Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-05-06, Page 1SFJP 'S va u -mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Servinf; 1 knit./ ,tint (Tod since 1873 SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 The Garden Centre Now Open Inside Huron's share in long-term health See page 3 Mental Health Week See Crossroads Second front Talk with Jr. D Hawks See page 16 School spirit at Huron Centennial See page 28 Times Advocate welcomes summer reporter . `The Exeter Times -Advocate is pleased to introduce • their new summer reporter, Katherine Harding. Harding is a student at Wilfrid Laurier University where she studies Political Science and Communications. Last year, she served as the Editor -in -Chief of The Cord, Laurier's student newspaper. Harding, a resident of Granton, is excited to return to the area for the summer. "1 am looking forward to get- ting out into the community and meeting people...this job is an amazing opportunity," said Harding. Now, that's a birdhouse Neatol Brothers Michael Groot, 14, left, Justin, 10, and Matt, marvel at a birdhouse made by John LaPorte at the Time, Talent & Treasure Auction at Zurich. Community Centre last week. The event raised $5,000 -for the St. Boniface School Playground Equipment fund which is growing towards its $20,000 goal. The 106 live auction and 31 silent auction items were donated by area businesses, community groups and individuals. Form Friends of Morriston committee The committee will raise funds and provide guidance for Morrison Dam Conservation Area By Kate Monk T -A Reporter USBORNE TOWNSHIP - The community -will be taking a bigger role at Morrison Dam Conservation Area. , The Frie,►ds of Morrison Com- mittee, chaired' by Peter • Raymond of Exeter, has been formed to raise • funds and, provideguidance . for the recreation component of MDCA. This,includes the picnic and fishing areas as well as the nature trails. Raymond said the committee will also tackle capital projects as re- quired through special fundraising drives. The Friends of Morrison provides a way for local citizens and groups to get involved, according to Tom Prout, administrator of the Aus- able-Bayfield Conservation Author- ity, • School and scouting groups are already involved in cleaning up the area but their role could increase through the Friends. The ABCA no longer reeeives provincial grants for its 9,500 acres of land and has formed partnerships at several conservation areas to,en- sure they remain open to the public. "It's' 'a way of making ,(mu- nicipal) levy dollars go furthe," he said. Exeter councilor Peter Arm- strong. Usborne Township coun- Drain talk at Usborne council USBORNE TWP. - Drains were the highlight of talks during the April 21 Osborne council meeting. , Council opened tenders for both the Towle and Bell municipal drains to close on May 19 with a finish date set for Oct. 16. Clerk -treasurer Sandra Strang said engineering reports put po- tential construction costs for the Bell drain at $ I57,300 and $113,300 ,for the Towle drain. The Bell drain, loe'ated roughly, he- tween lots 29-33 along Usborne Conc. 4-5. will be paid for by the 10 landowners and the township, while the Towle drain, located be- tween Tots 3-6 on Conc. 8 and lots 2-5 on Conc. 9. will be picked dp by, the nine,landowners, the township and Huron County. In other council news, Reeve Robert Morley shared a letter from the• OPP that included the '98 police service costing for the town- ship. The '98 OPP costing estimate for the township is $143,075. The estimate is based on workload data for service provided for Us - borne in '97. Strang said the province is offering $95,()00 in its Community Re- investment Fund to offset the policing cost. cillor Bob Heywood, Ausable Ba- field Conservation .Foundation di- rector Ted Jones, Exeter PUC com- missioner Chan Livingstone and ABCA chairrnarr Gord Strang are also. on the committee. Prout sees the committee as a co- ordinating group with sub -groups ' formed by various interested users such as tishernrcn and cross- country skiers. • "We'd like to get more groups in- . Continued on page 2 Peter Raymond of Exeter is chairing the newly -formed Friends of Morrison corn- , mittee to raise funds for Mor- rison Dam Conservation Area. Raymond and hig dog Boots are frequent hikers at Morri- son. Exeter, Osborne, Stephen and Grand Bend commit to municipal restructuring EXETER - Close on the heels of Usborne, Stephen and Grand Bend councils, the Exeter council corn- mittee of the whole has committed the Town. of Exeter to amalgama-` tion. The motion -calls for municipal amalgamation that includes but is not limited to Exeter, Usborne. Ste- phen, Grand Bend and a portion of Bosanquet north of the Greenway Road. Grand Bend and Stephen have • passed nearly identical resolutions to • include Bosanquet. Usborne council's resolution does not spe- cifically mention .Bosanquet but it does not limit the number of mu- nicipalities included in. re- structuring. A press release from the corn- mittee states Exeter wants it known it would welcome . and encourage Hay Township, Hensall and Zurich to join the restructuring initiative. Amalgamation discussions have -been happening on two fronts. Hu- ron Count; and its municipalities have been considering various re- structuring ,options. As well. McGillivray and Biddulph. Town- ships. and Lucan have been par- ticipated in • restructuring dis- cussions with Grand Bend and the southern Huron County com- munities. "Exeter Council concludes that, at some future point, these two re- structuring processes may comple-, ment each other to result in a final - restnicturing plan for our area nd •for the county," the press release stated: - Council sees tax savings and ser vice delivery efficiencies.as the key. benefits resulting. from- amalgama- tion as well as community develop-. ment, infrastructure planning and • management -benefits. "Exeter Council sees -an op- portunity in amalgamation to better serve ratepayers by creating •local municipalities that are large enough • to provide services cost-effectively and to respond effectively to the needs of electors at the local level — .the 