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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-06-23, Page 22 Exeter ._ Wednesday. Ape 23; 1999 Regional wrap up Youth centre to open in St. Marys ST. MARYS -- The town's anxiously anticipated new youth centre will open on June 25, reports the St. Mary's Journal Argus. The facility will be run by the town until it -be- comes established, then it is expected the centre will become an incorporated as a separate entity. "We have a long way to go yet," said St. Marys Coun. Barb Kannegiesser, who will be overseeing the centre's operation. She noted the search for volunteers to help run the youth centre and members to sit on its board is ongoing. The cen .. has been created with little money available w has made. organizers rely heavily on volu and greatly extended the process, Coun. k .egiesser said. A federal grant has been received, allowing the hiring of a coordinator for the summer months. Extra money in new budget MITCHELL — The Huron Perth Catholic District School Board has approved its 1999/2000 budget, giving them an extra $1 million to work with after a phase-in period of the funding_ formula ends next year, reports the Mitchell Advocate. Education director Gaeten Blanchette said the extra $1 million the board will receive in 2000- 2001 will be used quickly for program enhance- ments it hopes to make after surveying school councils and principals last February..:. This week the school board is scheduled to dis- cuss the administration's analysis of the survey results and recommendations about which pro- gram enhancements to make, choosing between improvements to the arts. Catholic education, lay programs, design and technology and library pro- grams and science. The new budget includes $20,378,226 for sala- ries, including an increase for secondary teachers towards the addition of the OAC year at St. Anne's and education assistants for special education classes. OPP announce auxiliary force CLINTON — Last week police introduced the Hu- ron County Ontario Provincial Police's Auxiliary Officers Unit to the community, reports the Clinton News -Record. The presentation 'was the cuhnination of months of interviewing, testing and training for the 16 new members. After completing their intensive five-day training in Orillia, they were sworn in on April 25.= Even though auxiliary members are not fully trained, Huron OPP Staff Sgt. George Lons- bary has no hesitation about their ability to per- form. Lonsbary said the auxilary members will be ;yam another set of eyes out on patrol and will allow the regular officers to perforin their roles by as- sisting them in whatever way necessary. As part of the municipal contract with the OPP, an auxiliary force of up to 18 members can be created to assist the regular officers in Huron County. Two more graduates will be sworn in on Sept. 18 to'complete the auxiliary force. Arson suspected in blaze BIDDULPH TWP. — Two young men have been charged with arson after a blaze last Wednesday night de- stroyed a storage shed and an unoccupied mo- bile home. Another trail- er was severely dam- aged. The Lucan Fire Department responded to a call by a nearby neighbour at 6:38 p.m. that a fire was in progress on a property on Hwy. 4 near McGilliv- ray Drive "The shed was a big ball of fire when I first pulled in," said Lucan Fire Chief John Riddell. "It was immediately sus- picious." He said mainly appliances and air con- ditioners were being stored in the shed. Riddell eventually In the News . called in the Biddulph- Blanshard and Ailsa Craig Fire Departments for back-up when two other fires were discov- ered further back on the property in a bush. Riddell estimates that damage to the property could be at least $100,000. He said the owner of the . property, Londoner David Rock, is unin- sured. However, the mo- bile home that was de- stroyed belonged to a friend of Rock's and was insured. On June 17, police charged two young males with arson. The 17 -year-old Forest teen and 18 -year-old Kettle Point male have also been charged with break and enter and theft. f Usborne residents come out in force for meeting By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF USBORNE TWP. — Usborne residents packed the library in Usborne Central Public School last Thursdayto hear about their future intheP� ro sed Mu- nicipality nicipality of South Huron. The turnout of at least 30 peo- ple — excluding council mem- bers and staff -- was a surprise after poor attendance at prior public meetings in Exeter and Stephen Township. After going through the group's draft proposal for amal- gamation, which would see the new municipality become official on Jan. 1, 2001, Reeve Robert Morley opened the floor to ques- tions from the public. Resident Patrick Ward asked Morley why the Usborne ward will only be getting one repre- sentative after amalgamation when Exeter and Stephen will each be getting two. Morley said it was because of Usborne's smaller population. Since Usborne only has about 1,500 people and Exeter and Ste- phen each have about 4,500, Morley said .Usborne has done well to get one representative. He added that councillors in the new municipality won't just be representing their own ward, they'll , be working for the whole town. In addition to -the five coun- cillors elected. by ward, the new South Huron will have a mayor and ;deputy -mayor elected at large. Ward later said Exeter will probably end up electing the mayor and deputy -mayor, mean- ing Exeter will have four repre- sentatives compared with Us- borne's one. Responding to the issue of tax- es, Morley said the combination of provincial downloading and municipal amalgamation should be revenue -neutral. He said he would consider it a job well done if he can maintain the same level of taxes over the next three years. He added there won't