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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-06-16, Page 18,-,,. 18 Exeter Times -Advocate r Wednesday, June 16, 1999 Hensall council reinstates green waste pick up By Kate Monk TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF gENSALL -- After t onths of peace and 3, Diet in the Hensall .ouncil chambers, the seats filled Monday night ith three delegations. )n the property maintenance front, they got results. Jason Phil- lips of Mill t. was first up with corn- - plaints about the Property. '". Standards Bylaw not boing enforced. Phillips contends sever- al properties are not be - Lig maintained to the standards set n the by- law. "What's the sense of making a bylaw if you're riot going to enforce it," he challenged council. Long grass is Phillips' main concern although he said there were trees, shrubs, sheds and junk fleap that should also be cleaned up. Other citizens at the meeting echoed his con- cerns stating many Hen - call residents work very Lard to keep their prop- erties looking nice and tie least other people could do is cut their grass. Councillor Steve Towle rhymed off a number of properties he knows of that are not up to snuff. Reeve Cecil Pepper told the citizens that council can't tell everyone what to do. Building inspector and bylaw officer Milt Die- trich was in attendance at the meeting and said he needs to have the com- plaint in writing to support . the case if it goes to court. The vil- lage has a prop- erty stan- dards committee of three citizens appointed by council: Chuck Mallette, Jamie Caldwell and Su- san Hartman. The com- mittee only meets when Dietrich and the prop- erty owner can't reach an agreement. The current bylaw didn't have a clause to address long grass and could only -take action when noxious weeds were present. After the delegation left, council reviewed the bylaw's relevant sections and created a subsection consistent with other municipalities stating grass shall not be per- mitted to grow to a length= of more than 20 centimeters. Council will review the complete bylaw ii the fall ` "What's the sense of making a bylaw if you're not going to enforce it." --- JASON PHILLIPS to• 0141100. Green waste pick up reinstated Valerie Pratt spoke on behalf of nearly 100 res- idents who signed a peti- tion asking council to re- instate green waste pick up. "It's obvious that there are a lot of people who need the green waste pick up back," Pratt told council. Earlier this year, coun- cil eliminated the weekly green waste curbside pick up and replaced it by having the landfill site open one Saturday morning a month when residents could bring their yard waste : to the site and .dump it . for a fee. Pepper said the pick up was eliminated because it was being abused. "It was just a hassle and getting worse all the time," he said, ex- plaining some residents were not placing the waste in proper contain- ers nor cutting it in the; proper lengths. Members of the .delega- tion replied council and staff should have dealt with the offenders rather than penalize everyone. Many at the meeting said residents take pride in their properties and: were believed yard maintenance was . -going to slip without the ser- vice. They were also con- cerned the village's many senior citizens could not get their waste to the Hensall dump. Pratt asked for a com- promise. Coun. Greg Dayman promised the deletion the issue would be discussed later in the meeting. "It can't stay the way it is," Day - man said. Later • in . the meeting, council passed a motion to reinstate the curbside pick up on a monthly basis, Village staff will gather ‘.» green waste on the first Monday of each month. If the first Monday is a holiday, it will be picked up the next day. The waste should be in contain- ers or cardboard boxes (not bags) that can be dumped. Brush must be tied in bundles no longer than four feet in length and no more than five bun- dles will be picked up. "It's obvious that there are a lot of people who need the green waste pick up back." -- VALERIE PRATI' Bundles or containers can't exceed 40 pounds. Items should be at the curb by 7 a.m. on the pick up day. Insurance premiums down` Jon Gaiser of Gaiser Kneale Insurance in Ex- eter delivered the good news the village's in- surance premiums were decreasing by 29 per cent. Gaiser said premiums are market and claims driven. "(You've got) more cov- erage today than '93 and less cost," he said, .