'level of government that is . closest/most accessible to the cot- • munity," the release said. - The next step is to appoint a Iran= sition .committee .with repre- sentatives of the four partners (Ex- eter; Osborne, Stephen and Grand Bend) to work out the' specifics. Council wants the new municipal structure to be in place in time for the municipal elections in 2000. Exeter Mayor Ben Hoogenboom said a publi: •reetin, will be held to receive imp "1 ..,tlzens. Lions club kicks off another town beautification project EXETER -The Exeter Lions Club is not resting on its laurels after their successful beautification pro- ject in MacNaughton Park. This time the club will be trans- forming • the barren lot formerly occupied by the town offices into a fully landscaped area which could become the focal point of the downtown business area. • Plans have been finalized accord- ing to Lions Parks committee mem- hers John Stephens• and Ted Jones. The club- has invested S30.000 matching funds put up by the town and the B.tisiness .Improvement Area to purchase the property which was owned by the federal government. Stephens told the T -A the club is going to the community to raise an additional 530.000 which will he heeded to complete the project. Fundraising efforts will start soon with the sale of paving stones with the donors' names engraved which will gn c permanent recognition to those who contribute. "This• method -was extremely successful in MacNaughton Park." Stephens said: Plans call for the. curbing to he expanded onto Main Street occupy- . ing the parking spaces in front of the park. Trees will -be planted. a walkway will go down the centre and a covered' rest area will • all blend in to create an attractive. park -like setting. • One benefit. according to Jones. is there will actually be more park- ing spaces for shoppers when the project Is completed than presently' available. The area will also be lighted. The last major project • by the Lions Club was the beauuticatton of MacNaughton Park. Many base described the work done there a - one of the hest things to happen to Exeter in wears. The park has become. an attraction during the summer months. encouraging ►1si- tors to Exeter to stay a little longer and enjoy themselves. It is also 1s- ited regularly by local residents who appreciate the landscaping and quiet atmosphere. Stephens said he expects the fundraising effort to _et undemay soon: "It will he a great benefit for the town and will undouhtedis be supported by both resident. and • members of the business commu- nity." Delegation questions landfill site expansion Citizens claim the expansion of the Exeter Landfill Site will hurt the environment and their health By Kate Monk T -A Reporter EXETER - A swamp is not a good place for a landfill site. That was the premise of a delega- tion of citizens concerned with jhe proposed expansion of the Exeter Landfill Site who attended Exeter Council Monday night. Of prime concern is the expan- sion of the site located in Hay Township to become the destina- tion of garbage from Huron County's municipalities south of Highway 8. Morris Township's landfill site would take garbage from north of Highway 8. Jack Riddell of Stephen 'fown- ship spoke on behalf of the group and emphasized a swamp is not an appropriate place for a landfill site. Riddell said the original decision to put the landfill site in Hay Swamp was wrong and the expansion would also be a mistake. "Two wrongs don't make a right," he stressed. "Why would the Ministry of -the Environment or the Conservation Authority ever appro»-e cn expan- sion?" , Riddell listed several concerns in- cluding water quality and quantity, odors, airborne garbage and dust, "Two w don't n smoke, noise, traffic volume, road damage, additional truck traffic as well as depreciated land values. The citizens were ,especially con- cerned about water quality and sampling techniques. Currently, wells on the site are tested only twice a year - spring and late summer or ear- ly fall. Frank Vanderloo of B.M. Ross and As- sociates, the town's en- gineering firm said the water qual- ity meets iylinistry of the Environment criteria and the only way testing would he increased would be if there a problem was rongs , lake a riga:t. " identified. The ratepayer were not satisfied with this effort. Nornt Whiting said many people can get sick in the six months be- tween testings. Riddell asked who would be held' accountable for ill- nesses traced hack to the landfill, site. - • Riddell said the MOF and the Ausahlc-Bayfie ld Conservation Au- thority should be very concerned with the impact of an expanded landfill site. • "1 still maintain it's against .MOE and ABCA directions. How far would a permit go in build a hog barn in the middle of a swamp?" Riddell asked. • 1lc also challenged Huron County. "If tourism means anything in the county. they should be concerned." He posed several questions in eluding asking for assurance the site will not get larger than 37 acres. "Despite all the good intentions, common sense tells us that the ex- pansion of a dump in a swamp is against government policy and is faulty," he emphasized. Riddell aho warned council that ratepayers' questions would not end here. He asked council to im- agine an MPP standing up in the legislature and asking the Minister of the Environment why a landfill site would be allowed in a swamp. According to Vanderloo, approv- al has beet granted, based on hy- drological studies. for the current area of ground covered bygarbage called the "footprint" but more en- vironmental studies are required to increase the footprint. The first expansion will be ver- tically, creating a 60 foot mound of garbage, 20 acres' in size. The de- cision to go up rather than out was made to tninimize the leachate from the site. Vanderloo also confirmed the soils are suitable for a landfill site with six to eight feet of sand over 30 feet of clay with bedrock below. +' Continued on page 2 SOUTHWEST DUST CONTROL Specializing in: PARKING LOTS - LAKE ROADS - LANEWAYS - PARKS AGRICULTURAL ROADS - INDUSTRIAL YARDS - CAMPGROUNDS FREE ESTIMATES JASON REGIER - RR2, ZURICH s., 236-7626 1