be any savings early on in amalgamation ' but there will eventually be savings with a smaller staff and only one mu- nicipal office. But Stephen Coun. Anita Rid- dell disagreed, saying no money is saved by amalgamation. "You better face that. The people shouldn't be mislead," she told Usborne council. Usborne clerk -treasurer San- dra Strang, though, said that the whole point of amalgamation was to "maintain an even keel", as opposed to increasing taxes because of downloading. Another topic of discussion was policing. In a May amal- gamation meeting, Usborne and Exeter disagreed about how tax- es for policing would be col- lected. Exeter wants it in the general tax rate, while Usborne wants policing to be area rated since Usborne has a lower level of po- licing service than Exeter. Morley told the audience col- lection for policing costs are a big concern for him. He said since Usborne only gets police service when it calls the police in, it shouldn't have to pay for the constant patrolling that Exet- er gets. "We feel it's -only fair we. pay for what we get," he said. Exeter Mayor Ben Hoo- genboom disagreed, saying many Usborne homes and businesses benefit from the constant police patrolling Exeter receives. He said Exeter doesn't want to sent the message out .to Usborne res- idents that they will get poorer police service than the rest of the new municipality. Costs "truly should be equally divided", Hoo- genboom concluded. Another resident, former Us - borne Reeve Murray Dawson, asked that Exeter be considerate to Usborne residents when vot-' ing on particular issues. Hoogenboom, though, de- fended Exeter, explaining that the town has not been a bully in amalgamation talks and are sharing equal representation with Usborne and Stephen at the meetings. Exeter Deputy -Reeve Dave Ur - lin, a member of the amalgama- tion committee, agreed, saying the group has always gotten along and are working for the betterment of the three mu- nicipalities. Stephen Deputy -Reeve Tom Tomes also said Exeter has not been a bully in amalgamation talks and said that trend will continue. "The people are going to work together ... it's who you vote in." Former Usborne Reeve Pat Down asked about the future of noise bylaws in the new mu- nicipality. She wondered if a noise bylaw would be passed preventing farmers from har- vesting at night. However, Us - borne Coun. Brian Hardeman said bylaws in Usborne can only be changed by Usborne res- idents. Stephen Coun. Drew Rob- ertson added that farmers would surely maintain their right to: farm.r: The issue of a single -tier gov- ernment was raised, with Horde -- man saying the prospect of a sin- gle -tier government worried him because a Goderich-run council isn't going to know anything about small communities such as Kirkton, Centralia and Huron Park. Morley, meanwhile said county council will be dealing with the single -tier issue at its July 8. He said there is some support within county council for a sin- gle -tier government, which would mean much less local rep- resentation. • Usborne council planned to. hold a special council meeting Tuesday night after the T -A went. to press to deal with the com- ments expressed at the public meeting. Huron tops marijuana growing Continsied from front pike is boiled off, leaving a syrupy substance width is hash or hash oil. . Hash oil can be painted on rolling paper. added to tobacco or burned alone. According to Scott there is more money in the selling of hash and -the oil is easi- er to sell. It . can be pack- aged in easily hidable small vials of one gram that can bring $20 or more. The narcotic strength Is doubled if made into hash. Harvest time can be any- where from mid-July to the end of October. Fighting pot growers Every year OPP, RCMP and DND (Department of National Defense) heli- copters are used to spot plants. The easiest way to find mailuana is from the air bediuse it is such a dis- t ictive green. There is no other naturally occuring plant that has such a color. According .to Scott, peo- ple who plant in cornfields are either first -timers or amateurs because it's so easy % spot. The air -campaign is designed to drive the growers inside so they 'are easier .to find. Police can use FUR (forward point- ing infared) to locate heat spots from the lamps used in the hydroponic growing of marijuana plants.. The process of growing inside requires a lot of hydro and police can use Ontario Hydro records to find abnormally high users and get a search warrant. Scott also stated that the police no longer find huge stashes of 2-300 plants because the growers are spreading them out. Police also . now encounter trip wires and booby traps guarding the plants. Officers can now take courses specializing in the eradication of pot and dealing with traps. Alcohol vs. pot Unlike alcohol there is no quick and easy way to test for THC in the body. Alcotests and breathalyz- ers can gauge how much alcohol is in your system through breath, but blood or urine must be tested for THC. Currently, police can only legally take blood samples if there is an acci- dent where someone other than the suspected drug user is hurt and bleeding. You could be completely Impaired from smoking pot and there is no way outside of urine or blood tests to tell the level of impairment said Scott. Also unlike alcohol. which is processed through the liver and leaves to body quickly, THC is absorbed into fat cells and can stays there for up to a year. Some clues Scott closed by telling those in attendance what to look for in possible growing areas. He said that people may carry water to their plants, so keep an eye out for water tanks or cars parked on a side road for no reason. Tools and garbage in a remote area may also be a clue. For the crowd's inforna- tion,. Scott said that 'Roundup' will kill a pot plant that isless than one foot high.