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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-09-22, Page 2In the News Usborne residents fear impact of recyclingiplant By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF USBORNE TWP. -- Council has deferred a decision on a rezoning application from McCann Redi-Mix that would give the company permission to store and process products such as concrete, asphalts and glass. About 40 concerned citizens of Usborne Township attended Usborne council's Sept. 14 meeting. Many spoke out against allowing the rezoning to McCann and submitted two presentations with signatures opposing the rezoning. Now zoned ER1 (extractive resources), McCann is requesting a rezoning to ER1 (extractive resources — special provisions). After about an hour and a half, council decided it needs more information from the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources and McCann before making a decision . on the issue. Reeve Robert Morley said he didn't know how long that will take.. Chief among the ratepayers' concerns are the fear of contamination ` into township soil and drinking water. Concerns were also expressed about how long McCann would store the concrete, asphalt, stumps and glass on its property before getting rid of it. Brian McCann told council he thinks McCann's activities will be safe for the community. He said McCann Redi-Mix will take in the materials, crush it and resell it, the same way it operates its gravel business. "It's simple, it's neat and it's clean," he said, adding that "it's not a garbage dump." He also told council none of the material will be staying at the site on Conc. 7 and that it will be environmentally friendly. "It's a big bonus to this community," McCann said. The 59 ratepayers who signed a petition rejecting the McCann plans disagree. Reading from a document prepared by a committee opposing McCann, ratepayer Jane Cann said the McCann pit on Conc. 7 is the worst place for such an operation because of the porous nature of the soil. Any contaminants: -or spills, she read, will seep into the ground water, contaminating Usborne water as well as Exeter water. The group also claims that the increased activity of trucks going in and out of the site "will have a devastating effect on our lifestyle, on our roads, and the overall safety and well being of ourselves and our children. Also opposing McCann's request was Robert Passmore, who said any site plan involving the proposed changes at McCann's pit should include how long the materials will be stored.on the property and what volume of materials will .be processed. Passmore also said increased truck traffic will mean Usborne roads will need more maintenance and McCann should pay for that. "Nave not prepared to support a proposal where the tarayers of this township are to incur additional costs to subsidize the operations of any private company.' Passmore also suggested the • township appoint members from the public to monitor activities at McCann to ensure the company complies with' its site plan agreement and government legislation. "This is a complex issue and the decision will have far-reaching implications: of the economic, social, and natural environment of numerous residents and registered voters of • Usborne Township," Passmore told council. McCann engineer Bill Bradshaw labelled some of Passmore's statements as "ludicrous" but suggested council defer a decision on .the matter so McCann can investigate some of the issues raised by the Usborne residents. Ratepayer Jack Hodgert said he strongly objects to McCann's proposal to store and process concrete, asphalt, stumps and glass and said while McCann is a reputable company, accidents can happen. , "I think I'm entitled to clean water," he said urging council to look further into the issue. • Responding to ' accusations that McCann is requesting the rezoning because it is running out of gravel at the site, Pat McCann said the company was able .to get 14,000 tonnes of crushable and sand- fillec gravel from the pit last year. He added that the ratepayers' concerns about pollution and heavy volume of trucks on the roads are unfounded.' • "We don't want to pollute the world," he said. Following the 'meeting, - Usborne resident Paul Passmore .said the concerned citizens are worried about the weld -being of the entire municipality and said that while many people are worried about the storage of asphalt and concrete, he is worried about McCann storing glass because it is had to sell. Huron County planner Wayne 4- Caldwell also addressed council and said approvals from the Ministry of Environment must be obtained before McCann can be given the go-ahead for its proposal. He also stated that any rezoning should not include the entire 50 -acre site, but just a portion of it. Caldwell also said Usborne should consider an agreement with McCann on the "nature, extent, location and timing of crushing or grinding activity." Since council has deferred a decision, Morley said ratepayers will be notified of any future public meetings on the issue. Thedford gets administration office By Kate Monk TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF GRAND BEND -- The Tpvvn of Bosanquet municipal office in Thedford will be the site of the administration centre for the City of North Lambton. The transition board made the decision at last Tuesday's meeting in Grand Bend despite the opposition of Grand Bend and Forest politicians. Grand Bend Mayor Cam Ivey told the board the location decision was premature and that with today's technology, the office .could be anywhere and staff may not need to be in a central. location. Grand Bend arid Forest will have suboffices to deal with local business. In making the motion, Bosanquet Mayor