�. Beach access still unresolved By Katherine Harding TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF iZurich arena study finishe By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF ZURICH --- The fund-raising committee for Zurich's Babe Siebert Memorial Xrena has finished one step in its efforts to renovate the 48 -year-old building. Coun, Shelley Rodgers -Bedard, chairperson of the arena's fund-raising com- mittee, reported to council the geotechnical study on the arena has been done and no contamination has been found underneath the arena. There are, however, explosive -level amounts of methane gas in the ground where the arena may be expanded. Zurich clerk -treasurer Charlene Overholt; though, said that's not a concern now because that land isn't now coveted by any structure and naturally vents itself. If the village does decide to expand the arena to that land, Overholt said council would have to ensure it was prop- erly vented. ---,4.','-.' r;-3 , r ,, ' r. . ;rx• i �" 5 i` j i -+L - Rodgers -Bedard also told council efforts to raise money for the arena's ren- ovation may include a Halloween Bash for children. - She said she still hopes to have the door-to-door canvassing begin in July, but said the process has been somewhat delayed.because the committee is still ,waiting for an operating budget on the renovations from the engineer. • The fund-raising committee -now has raised $24,000, including a $10,000 loan from council. Renovations, including a new cement arena floor, dressing rooms, boards and glass, could cost up to $_500,000. Other notes from Thursday's meetings' Severance approved ; Council has given permission to Robert Morrissey to go ahead with a sever- ance plan for his Goshen Street property. The consent application will see the portion of the land with a residence se- vered from the undeveloped land. - Co'unty planner Wayne Caldwell appeared at council's meeting on Thursday in favour of the application, but he recommended council ensure Morrissey in- stall services to the undeveloped property. Morrissey agreed to have sewer and water hookups installed by Oct. 1. Overholt told council none of the landowners on the neighbouring properties expressed any concerns to the village about the application. • A new scrubber for the arena Council agreed to let arena manager Kevin Geoffrey spend $5,600 on a new floor scrubber for the arena. Geoffrey appeared before council and told them the current floor scrubber is broken and, at 20 years old, is irreparable: Geoffrey said a new scrubber he has looked at is an improvement over the old one because it is much lighter and easier to move it around. In addition to cleaning the arena floor, the new scrubber will clean the dressing rooms and the upstairs. He added the new scrubber can be lent out to other companies in the village to use. GRAND BEND -- Council is be- coming frustrated over the issue of public access to the South Beach. The North Shoreline Property Own- ers Association (NSPOA), failed to at- tend a meeting last month Av4h coun- cil to. discuss the issue. Council set up the meeting after receiving a letter on April 20 from Frank Butterworth, a member of NSPOA, requested the meeting to discuss public use of the beach. For the past two summers, the six property owners who belong to NSPOA and have title to the beach, have posted a `Private Beach' sign cit- ing=public misuse as a problem. The popular beach located at the end of Lake Rd. had been used for decades by villagers and tourists. However, Grand Bend has never made a claim to the beach. The land located in the Lake Rd. South Beach .area is the original Southcott family lots purchased in 1900. When South- cott Pines was :_established in 1944, this area •was not included because it had ;been already sold ,to private in- vestors and is not part of the sub- division. "We aren't going to get anything from these guys," saki - Mayor Cam Ivey at last Monday's meeting. "I don't know what the hell to do." "How do we get- to the bottom of. this: ,;They don't think the Gibbs case is a threat to them but I think it is." On Dec. 20, 1989, Parkhill's Archie Gibbs became owner of Grand Bend's most popular beach at the end of Main St. However, an appeal in 1995 legally recognized the public's "right to use," making it clear that although Gibbs owned the 300 metres of beach be- tween the bottom of Main St. and the pier, the beach must remain open for public use. Eventually Gibbs was awarded com- pensation by the province and in 1997 he sold the beach to the -village. Other notes from council; New development==`S tiro Council gave the go-ahead to Oak- wood Plaza, a ,new commercial residential development which will house a 9,000 sq. ft. gym and six apart- ments. The development's architect Andy Spriet and developer Doug Jennison presented the site plan for the project to council. Construction on the two-storey build- ing located off Ontario St N. -could be- gin as early as this July. The developers have already received Interest from a local couple, Patti and Paul Wisniewski, in leasing the gym. While the site plan also includes a - proposed commercial building. on the north corner of the property,that wasn't included in council's approval because of concerns with proposed drive-through lanes. A great meal! Young avid old enjoyed the meal served at the Thames Rd./Elimville Strawberry and Ham Supper at the South Huron Rec. Centre on Sunday night. Helping out in- the kitchen are (I -r) Crystal Varley, Sandra ' Rowe, Kathy Simpson and Joan Skinner. At right,Hansford Mahon, 2, eats his dessert.