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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-08-06, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, August 6,1997 IN T EWS Regional wrap up Bosanquet services take smallest chunk PARKHILL - The Parkhill Gazette recently published fig- ures on the:portion of property. tax bilis Latnhton municipalities use to run their operations. According to the Gazette: if you own a residence or business in Thedford, slightly more than One-third of your. property tax hill this year will he spent on op- erating and servicing the village or 900 people. In sharp contrast. the surrounding Town of Bosan- quct.. with 5.00(1 inhabitants..• takes less •thap I9 -cents of each tax dollar Io service. its rural and urban areas: - - ,Grand Bend. slightly_ larger than-Thetllord -and facing huge service. dcniand' in the Summer; will eat jou under 20 cents of each tax dollar collected from its- ratcpaycrs:.Thedtord• Bosanquet and Grand Bend are '.on one playing - field. supporting the ,ante county and school systems and their mill rate. - Coffee's on ST: MARYS '•• Franchisees Dennis. and Linda Whaling • will he splicing their time between - their Exeter and St. Marts Tim' Horton' -restaurants.- .According - to the St. Mans. Journal -Argus. the Whalings' Si. • Marys foal- - Min on • Queen-. -Street 'East opened July. 26 with many pa-. trolls: The 53 -scat restaurant has 24 elitployees, mostly full-time. The 2.700 sq. ft. facility will he - open' 24 hour' and has a drive- through window., . Distinctive features including. antique•gray brick. distinctivemoldings.and lascia. will: help the building fit into the historic -downtown area ()1St. Marys: Tommy Hunter at Mitchell Fair • MITCHELL The Mitchell • Advocate -moons legendary county music performer Tom- my Hunter will. headline at the 'Mitchell Fall Fair on August 29. Hunter is, on a 50th anniversary cross-country tour which pur- • posefully includes smalltown Ontario.. '. Hunter. 60. " was horn and • raised in London: Ont.._ and is sure he has performed iMitch- ell during .hls career. The perfor- mance will be essentially the same format as his television performances plus a few •surpns- -es. - Video gaming decision pending CLINTON - While the Onta- rio government has yet to make u decision on video gaming for the province. a local committee is continuing to wort.= towards the goal of•housing video lottery terminals in•Clinton. reports the Clinton News -Record. In May 1996. the province an- nounced they were considering placing video lottery terminals. which feature such games as spinning reels. poker. black jack. keno and bingo. at the 16 race- ways in Ontario. The Clinton Raceway is the proposed location of the gaming center. The local committee be- lieves the VLTs will create em- ploythent and improve the num- ber of race days in Clinton. The center will benefit the province's coffers but the meth- od for splitting the proceeds with the host community has not been decided. Rodeo this weekend Continuedfroin front page Team penning :. Local fans will be familiar with the team penning event. often held at Kinsmans' farm near . Hensall. Within ,a 90 -second. time- limit. a team of three riders must cut from the herd and pen. three head of cattle -with the same.: assigned . identity number or -colored - neck band. The event is timed and the fastest time wins '- Other events The . Exeter...Rodeo includes several other events.- Breakfast is available i►n Saturday morning at the "White Squirrel Chuckwagon and Sunday :morning at the Exeter and Area Firefighters' Cowboy and Cowgirl Breakfast. The White Squirrel' Saloon •and Chuckwagon will be open each day. ' •. -Nomad. Camping is available at Elliot Park featuring .a campfire. chili and cntenainment -on Friday .-night.:. To --reserve. call 235-3114. odeo On •_ Saturday night. there is a BX -93 video dance at 9..p.m. with. a $10. admission fez. .Vendors will be present. throughout the. weekend and Exeter stores will ..have . shopping • "western style" • •• throughout the week. - • The rodeo . happens rain or . shine. For -advance tickets. please call the.rec. centre al 235-2833. • .. to Thieves target Grand Cove residence S STERNEN TOWNSHif' =.Huron Count OPP report hetween.Juk ) and 23. a residence was broken_ into 'on Shannon Street. Grand Cove Estates and approximately . $8.900 worth of jewelry and more) . was stolen. - - Police arc continuing their inves- tigation: - Owner apprehends thief . GRAND BEND- Police are investigating a theft that ocr. curved at the Tenderspot Gro- cery Store in Grand Bend do - Juh• 31: North Lamhton OPP report a 20 -year-old male from Windsor was apprehended by the store owner and a village bylaw offi- cer. He was turned over to 00- l ice - 0 -lice- and faces charges of theft under $5.000; breach -of probe.: • tion and public mischief.: Moving on.