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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-06-21, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, June 21, 1995 egiona wrap up Wingham airport one step closer WINGHAM - Sideroad 10-11 of Concession 1 in Morris Township will be closed after council passed a by-law which brings the Wingham airport one step closer to reality. Three members of the airport committee and three members of Wingham Town Council attend- ed a public meeting held last Tuesday night. A consent appli- cation for the Bridge property was also approved at the meet- ing so that the car dealership can be severed from the remainder of farmland, reported the Wing - ham Advance -Times. Despite concern voiced by area resident, Deborah Himmel - man, council felt that because only half the road would be closed no one would be adverse- ly affected. The municipal affairs minister will make the final decision on the township's bylaw. Site A3 still on landfill list BLYTH - Last Monday the members of the Huron County Planning and Development Committee learned that site A3 will remain a candidate for the proposed Huron County landfill. A recent bore hole drilling did not eliminate the Ashfield Township property, reported the North Huron Citizen. Conducting impact studies on the site is the next step in the process of finding a suitable landfill site. These studies will be carried out in the summer months. Council has requested that county council provide par- ticipant funding for a peer re- view of the test results of the bore holes. Bridge sold to town for walkway ST. MARYS - Town Council agreed to purchase the aban- doned Sarnia line property in- cluding the landmark Sarnia Bridge at last Tuesday night's council meeting. The cost of the the property will be $2,586 plus GST, down substantially from the original asking price of $40,000, report- ed the Journal -Argus. The town had already received anonymous donations for the Sarnia Bridge walkway project, and another $5,000 had been committed upon closing of the deal with CN, reported the Jour- nal Argus. The deal is set to close June 30. Donation needed to preserve lifeguard program GODERICH - Councillor Maurice Jenkins has asked the public for donations to keep the lifeguard program going this summer. The campaign which has al- ready raised $9,500 hopes to raise $2,500 more in order to make up the lifeguard services cuts imposed by the provincial government expenditure control program, reported the Goderich Signal -Star. The $12,000 Jenkins promised to raise will go toward hiring lifeguards at St. Christopher's Cove. Council budgeted to pay a $6,000 share of the salaries. • If'I THF NFW' Exeter Boy Scouts adopt Morrison Dam Chris Skalkoe T -A staff amount of litter," said Schwindt EXETER - The First Exeter Boy who feels both groups will benefit. Scouts and the Aus- able Bayfield Con- servation Authority have something in common. They both share a deep love for nature. So it was only nat- ural for the scouts to adopt the Morrison Dam reservoir and surrounding area on Thursday in an on- going effort to keep it clean and learn about the environment. Scout Leaders Bill Dinney and Ron MacEachern will lead the boy scouts to the Dam twice a month to pick up litter, and maintain bird houses, plant trees and identify and record different species of plant and wildlife. Dinney and MacEachern got the idea from Scouts Canada and ap- proached the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority to ask them what they thought about their plan to adopt the reservoir. "I think it's a great idea. We know they use it (the reservoir and surrounding trails] quite a bit so they know the area," said Gord Strang, Director of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority. "The Authority is faced with rising costs of maintenance every day so when groups like the scouts step forward to volunteer it really helps out," Strang said. John Schwindt, the field services manager for the Conservation au- thority agrees. "The area gets a tre- mendous amount of use but un- fortunately that comes with a fair "The re- sponsibility will teach them to re- spect our en- vironment an our natural resources." "The scouts should get a broad education, they'll see a variety of forest and wildlife hab- itat and at the same time they're saving us money by volunteering to clean up," he added. Dinney said the scouts will start off by picking up litter before they begin to draw area documenting the maps location of bird boxes that house a variety of different species as well as locating and identifying different types of forest plants. MacEachern said the practical knowledge the scouts gain from the experience will keep the% inter- ested in the