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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-12-15, Page 2POLICE BRIEFS ' POLICE BRIEFS 2 Exeter fTi nres•Advooate Wednesday,December 8, 1999 Development recommended in corridor NORTH MIDDLESEX — Industrial, commer- cial and residential expansion should be encouraged in the Parkhill area and in the corridor between Ailsa Craig and Nairn, reports ''he Parkhill Gazette...,;..:• Growth:- was one of five recommendations presented in an eco- nomic development and planning sub -committee report helping to plan the new Township of North Middlesex. .It was also recom- mended the new munic- ipality prepare a strate- gic planning exercise for the new municipali- ty. "Queen Bee" term linked to scheme PARKHILL -- "Queen Bee" has emerged as another name associat- ed with the pyramid investment scheme said to have become ram- pant throughout Ontario in the past few -months; reports The Parkhill Gazette. ' The name Was picked up by North Lambton OPP Constable Luke George during conver- sations with people Who have been approached by participants in what is known as 'Women Helping Women' or 'People Helping People'. As of the first week of December, no charges have 'been laid, accord- ing to Detective Sergeant Wayne Lickman of the Ontario Illegal Gaming Enforcement Unit. Shearer and Mitchell re-elected wardens Dave Shearer was re- elected warden of Perth County Dec. 1. He defeated fellow Perth East politician and county councillor Ian Forrest who was the sole challenger for the job. Shearer becomes the first warden in 122 years to serve three consecutive terms. In Huron County, Carol Mitchell of Clinton was re-elected for a sec- ond term Dec. 7. This is the first time in Huron County history a war- den has served more than one term consecu- tively. Parents campaign to keep McCurdy open Continued. from front pap on their children of the school's learning environment and programs. Windsor says she informed concerned par- ents about the delegation process at a public meeting, saying they could either speak to the board or write letters to politicians. trustees and board staff. She added trans- portation was arranged by a newly -formed task force, but parents were asked to call the board on their own to sign up as delegates. The task force is a separate entity from the board -mandated community study group. Windsor says it has begun distributing three petitions — one aimed at saving McCurdy, one asking the board to provide more infor- mation and one initially drawn up by the community group fighting to save the Seaforth cluster of schools, which doesn't. refer specifically to any school. "(The Seaforth petition) is basically saying, once again, that we're being pushed into making decisions and the timelines are just too tight," Windsor said. . She adds the task force will become increasingly active over the coming weeks leading up to the board's decision on school closures Feb. 22. "Me task force) is "basically a tool for help- ing to share information, for helping to orga- nize and for giving people a place where they can sound off," she said. Hog barn approval concerns Usborne residents Continued from front page just ruin township roads, he says. "This (the environment) is precious. We can't just leave the environment to chance." He says he realizes there are bound to be smells in _ the country, but they have only gotten worse in the last few years. As a result of the smell and his fear of poor water quality in the area, Horn says he's worried about the resale value of his land. He said he's always wanted to leave his home to his children but now he's not sure how enjoy- able his home will be. Usborne Reeve Robert Morley said Hern has a right to 'be concerned about water quality in the area as everybody should be about any barn, what- ever the size. But, citingthe alight to Farm Bill Morley :said Hern can't really com- plain_about smells in the country. "I certainly sympathize with what (Hern) is say- ing, but right at this time there are no regulations" to deal with the mega barns, Morley said, adding that the new mega barn meets local standards. Hern places blame on Mike Harris's Conservative government, saying they've let big busi- ness do whatever it wants. "When you boil it right down, big business is becoming the govern- ment," he states. To fight the growing power of agri-business, Hern says Usborne coun- cil has -to dare to pass bylaws to halt the increase of' mega barns. He said there should -be caps on sizes -of barns and required minimum dis- tances between mega barns. Morley said there's no point in passing such bylaws because they wouldn't stand up in court. "I can't take (the munici- pality) somewhere where I know we're going to lose," Morley said, explaining that all three levels of government have to co-operate and work on the issue. He said Huron County and the provinceare working together on,. developing stringent _rules involving mega barns. He said he thinks the new rules .will deal not with preventing mega barns but with controlling them after they are built., Speaking to }tern's coil corns about the growing amount of large industries becoming involved 'in farming, Morlayr:_said';he has seen that .trend'deyel- op for the past 10 years. Nobody's building :small barns anymore,. • .: said Morley. because the econ- omy has changed: "It seems to: be that fanning has become big dollar business and' it's only the big players in the game that have the dol- lars to support the busi- ness," Morley said: He added council under- stands the potential prob- lems mega -barns pose but said -they've become. a realty. - "We _,all have; to realize (Usb *ne) ; is a' rural..com- munity and if We want our rural community to sur- vive as a rural comrhurlity we have to go with :what ,rural Ontario is putting -(it our platter." Morley also point_ Dili, that' the issue of mega; barns Is :growing in .zany municipalities, not: just Usborne: :"These lana; are' pop' ping up :.all.:over- : the place," Morley said. : For now, Hern says Ile will start having his;Water tested and will continue talking about mega 1 ai