-Biddulph-Blanshard Fire Chief George West - man may be retiring on- Oct. 31, but don't bet on his bud- dies not seeing him anymore — he- plans on volunteering as a - sometime radio operator and. spreading advice around. Tigers dash Zurich Old (friendly) rivals. Glenn Webb, left, Bob Sadler and George Haggitt all get a piece of the ceremonial first pitch before the showdown between the Dashwood Tigers and the Zurich Lumberkings on Saturday at the Dashwood diamond, just one of -the many Friedsburg Days events there on the weekend. Webb was the manager of the Tigers from '68-72 when they: won three Ontario titles. Haggitt co -managed the. Lumberkings from '64-70 and Sadler (the first pitch thrower) was the long-time . president of the. Huron -Perth Intermediate Baseball League. The '68-72 Tigers doubled the '68 Lumberkings- 8-4.. For more- on the 26th annual Friedsburg Days. Dashwood's celebration of its German _heritage and former name, see page 8:.. Lake Huron flirts with record water levels By Kate Monk T -A Reporter HURON COUNTY- One of the best things about living in .Huron County is Lake Huron. The lake in - that e'en if wet conditions occur. - -having an impact on shoreline Lake ,'Huron water levers r.s-t-d ro ,nice = - 7 ---- p i'" ' remain 10 td 20 centimeters below . "Traditional major problem:areas record highs. - still have prohlems."'said ABCA According to information from .'Water and Planning Manager Alec the Lake' Huron Centre 'for- C'oa'stal _Scott. adding :'Some areas you'd expect to have. prohlems. don't haye•prghlems. - - - • Landow nets are trying t� protect their properties :as much as they - can.: "There'. is' more construction • - than l'ye seen in the last 10 years.' said Scott. - .According to Scott. there isn't a _ - regulation along the lakeshore for the area above the water Mev- , • -el. The Ministry -of Natural Resources •regulates. structures in the water. while the - conservation author • - ities . regulate areas adjacent to gullies and rivers. . • • •. Scott says if- .neighbors_ are con- - cerned with the erosion protection installed by a lakeshore Landowner, they generally take their concern to the municipal council. If the prop erly is in. an' Environmental Pro - lection Zone Two. the municipality may want the ABCA to take a look at it. ' 'With funding cutbacks. • the. ABCA .is continuing its technical advisory- service on a cost -recovery . basis. Robert Tract, adrainage con- , sultani and Scott have visited sever- - al sites and prepared reports with recommendationl: for remedies to the:erosion problem. Staff can•also refer to historical rthfs to give die fluence' people.. plants and animals Conservation.- high water levels - every day. It moderates the weath- combined with. storm activity will • ver.- gives. lake -effect. flumes and • ' have amore pronounced impact on clouds through the late fall and the, shoreline than usual: winter: is 'a favorite recreation and Cottages, built at beach • Ieyel -cottage area and contributes to the ` within the area' waves- can reach._ economy (yith tourism and :fishing_ maY- he prone to lake -effect. flood- • jobs. It is also a medium; for Iran'= •, -Ing. Storm surges can force N a'. es portation of agr icultural crops and a considerable dis= . other exports. '- - lance up the beach: • But when Lake Huron 'threatens beaches and cottages people quick- •Jy realize the Iake'is a.powerful and not always friendly neighbor. • • • and if cottages hap- - pen to be located there. cause flood- ing damage. - . This summer.- Lake Huron is in Cottagers will see . • the midst ora high water level pe- , noticeable . changes riod. with 'levels approaching - the along the shoreline records set in I.9ft6: Lake levels tra--during ; high lake ditionally rise during June•and.July levels.. The'.. beach may appear as spring runoff flows through the smaller or the loot of the bluff may :watersheds feeding the lakes but be eroded by waves:' . the traditional peak in the 11 -:year High water les•els..mean hasin- cycle .01 'water levels is exagger- ' wide precipitation 'has been high ating theannualfluctuation, , : -.over a period of months. Therefore. • Environment Canada reports wa- it is quite likely the ground will -be Au levels on all of the Great Lakes , saturated and the Water table will except Ontario 'continued to rise- be close to the ground surface. Dur- • during Jurie. While Lake'Superior.'s level rose less than.usual during the Fire chief