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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-05-05, Page 22 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, May 5. 1999 Perth, Huron PUCs may unite MITCHELL -- Perth and Huron Counties may amalgamate their electrical utilities after all, re- ports the Mitchell Advocate. A new restructuring committee of. 45 members and 16 municipalities, formed in Seaforth on March 25, is looking at the possibility of Perth and Huron County forming a single services company. The committee is expecting. to receive a final re- port from the Toronto Firm of Acres International by June 30 regarding the possibility of a merger. Originally, a restructuring committee suggested Huron and Perth form separate services compa- nies. The amalgamation talks are in response to the provincial government's Bill 35, the Energy Com- petition Act. Under the act, consumers will be able to choose their energy suppliers sometime next year. The bill virtually eliminates public utility com- missions (PUCs) and replaces them with corpora- tions. One corporation is a wires company han- dling the practical work and the other is a services- company, ervicescompany, which supplies a number of services currently offered by a public utility. Police force for Huron County? GODERICH — Huron County may be getting their own police force, reports the Goderich Signal -Star. Sixteen of the county's 26 municipalities have voted in favour of establishing the county -wide force. Because more than 50 per cent of the councils representing 50 per cent of the county's popula- tion approved the bylaw all that is needed now is a signature from' the province's Solicitor General to make it a done deal. If approved by the Solicitor General, the start date for the county -wide force will be retro -active to the beginning of this year. The new county -wide contract will not include Wingham and is based on the current levels of ser- vice being provided to the county's other 25 mu- nicipalities. Existing police offices in Exeter, Wing - ham and Goderich will be used as operation centres and various community policing offices will be„ set-up in other smaller communities throughout the county. Fish kill remains a mystery BAYFIELD — Despite analysis of fish samples 'one by the Ministry of the Environment the sub - ince that killed over 1,000 fish in the Bayfield .ver will remain a mystery, reports the Clinton Qws-Record. kfter water tests proved to be inconclusive, the .1 samples were collected from the 10 kilometre retch of river. Bob Massecar, Communications Officer for the 'Ministry of the Environment's London office, stat- ed the tests proved to be inconclusive and the fish kill will remain an "unsolved mystery." The ministry has performed water tests since the ,ish kill and the results are normal, which indi- cates the "one time" nature Massecar said. Ac- •ordingly, the river and its current stocks of fish are normal and safe for consumption. Wingham water rates jump WINGHAM — The Wingham Public Utilities Com- mission passed a motion to raise water gates by 25 per cent beginning on July 1, reports the,Wingham ldvance-Times. Former residential, commercial and industrial rates of $12 for a minimum bill (allowing for 10 cubic meters of water per month) will increase to $15..,Balance usage will increase from 30 cents per cubic meter to 40 cents. "This rate is necessary to assist the Water- works department to cover necessary capital ex- penses including the new reservoir and pump house. as well as upgrades of water main for street re -construction in the town," reads a letter by PUC Manager Ken Saxton to town council. "Capital ex- penses for (the) North Huron plant for Wescast was approximately $150,000, an expense that had not been in our budget." In the News Draft budget holds the line on taxes By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF LUCAN BIDDULPH — If all goes according to the draft, the first bud- get in the history of the Township of Lucan Bid- dulph will see no tax in- creases for ratepayers. Members of council passed the budget in principle at a meeting last Thursday. The draft budget calls for a tax collection of $1,032,356, compared with the actual 1998 combined Lucan Bid- dulph figure of $1,018,369. Township treasurer Ruth Frost presented the budget to council along with ad- ministrator Ron Reym- er. As this is the first budget for the new mu- nicipality and staff had the task of combining two municipalities, Reymer described the. budget as "very difficult" to prepare, but "I think we're through the worst of it." Reymer said the township will be in "a good position to hold the line on taxes for a while." "There is a note of caution ... not all num- bers are written in stone yet," he said, explaining that the township is still waiting for the final po- licing costs. In discussing the township's expenses, Coun. Perry Caskanette asked if it was necessary to have. a bylaw enforce- ment officer and animal control officer because the cost - $4,228 in sal- ary and $850 in ex- penses for the bylaw of- ficer and $7,800 in salary and $2,100 in ex- penses for animal con- trol -- seemed too high. He suggested council get more reports from the bylaw and animal control officers so coun- cil knows more about the work they do. Coun. Paul Wallis agreed, say- ing he wanted monthly reports from the officers. Council eventually agreed to request quar- terly reports from their bylaw officer and animal control officer. In terms of revenue from the province, Lu - can . Biddulph received $37,000 as part of the special circumstances fund and $289,000 in the community re- investment fund, com- pared to last year's ac- tual figure of $483,000. The township has also been granted $300,000 from the province as part of the Municipal Re- structuring Fund. The township had applied for $972,000, but Reymer said that, per person, the township is doing well compared to what some other municipal- ities have been getting. There is no appeal for the grant. The township is also budgeting for a net rev- enue of $60,000 for the sale of the former Lucan village office. Council is about to put out tenders for a real estate com- pany to handle the sale.- Major ale.Major expenses in- clude $218,000 for con- struction on the Whalen Line and $114,626 for the construction re- serves. In addition to the good news about Lucan Biddulph tax rates, Mid- dlesex County council has reduced its tax rate by 11.8 per cent, Reeve Earl French reported to council. Swinging Into Spring B.J. Theophilopoulos, Kim Maclean, Brad Brown and Kim Keller were among 49 South Huron District High School stu- dents who were models during the Swing Into Spring fashion show last Wednesday. At left, Jason Neil poses for the crowd during the show which raised $ 1,200. The Sr. Black Jazz Band and soloist Glen- da Burrell provided the musical accompa- niment. Fifteen children also modelled . clothing from local businesses.