ns. "We the peopleAWIll speak, dammit," he said: Exeter council has fun electing transition board members By Craig Bradford TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — Municipal councillors: aren't -sup- posed to have much fun...are they? J Exeter councillors seemed to enjoy them- selves during an impromptu secret ballot election to come up with their representatives on the transition board that will create the new merged municipality, The Town of South Huron. The elections on scrap pieces of paper was held at council's committee of the whole meeting Monday night. The idea was hatched by meeting chairperson/Coun. George Robertson. He suggested casting ballots to decide who was to sit on the board since councillors couldn't agree how to select the reps. Each councillor was asked to cast two ballots. The first one found Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin the winner. Finding the second rep wasn't as easy. The coun- cillors had to cast three ballots to come up with Coun. Robert Drummond as the winner. Drummond won on the final ballot over Robertson. The other member receiving votes in the second rep votes was Coun. Peter Armstrong. Both Urlin and Drummond were Exeter's representatives on the for- mer merger committee along with two members each from Stephen and Usborne townships. There will also be the same number pf board mem- bers on the transition board. tteeve Roy :Triebner prigina1y, brought., up yot- • ing for the reps because they will help create the new merged municipality and therefore wield much power. Armstrong and Mayor Ben Hoogenboom argued before the voting that Urlin and Drummond did a good job representing Exeter on the former merger committee and would do so again on the transition board. Hoogenboom added he would be "flabbergasted" if transition board mem- bers went against the will of their councils. Hoogenboom was the only councillor who said he did not want to sit on the transition board and Urlin was the only one who openly said before the vote he wanted to serve. Other notes from the meeting: 2001 bucks The committee made a recommendation to coun- cil that the town donate $2,001 to the Grand Bend Friends of the 2001 Summer Games. The Friends sent a letter to council outlining what they are doing and requesting some kind of donation. Armstrong moved the town give the Friends $2,001 so to meet the minimum to qualify for the Friends' '2001 Club Sponsor' designation. He also left the door open for Exeter to contribute more in the future if need be. • against : the town in case happen :to coverage= with Hoogenboom started the of injury on town property amalgamation, Coleman discussion ondonating the or private' property dam-; : .said.thereivill be cost.sav; Cowan ins�trreh -Step entbut not Usborne.:' Coleman: said there are more than 10:outstanding lawsuits: against the town due to sewer back-up loci - dent's,. one in '96 and'two in '98. While the suits are open, some may be . inac- tive. Exeter isn't alone- with legal headaches ::over sewer back-up problems. Coleman said Moore Township has 300 law- suits over the issue and Sarnia and Petrolia- also have suits against them. Coleman added lawsuits such as those sometimes take seven to nine years to be closed. • . `thbney "Jointing Qut Exeter° rage done by -town.�iot ,donatedthe. equivalent ,of about 't 2,000. to the The errors and omission: International Plowing coverage sees'to lawsuits Match. He suggested filed ,against- the town by donating a- couple thou- people who feel they have sand dollars especially lost money due to things since after amalgamation such as rezoning. Grand Bend will be an The non -owned auto irnmediate neighbour of coverage covers council - the new municipality. He lors using their own cars added South Huron might for town business. need fmancial help of its The policy also includes own from its neighbours $2 million of environnen- in the future. tal damage coverage and Thecommittee debated councillor conflict of inter - the benefit of such an est coverage. event to the area. Urlin Last year the premium argued most businesspeo- cost just over $59,000. ple he has talked to say .Coleman said the biggest they didn't see much ben- municipal payout over a efit from the plowing lawsuit is $8 million. match. Triebner coun- When asked what will tered there are studies that show entities like the Huron Country Playhouse and the Blyth Festival return on an investment VANASTRA — A Toronto man is charged with two seven -fold. counts of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in connection with a violent attack in a Vanastra apart- ment complex just after midnight Dec. 11. Huron OPP Const. Don Shropshall said Wayne Smith, 36, was remanded into custody and appeared in Goderich court Monday for a bail hearing. The OPP were called to the St. Charles Place apart- ment complex and found two people who needed treat- ment in hospital for knife wounds. A 42 -year-old woman told them that a man came into the apartment upset over previous allegations made about his friends. The man became so upset he grabbed knives from a counter top in the kitchen ' and started swinging them around. The woman received a 10" gash to her left upper arm. A 39 -year-old man attempted tried to help her was also attacked, receiving multiple minor facial injuries and during the struggle ended up with a broken ankle. Both victims were taken to Clinton Public Hospital and later transferred to a London hospital for treatment. Shortly after 2 a.m. several OPP officers attended another apartment in the complex and arrested the suspect. The investigation continues. Two people assaulted with knife You're covered The committee heard from Cowan Public Entity's (formerly Frank Cowan Company Ltd.) Jeff Coleman of London and Gasser-Kneale Insurance Brokers' Jon Gaiser on their proposed insurance coverage for Exeter for 2000. The proposed total $58.490 policy would include $15 million of lia- bility coverage ($2,500 deductible), $15 million errors and omission cov- erage and $15 million non -owned automobile .coverage. The liability coverage would protect against lawsuits filed