to retire "There is more construction • than I've seen in the last 10 ►'ears. t" ing these Net periods. the weight of this additional water can trigger month, the increase was larger than - -bluff instability. r , • usual on Lakes Huron. St. Clair and Extensive erosion at the -rase- of Erie: • . the bluff. groundwater seepage. sur - Fortunately. dry conditions 'dur- face erosion: and changes to the ing the first. half of June over the ' land on or near the lake bank are .drainage basins of Lakes Superior. possible Indicators 'of imminent Michigan and Huron temporarily failure. ' Sr Continued from front page. • - tabhshment of province -wide firefighting safety-and,training standards. - One of those changes•is making, the decision to step down as chief sim- pler. Westmatt said..Thc prot'Ince is introducing - a bill that essentially downloads the responsibiltty of providing many volunteer fire prevention and training programs to municipalities as well as making the chiefs job only an administrative one. • , "I'm retiring because of My age and there hasn't been in my time a more capable or dedicated fire department." Wessman said. "So many things are., changing — it's a young roan's job." . • But Wessman isn't leaving the lire' department -for •good. He's going to fill in as a radio operator sometimes and will be quick.to hand ouiadvice. Westman's wife: •Audrey. also serves as a pan -time radio operator and his youngest son. Alex. is a 15 -year department veteran. , ."I have mixed emotions about (his dad's retirement)." Alex said. "1 am extremely proud of my dad for the 4.5 years of dedication. He's fostered that attitude on eserone he's worked with.". While admitting his dad deserves the break. Alex will miss . working with him. • "He won't be ow- there with us.• We won't have the cld guy to, pick on. But we have an excellent deputy chief coming up." - -. That deputy.chief is John Damen. though the ftnal.deeision on who be- comes chief hasn't been made. . "(Wesltnan's) a real down to. earth gentleman." said eight-year de- partment vet Damen. "(Forty-five years.) is quite a•commitment to make." Wessman; Who 'has farmed. operated heavy equipment, drove a school bus and now hauls water and'cuts grass lctr a day job. doesn't have any special plans for the extra free time. "I'm not going to do anything special." he said. "I'm just turning over the management of the department to younger and capable hands." But where did 'the old guy' mantle come from? Westmttin shared the or- igi , explaining with a grin: "A- few years ago Ontario Hydro put on a seminar and someone asked how the department would approach a downed line or some other hydro -related emergency scene. 'Send in the old,guy.' someone said. 'He's had a lot of 'good years.'" slopped the seasonal rise in duels Locally. the Ausable-oay1Ieio on the lakes. but heavier rainfall Conservation _ Authority's area of during the last half of the month jurisdiction includes the shoreline caused levels to resume rising: At .from Goderich .Township to Pon the end of June. Lake Huron .was Franks. ' Conservation authority 58 centimeters above average. staff are finding high lake levels are Environment Canada predicts - Recoiled Monthly Mean Levels Probable Range of Future Levels 2 -1 current landowner a' historical per- spective of the area. • . , Hopefully the summer's dry weather has -helped to minimize 'damage to beaches. lake banks and All-time average Historical extremes - Maximum / Year 1986 �--• 1961 173.0 177.0 1715.0 :n Lakes Huron and Michigan are expected to be within 10 to 20 centimeters of the record high water levels of 1986. The water levels in this chart are measured in meters. Graphic courtesy of Environment Canada. 1996 1997 1998 .. lar I Feb ' Mw A. Mq I len on. i Nr anan sant Mr 1 PM' illi pal Aar i Sal (At ao6. 1 ser• as Nu. no. U. n 64, lr pm 1. 6 14. Mar j A. , H.? 1- halA.1— /A., i $q i Uq' Ip. rani a.n1 MO f )4111ao'. , op I. at M.. Un 06. lig 7, ►e4 par l M.. a :AM awn e.N May m mr • Ire .Lakes Michigan – Huron 1966 1966 1916 1w6 — 1914 114 1916 — — - 191- 1916 — 19e, 1964 — — 1966" 199;. 1 1966 •,966 -. - �. 191E .— 1944 — 196e — • 1964 Lacs Michigan 1966 — 19114 1966 . — – Huron 1914 1916 191- 1966 .1914 1966 — —. — — • • — — — — 1964 1/ka 1964 196 1964 • 196 1964 1664 1944�. 1964 — 196 — 1966 • — 196: 1964 — 1964 — 1964 1964 1964 1964 4964 1964 — — 1964 19tH — 1964 — 1965 — 1964 — 1964 196 I%4 1164 1918 - 1996, 173.0 177.0 1715.0 :n Lakes Huron and Michigan are expected to be within 10 to 20 centimeters of the record high water levels of 1986. The water levels in this chart are measured in meters. Graphic courtesy of Environment Canada.