outdoors. IF another great way for us to help out and it fits in well with our yearly pro- gram," said MacEachern. "The re- sponsibility will teach them to re- spect our environment and our natural resources," he said. Boy scout Jamie Keys said the project is a learning experience but the scouts are also having fun with it. "We're gaining knowledge of the area around us and we're watching nature at work," said Keys. Senior Scout leader Joey Graham "said the scouts have been enjoying tth tarea around the Morrison Dam for years and this project was a good way to return the favour. "This is teaching us to treat nature with respect and it's a way for us to give something back to the area," said Graham. "It's helping us and we're helping it." Adopt -a -dam. Far left, John Schwindt from the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority stands in front of the Morrison Dam with, First Exeter Scout Leader Bill Dinney, Scout Councillor, Ron MacEachern, boy scouts Nathan Kraftcheck, Terry MacEachern, Kyle Fusick, Joey Graham, Eric Brownlee, Jamie Keys and Gord Strang, the Director of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Au- thority. Approve plaque for cemetery in Stephen CREDITON - Stephen township council has approved proposed im- provements to the disbanded Be- thesda cemetery located on Con- cession 8, just south of the Crediton road. Council will be advising the Hu- ron Historical Society that the township will provide posts, trees and installation costs for a histori= cal plaque for the said cemetery. During court of revision for the Shipka municipal drain, Bruce Russell submitted a written appeal requesting his assessment be re- duced from a total of $620 to $330. Russell agreed with engineer Bill Dietrich that his property was in the watershed. Dietrich explained that because the Russell property does not have a direct outlet to the Shipka drain, the court could con- sider adjustment of the outlet liabil- ity.. If this would have happened any adjustment could have been added to the township roads assess- ment without further court of revi- sion consideration, but the appeal was denied. Crediton village trustees Brenda Love and Bill Wilds presented a drainage petition to provide drain- age to the area north of Victoria street and east of King street. They requested that a previous petition for William street be deferred. On a recorded vote of four to one, council agreed that the tire area boundary for the Stephen township fire department be moved from the line between Concession 15-16 from Lots 3 to 10 between South Boundary Lots 29 and 30 easterly to a line between Concession 11-12 in- cluding between South Boundary Lots 21 and 22. This area will be removed and given to the Dashwood fire depart- ment. Further, a line between Lots 13-14 on Concession 10-11 be drawn south of this line in the Ste- phen township fire area. North of this line is in the Dashwood area. The only dissenting vote was cast by councillor Harvey Ratz. A letter is to be sent to the two chiefs requesting they consult on an effective date for the change. Council will finance the purchase of an emergency rescue unit at a cost of $14,250 through the Dash- wood -and area fire board and the Dashwood Fire Fighters Associa- tion repay the board for the pur- chase of the 1984 Ford ambulance by December 31, 1996. Council was advised that 32 ap- plications had been received for the position of Stephen township arena manager following the retirement of Frank Funston. Of this amount six have been selected for inter- views. Councillor Wilmar Wein report- ed on the arena board's fund rais- ing activities and that installation of a compressor has started. A resolution from the town of Newmarket was endorsed by coun- cil. It calls for the province to use funds from the gasoline tax to in- crease financing for road mainte- nance and reconstruction. A resolu- tion concerning Division Registrar duties was filed. Administrator Larry Brown was instructed to send a letter to the cottage associations and police vil- lage trustees in the township to de- termine if they are satisfied with their current street names and to see if they have any numbering systems currently in effect. This in- formation will be used in connec- tion with the proposed 911 emer- gency system. The tender for construction of the Shipka municipal drain was let to the lowest bidder, A.G. Hayter Contracting. Want to enforce speed in Town of Dashwood ZURICH - A petition from residents of the police village of Dashwood will be supported by Hay township council. The petition asks that the speed limit on Highway 83 through Dash- wood be enforced and council will be contacting the Exeter OPP detach- ment to discuss a resolution. Clerk Janice Zimmerman was instructed