Bill Graham said the Bosanquet building has enough room for staff, council meetings and the site has room for expansion. Thedford Mayor Caroline Jamieson agreed with the location saying ratepayers have told her not to spend a "great deal of money" for an office. Other business Forest Mayor Gord Minielly told the board there is "strong talk" of there only being three or • four municipalities in Lambton following restructuring. He said the matter -would be discussed at the 'Oct. 6 county council meeting, adding the discussion is, being locally -driven, provincially -driven. • The board also discussed staff structure, when to hire an adininistrator and committee structure but did not reach any decisions. urnp neighbours want questions answ Continued from front page and that Wingham's only options are to send its residential and commer- cial waste Exeter's way or export. it out of the coun- ty. Shapton then asked how much Wingham waste would be sent to Exeter if a deal is made. Hundey said Wingham's consul- tant came up with 1,800 metric tons per year, an increase of 65 per' cent over what the dump is taking now from Exeter and contractors. "We're not increasing (total) volume (the site can accept) but the rate of filling," Hundey said. "All we're talking about is fill- ing it up quicker." Reeve Roy Triebner said the lifetime of the Exeter dump would be dropped from. the 60 years for Exeter waste only to 20 years if it began accepting waste from all of South Huron (Stephen and Usborne Townships and the town). Hundey later said its better for Exeter to make better use of its landfill 4 and fill it up quicker than to run it inefficiently and lose money. Exeter could accept Stephen's waste in a cou- ple of years when its landfill site runs out of room and Hay Township would be in line to send its garbage elsewhere in about 14 years. Triebner ,said Huron County won't be able to force Exeter to take waste from municipalities town council doesn't agree to. Triebner, along with Mayor Ben Hoogenboom, have been appointed to sit on the committee with Wingham representatives to work on a potential agreement. It was men- tioned several times at the meeting that the towns have agreed on nothing and a potential waste deal is in the earli- est of planning stages. One person from the gallery asked why Wingham wouldn't create a new landfill site. Hundey replied. that mak- ing a dump from scratch is an extremely costly project. One gallery member asked if there would be a lot more garbage truck traffic if Exeter takes out- side municipal waste. Hundey said two to three packer trucks are expect- ed from Wingham a week if Exeter agrees to take Wingham waste. The landfill neighbours committee pushed for the town to start planting trees to the east of the landfill immediately to beautify the site and pro- vide an environmental buffer. Council members argued that 100acres of land was bought by the town from Bert Visscher 'who has a five-year agreement (expires at end of 2001) to rent the land from the town. That agreement stops the town from planting trees there but Coun. Peter Armstrong said the town could try to get Visscher to alter his agreement to allow the town to plant trees there. Hoogenboom said the site already has a "tremendous" buffer to the south. "I'd say 99 per cent of people go by the dump and don't realize its• there," he said. Triebner said the pro- posed ring road that will encircle .the dump would call for additional trees to improve the image of the site. Hoogenboom said once the roads are in, the town and its consultants will have a better idea of what improvements are. needed. Other concerns the dump neighbours com- mittee raised included whether the town has applied to change the site. area or the tons per day (it hasn't but plans to some day after several agreements and county master 'plan and provin- cial certificate changes are drawn up), whether a fund can be set up to mediate future problems between the town and the public that could occur at the site (council has talked to the county about this) and what can be done about waste items falling off contractor trucks on their way to the Exeter dump and winding up in ditches (council maintained all roadways have to deal with this problem). Shapton summed up his committee's stance by saying their "primary objective is to have none of this happen" and the committee wants council to weigh the benefits of accepting more waste against the potential dam- age to the environment, the town's image and property values. In an earlier interview with the Times -Advocate, dump neighbour commit- tee member Donna Shapton said her group is most concerned about Ausable River and ground water quality. She added the added noise from traf- fic to and from the site and large equipment use , can be bothersome and that she can't sleep at night sometimes because of the new sand filter pumps. , "We're not against Exeter expanding its owh use and surrounding townships," she said. "Why doesn't anyone give a hoot about garbage coming down from the north?" UnitedWay sets goal of $210,000 Continued from front page There will be a nominal charge/donation with prizes for every participant. . In Exeter, the kick-off starts at -3 p.m. at Gar's Bar & Grill with a benefit concert. Musicians Rick Powell, Mark Blayney, Ron-devous and Tara Rempleare are donating their time to the United Way. Several others have been contacted and Bilcke is waiting for final notification. "We are also hoping Phil Main, who is a talented musician in his own right, will make a guest appear- ance," Bilcke added. 1 The staff is donating their time and tips to the United Way and Gar is cooking hamburgers and hotdogs with all proceeds going to the United Way. Bilcke expects the event run until 7 or 8 p.m.