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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-11-12, Page 12Handsome home Home beauty. Organizer Barb Richman sits in the living room of Eric and Elizabeth Campbell's home -in St. Joseph, one of six homes on the Country Christmas Home Tour on the weekend. Built in '92, the five -bedroom home was dec- orated by Zurich's The Rower Shop and Grand Bend's Patty Dowling Interiors -who used furniture ar accessories from Dinney's Fumiture. The tour, presented 4 the Lambton Her- itage Museum, _ also included stops in Merry Woods (the Granite and Walnut model homes), Grand Bend (Fred and Annabelle Walz's home on Maplewood, Steve. and Tammy Jennison's home on Ontario St.)* and another in St. Joseph (Helen Payne's home in Shores 1). Government maintains library funding TORONTO - The Minister of Citizenship. Culture and Recreation, Isabel Bassett, announced Friday that. to ensure a strong library system, the govern- ment will maintain 518 -million in provincial funding for libraries, in 1998 and will not proceed with Bill 109. the Local Control of Libraries Act. "One of the primary motivations , behind the proposed•framework was the desire to focus Ontario's resources on building a strong provincial library network," Bassett said in a speech to a library policy forum. "It has become increasingly clear that the best way to ensure the strong growth of that network is through continued provincial part- nership with local libraries." The bill, which was introduced early this year, would have changed the way in which local library _ser- vicesare funded and governed. The Public Libraries Act (1990), and its regulation regarding user fees, which protects free library service, will remain in effect. The Act provides for a strong and con- tinuing role for municipalities in local public libraries. ,, "We have an obligation to the public to ensure Ontario's public libraries remain strong and yiable entities," Bassett said. "I want to continue working with you, the members of the library.community, to find ways to make the system b..tter, particularly for smaller and more remote communities. I will be interested to hear your suggestions in the months ahead." Usborne & Hibbert Mutual Fire Insurance Company Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S1 (Established in 1876) Provides Full Insurance Coverage for Farm Properties New Applications are Welcomed DIRECTORS & ADJUSTERS Joe Chaffe. RR5 Mitchell 348-9705 Ron Feeney. RR 2 Dublin..... 345-2360 Larry Gardiner, RR2. Staffa 345.2678 Jack Hodgen, RR1. !(irkton 229-6152 Michael O'Shea RR3 Granton 225-2600 Morns Willows. 002 S1. Pauls 393-6548 AGENTS Wayne Mayer Exeter 235-1915 John Moore. Dublin 345-2512 Joseph Uniac, Mitchell 348-9012 Head Office. Exeter 235-0350 A refund from surplus was de- clared for .all policy holders who qualify, are on record and In good standing as at Decem- ber 31, 1996. Dfa i "rrbirto to the Peoples princess " 01111, 17.E A beautiful photographed hard cover book 9" x 11". Quantities limited Exeter 235-1331 COMMUNITY Times -Advocate, November 12, 1997 Page 11 Wfs t %s ey Sr o W Where Are They Now? is an extended series on South Huron District High School graduates and their career choices Lori (Mousseau), Betts: Police service AYLMER - Lori Betts, formerly, Lori Mousseau, graduated from South Huron District High School in 1980, and since then has achieved plenty. After graduating high school Betts took a two-year Law and Security course at Fanshawe College and in 1993 was hired on at the Peel Regional Police Force in Mississauga. She spent five years in uniform patrol as well as five years as a traffic safety officer for junior kindergarten • up to the grade -13 level. She was also a -traffic program co-ordinator who initiated safety and community programs. For six months Betts.was a race andethnic relations officer and for three years she instructed a course on defensive tactics and firearms to all officers. The course was entitled "Use of Force". A•lot has changed for.Betts since. high school. While she had ambitions to become a police officer when she. graduated, her extra curricular activities told her story differently. "In high school I didn't get involved in a lot of sports. now I'm really athletic. - - Betts is now a Tong -distance runner. and believes she is much more assertive and aggressive than she ever was in high school. One place where she did show her outgoing side was on the stage. "1 was in the drama club," she said. "I•was involved in a lot of the productions at the school." One thing Betts tried to continue. after high school was helping handicapped children. She_ was a volunteer with the handicapped at South Huron and said while she continued to volunteer with handicapped children after high school it was hard for her to continue after she had children of her own. "I did help kids for a while after high school, but now with kids of my own I have to spend time with them." In