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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1981-09-17, Page 1HensaII plans contest Henrall council is holding a contest for youngsters to design a crest for the village's centennial in 1964. Residents of Hensall who attend local public . and separate schools are eligible ' for the contest, which will offer prizes of $25, 515, and $10 for the _first three finishers. The deadline for submission of entries to town hall is December 15, 1$81. An irate individual who •caters by truck in Hensall complained to Monday's council meeting about being classified as a pedlar and hawker, and thereby obliged to pay a 5'00 licensing fee, under the terms of a by4aw passed must 10. Council decided to talk it over and consider the matter of classification further. Councillor Richard Peckham reported Hensall's Businessmen's . Association is discussing whether the entire village, or just its main street and properties adjacent to highway 4, should be designated a for centennial crest Business Improvement Area. The businessmen have a meeting tentatively scheduled for September 24 with architect Nicholas Hill and the Ontario Ministry of Housing. Council endorsed two letters, from the Huron Federation of Agriculture and Minto Township, which call for action from the government on behalf of farmers and small businessmen to lower high interest rates. In other matters council: Granted 125 to local organizations which need money to pay for the cost of publishing an access guide for the • handicapped; granted a one-year extension to Cook's Division of Gerbro Inc. fora license to locate an office trailer on its property; added one and three- quarters per cent for interest on tax arrears. Acce ' a tender (the lowest ' : d of two submitted) from Albert Vanderlean Constru.,tion for 23,850 to repair the roof of town hall, which also includes the cost of removing old tiles; passed a by4aw to provide for temporary borrowing on current expenditures of 2133,000; decided to engage the services of a local woman to clean at town hall, and a little bit at the library, at 25 an hour for an estimated five hours per week; and decided to ad- vertise for a temporary part- time. helper to assist work superintendent Don Towton. j✓!'`.'::'X:.^!r<th:%'':;l;f?rr:/lS:!3l :+.• ,:'i : '!Ff. f':<:•'h.F .. ,:.:,,........... .:.�:. f :...::,..: ,.,.,..d: nvl./,>..>v..�[:r�s;: :SSC.:<: •i. AnINTIVE USTENERS - Mrs. Preszcator reads them notes between Zurich and Stanley interest Stanley Township coun- cillors have decided to raise interest on both tax arrears and overdue current taxes. Two bylaws passed at council's September meeting set interest rates on unpaid taxes at 24 percent. The new rate takes effect immediately for tax arrears, taxes left unpaid from previous years, and ratepayers will be officially notified before the new rate takes effect on overdue current, 1981, taxes, October first. Also dealing with tax matters the council en- dorsed an Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) resolution caning for greater provincial tax sub- sidies on farmlands. Kindergarten students at Zurich public school listen closely as a story. The Kindergarten class taught by Mrs. Preszcator alter- Hensoll Public Schools. bylaws raise on taxes The resolution asks the province to tax only the farm house and about an acre of land, the remainder of the land tax to be sub- sidied by provincial grants to the municipality. Stanley received a tile drainage allocation of $165,- 000 for 1981. Last year's allocation was only $100,000. A bylaw passed will loan out $16,800 to three tile drain applicants and $2,200 will be loaned to three shoreline im- provement loan applicants. Three additional tile drainage applications totall- ing $11,700 were accepted. In other business, council: Endorsed a Huron County Federation of Agriculture resolution calling for lower interest rates. The resolu- tion was addressed to the federal government. Granted $50 to the Huron County Plowmen's Associa- tion. Was advised by the minister of revenue that the province will not be conduc- ting a municipal enumera- tion this year. Stanley clerk Mel Graham suggested this may be the province's first step towards its planned three year term for municipal council's. Graham suggested many potential council candidates may not wish to be tied down for a three year term. "If you're going to have a flexible society," Graham said of the more frequent elections, "these (the elec- tions) are things you have to do." Price per Copy 25 Cents Council debates interest trend Increased interest rates on over due current taxes and tax arrears was the topic of • a lengthy debate at the September meeting of Zurich council, Thursday. Councillor Isidore Laporte said it was not right to in- cregse the interest rate when people are already los- ing their homes to .high mortgage interests. Council had earlier en- dorsed a resolution calling on the federal government to lower interest rates. Laporte pointed out the council was doing the same in raising the rates. . Under new provincial regulations, municipalities can set interest rates on back taxes at up to 11/2 per- cent above the bank's prime interest rate on the day the bylaw is passed. Clerk Sharon Baker pointed out the village was in a sense lending its tax monies out at the current in- terest rate of 15 percent and having to borrow money from the bank at about 22 percent. Leroy Thiel agreed with Laporte saying the council should be fighting the high interest rates. He suggested the rates be more flexible in case interest rates started to drop. Baker said council could make exceptions for people who were hard pressed and could not pay their taxes. She told council some peo- ple were using the differences in rates to make money by investing money owed as taxes at high interest rates. While this is not a big problem in Zurich she said, every year there are more people doing it. Dan Turkheim suggested January first be the date set to apply any new rate of in- terest to give taxpayers fair warning of the increase. Baker said it would be too costly to notify everyone of the increase for this year's taxes, but that no notifica- tion was required for tax arrears from previous years. Council passed a bylaw setting the new interest rate on tax arrears at a rate just above Friday's prime of 221 percent. A notice will be sent out with the November tax bill- ing advising ratepayers of interest rate increases in 1982. Building inspector Harvey Clausius attended the coun- cil meeting to explain the current set up in building permit fees. Councillor Bob Fisher questioned why some building permits cost the village money when those applying for permits should pay for the services they receive. Baker pointed out that the village makes money on some permits and there is no loss in building permit ac- counts by the end of the year. . Baker said later that the village charges for permits on the bash of the building's costs. The rates are $15 for the first $1,000; $10 for the next 11,000 and $2 per 11000 there after. The buiding inspector is paid 86 per permit and $12 per Inspection. Baker . said one of the areas of loss was on Ontario Home Renewal Program, OHRP, loan work. For a $4000 job the cost to the applicant would be $29, but as three inspections are needed the cost to the village for the building inspector would be $42. Fisher said he thought there should be a basic fee for the permit and the builder should be charged for the number of inspec- 1ions wired. It w s suggested the buildin inspector make use of stop work orders if builders do not apply for per- mits and that they be charg- ed the extra costs of ad- ditional inspections if the work does not meet building code standards. The clerk will prepare more data on building per- mit costs and charges for a future meeting. Reeve Fred Haberer said the council would be unhap- py if no one was using the new park area but he stated he did not understand how some people can be so "piggish". Council discussed the children playing unattended at the park and some of the litter and vandalism around the washrooms. Please turn to page 5 WINNING RUN - Zurich DJ's pitcher Bill Hodgins scores the winning run against the Tenderspot team to win the B final in the Zurich recreation fastball tournament, Sunday. Kim McKinnon's base hit brought him home.