it is unlikely the Minister of Mu - would stay. at the local level,how- : municipality sent just two . re.prc- - nicipal Affairs and Housing would ever. since then it • decided it was • sentatives. appoint a commissioner hetore the Time to initiate discussions, On re- Mickle disagreed • municipal election, in November. structuring at the county level and "if we want to move forward. all Since the municipalities began members debated whether the Stra- councils should be (here: i think meeting, the menu of restructuring tegic Planning Day should be for more' than one •voice needs to he options has grown and Exeter is • county councillors or for all coup- heard and it's fundamentally im- -.looking at five other restructuring colors of municipalities -within the the portant for us to he there in order to scenarios including the amalgam- county:.They decided too gather represent our town," he said.. tion of Stephen, Hay. Usburnc. Zu- Day" In the past county council avoid- would he utter chaos." he said. only younty counullors and write In other news, amalgamation rich .and Hensall, a Iwo -tier system each municipality in• advance to talks may resume again. after Grand of live towns and five townships. a large municipality involing Smith.. a tea o t me so the reeve; as gamation meeting this Wednesday. Huron and parts of Lainhton and.' county councillor, could bring the However, Mayor Ben Hoogenboom ..Middlesex, a one -tier one -county • information to the meeting. said- this did not. mean the re- systema and a possible merger be - Councillor. Roy Triebner agreed structuring process was hack on the (ween the town of Exeter and the with Mickle . saying municipal table. Public Utilities Commission. councillors sliould not he excluded. • "This is just an information inect- "There's a sinorgasbord 'tit re- • "There's so much at stake here. ing. We don't' have an agenda and '-structuring options on the- -tabic It's difficult to sit back and wait. If we don't know what we're going to right now." said-Mickle. all councillors went we would all hear," he said. Council agreed all ideas should. he kept up to date." he said. Previous amalgamation meetings he. discussed thoroughly aniong• lo- . Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin sug- between Exeter, Stcphcn Town- - cal councils and at the county level gested that having only the reeves • ship, Usborne, Grand Bend and before any- restructuring process is present would streamline the meet- parts of Bosanquet and Hay were officially -underway. • ing. de -railed after Exeter withdrew with the forniat saying all coun- cillors should have the Option of at- tending. "1 believe we have to try to es- tablish local participation..Al) mu- nicipaliucs should be included from day. one." said Mickfc, adding, ')'hey have a right to he at the table and they should insist on •being generate discussion on the idea Bend invited Exeter to an amal-