grade 13, Betts said she hada good idea that she would become a police officer, and is glad she was able to live out her dream. She currently resides in Cambridge with her husband John and children Samantha and Mitchell, and is presently in Aylmer at the Ontario Police - College as an instructor from the Peel Force. She - will be an instructor at the college for two years. -She is the daughter of Lloyd and -Gloria Mousseau, who are - residents of Grand Bend. a Lucan's sewer line extension hits another snag By Craig Bradford T -A Reporter LUCAN - The extension of Lu - can's Main St. sewer line into Bid- dulph Township has hit another roadblock as village solicitor Rob- ert Benner found out recently: At fast week's council meeting, councillors heard the news Bid- dulph can't ,enter into an agreement with Herdonjoe's Herman Lansink for him to front the $21.769 project cost because the township doesn't 'have a development charge bylaw.. If the township 'has Lansink front the money without passing the by- law, any 'ratepayer could take the township to the Ontario -Board over repaying Lansink through a surcharge levied on them for hooking up to the sewer system. in an . interview, Biddulph ad • ministrator Larry Hotson said law- yers on both sides see no solution to the problem — there is no way for either Lansink to bind future councils to pay him back or for the village to bind people to pay a sur- charge that will ultimately find its way to Lansink. - Lansink has agreed to pay for the project because it will immediately benefit him and the businesses he rents • to at the corner of Saintsbury/Main. Those businesses (in- cluding Donut De - lite) and Clarke's Food. Mart (owned law. Not only is it expensive and time • consuming, the bylaw is against the existing council's pol- icy.. •Do nothing and go ahead with the project. Herdonjoe could end up paying for the project and not re- coup his costs. •Draft an agreement with Her- donjoe to supply the infrastructure to the township. The agreement would have to be approved by the Ontario Municipal Board and could -conflict with operating certificates of the Lucan sewage . treatment plant issued by the Ministry of En- vironment and Energy. - •Do the project , under the Local Improvement Act. The project gets Municipal done with Herdonjoe footing the bill as well as others benefiting from- it, but it doesn't give the township a legal way to pay Her- donjoe back. ' . •Borrow ,the money from Her- . donjoe as a debenture. While ex- pensive, a debenture is probably possible but won't be viewed favor ably by the Ministry. of Municipal Affairs. Lansink has offered a 30 - year debenture. Lucan administrator Ron Reymer said the last.option,is the one coun- cil is looking at, though Hotson said such a deal "isn't practical." The new Municipal Act the province is drafting could make Lansink's deal legal in the future, Hotson said. Both Reymer and Hotson said the pro - right. ject is in everyone's interest . and there wouldn't be a problem without the province's insistence that • a de- velopment charges bylaw_ be in place. Hotson said Biddulph doesn't have such a,bylaw because there has been n?. need for it in the "It r me provinc its someth Bally irks that the e sticks. ose into ing like when we ng to do by Martin Clarke) this . - now have to store are tryi waste in tanks that is what's later trucked away. • The project will also benefit town- ship residents that choose to hook up to the sewer system. in a letter to council, Benner mapped out Biddulph's options: •Pass a development charges by- Lucan's reeve -elect Ready to reign. Lucan Reeve elect Robert Benner tries out the reeve's seat at village council chambers after results of Monday's election showed he edged incumbent Rob Brady for the post. Benner, a Lucan lawyer, is the village's and Biddulph Township's representative on the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority and chaired the board in '94-95. past. "Everyone wants to do (the pro- ject) but the province is saying we have to follow their rules," Reymer said. "It really irks the that the province sticks its noseinto some- thing like this when we are trying . to do what's right." Deputy Reeve Harry Wraith asked, "What if we say no" to do- ing the sewer work? The sewer line extension is just.one component of work slated for Main/Saintsbury that includes the extension of Lu- can's water line into Biddulph and road reconstruction. Village public works 'super- intendent Doug Johnston replied he and his staff have put a lot of work into the project. - . "I don't want to say no," John ston said, adding the Ministry_ of Transportation grant to pay for the $7,000 -repaving of the corner runs out at the end of next March mean- ing -the work has to be done as soon as possible before the snow flies. MTO is paying for the repaving of the corner as part of its connecting link downloading program. St. Thomas' Elgin Construction won the sewer and watermain por- tion of the Main/Saintsbury project with its low $97,347.77 tender. El- gin Construction beat out bids from Strathroy's Van Bree Drainage ($118,201.83) and London's Ome- ga Construction ($1.48,305.54). Reymer said the three firms were the only ones who responded of nine invited to submit bids. The village can go ahead with the water line and road work part of the project if the sewer line extension part dies. Work can begin as soon asthe village receives the okay from the Ministry of Environment. and Energy. Councillor Rosemary Gahlinger- Beaune was the sole nay vote on going ahead with the project if Lan - sink and Biddulph can work out an agreement. Other notes from the meeting: • Give us a quote Reymer will solicit other Mid- dlesex County municipalities to see if they are interested in ganging to- gether for a joint police service cost quote from the OPP. A county- wide quote is in the works, but if North Dorchester chooses to go with London Police, the county- wide scenario is dashed. Reymer said that doesn't stop the rest of Middlesex's member municipalities from seeking a joint quote without North Dorchester. Lucan can also look for municipal policing part- ners to the north in Huron County. • Councillor Martin Chittenden said he wants a per occurance quote since the Lucan area had so few po- lice calls requiring assistance. What a difference • Among the services slated for downloading from the province in- cludes social assistance and Reym- er said how the province decides to divvy up the responsibility makes a big difference. If the province de- cides to split London away from Middlesex County when it hands down the costs, Lucan will pay $64,000/year. if the province de- cides to lump London in with the rest of Middlesex, Lucan's share will be $170,000. - Make farmers pay Wraith said it's time to do away with special tax exemptions for farmers when council discussed correspondence from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture com- paring 1988's Farm Practices Pro- tection Act with the new Farming and Food Production Act. Fanners now pay taxes only on their homes and one acre of their land. Wraith said farmers' taxes will go up with provincial downloading including the end of the farm tax rebate. "They're in business like anyone else and - they should pay their way," he said. Wraith also asked Reymer to -get an explanation on the new act from the. Ontario Ministry of Ag- riculture, Food and Rural Affairs. A yes to a delay Council endorsed a resolution from the Town of Rockland urging the province to hold off the 'Jan. 1, 1998 downloading of the cost of policing to municipalities to allow them more time to .negotiate with the OPP and find -out -how -taking -on policing will affect taxes.• . Don't go there Councillors and staff weren't high on Middlesex County's efforts to be election central for all its member municipalities on election night Monday. "I'd rather have our own little_ party here," said incumbent Reeve fob Brady. - Just say no • The arena management com- mittee"has said no to setting up art Area' at the arena for skateboarders because of liability concerns. An- other concern is the parking spaces that would be eaten up by such an area. Speaking of parking Cecil Lewis said he'll let people park on his property behind Main St. if he receives some compensa- tion, councillor Martin Chittenden said, adding he'll talk to. the Lucan and Area -Business Association. Compost check time Council directs people with com- posters should check and clean them up now to prevent possible problems with rodents this winter. Better than nothing The village received a less than anticipated $6,800 for their old sidewalk machine at the recent mu- nicipal auction, Johnston said. The machine went to a California buyer. and council recently bought a new one. • Bad curbs beware The $2,000 left from Main St. pavement patching work will go to- wards fixing problem curb areas. Johnston said. Happy Optimists Lucan has finally received word from the province that one of its second phase federal/provincial In- frastructure Program projects has been approved — $5,000 worth of pavement at Elm St. Park. The Lucan Optimists will be the main beneficiaries of the project since they use the parking lot dur- ing their meetings and functions. The paving will also make the lot more handicap accessible. Lucan, the province and the federal gov- ernment pick up a third of the cost each for projects that qualify for the program. Request granted, but.,. Council granted Kitchener busi- nessperson Bob Urosevic's request for a second six-month extension on paving the lot at his Lucan Re- tirement Home. Reymer said Uro- sevic claims he can't afford to pave the lot and needs the extra time to round up the money. Reymer will send Urosevic a letter stressing he get to the work as soon as possible. Poor turnout? Fifty-six people cast their votes for Lucan council at the advance poll on Nov. 1, down slightly from last election, Reymer said.