to obtain legal advice and draft a bylaw after receiving a request from the Zurich St. Boniface C.W.L. to prohibit adult entertainment parlours in the township. A letter was received from a property owner in Highlands I regarding damage from campers over the long May 24 weekend. The clerk was in- structed to draft a parking bylaw which will be enforced with towing. Council supported the resolution from the town of Newmarket regard- ing increased funding to municipalities for road maintenance and recon- struction using funds from the provincial gasoline sales tax. Proclamations rejected LUCAN - The township of Bid- dulph will not be issuing any proc- lamations in the future. At a recent meeting council adopted a policy of not proclaim- ing any special days, weeks or months effective immediately as these proclamations do not serve any meaningful public purpose. A delegation of township rate- payers attended the meeting indi- cating their interest in purchasing the CNR right-of-way. They were Sandy Forbes, Wilfred Riddell, George Johnson, Charles Hayden, Donald Pletch, Robert Taylor, Glenn Kelly, Dan Slotjes and Paul Storey. Township solicitor Bob Benner explained some of the history on this situation. He reported a con- versation that afternoon which indi- cated the government did not have any interest in purchasing this right-of-way. It was suggested each person in- volved call their MPP and com- plain about the government inac- tion. Plctch stated the four- wheelers had started again and he asked about weed control. Benner explained that he hoped to have a a government reply shortly. Reeve Earl French assured ev- ryone present that the township was doing everything possible at this time and would be willing to drive to Toronto if necessary to have this issue resolved. In order to allow disposition of this property to the public the town- ship needs to declare it as surplus land and this as been done. Property involved includes the CNR right-of-way from the Blan- shard-Biddulph townline to the McGillivray-Biddulph townlioe ex- cept a portion within Lot 24, Con- cession 13. The surplus land does include the property which is occu- pied by the Biddulph-Blanshard fire hall. Council did not concur with a res- olution from the township of Maid- stone regarding fees for supplemen- tary assessments. Councillors Paul Wallis and Jim Shipley will be authorized to accept an invitation from Scptotcch Envi- ronmental to participate in a trip to Quebec for three days for the pur- pose of introducing their new septic solutions. The reeve and road superintendent will meet with Alvin Becker and Mr. Metzger regarding the possibility of paving Concession 14. Council will be strongly recommending to the Huron Municipal Ad- dressing Committee that county roads be named in addition to having a county road number showing on the sign as in many cases the county road is a continuation of a township road. The township clerk and road superintendent will work on drafting a poli- cy for urban specifications for new roads created in a development Reports have been received of garbage being dumped along township roads and this matter will be discussed at the next meeeting Acting on a letter from the South Huron slo-pitch league regarding an upcoming tournament, the clerk was instructed to notify the league that al- cohol can not be consumed at the township ball park. Crimes of the week Theft of pigs Thirty-three pigs weighing about 230-240 pounds were stolen from a farm at Concession 7 West Wawanosh Township. The pigs went missing sometime prior to May 24, 1995 and their value is approxi- mately $3800. Theft of bicycles Some time between the 21st and 27th of May 1995 unknown per- sons removed three bicycles from beside a residence at Highway 21 Hay Township RR2 Zurich. Description of the bikes are: #1 adult fe- male red regular frame #2 Junior beige/orange regular frame #3 junior female hluc regular frame. Theft of tool box A grey Mastcrcraft plastic tool box was stolen from the rear of a pickup truck. The theft possibly occurred at Jonneymore's parking lot. Contents of the tool box included paint brushes, scrapers and other items. Theft of power tools On the 29th, May 1995 somebody entered a driving shed at Conces- sion 10 Howick Township RR1 Gorrie and removed a quantity of power tools. The items taken were Commercial power tools, Makita model 6013BRK and 651OLVR. Also another Makita and Peerless, no model numbers available. If you have information about these or any other crimes, call Crime Stoppers of Huron County, 1-800-265-1777 and you could receive a reward of up to 81,000.00. Remember, crime doesn't pay, Crime Stoppers does. Council briefs by Bruce Shaw First it's flowers A degree of tension was created at Exeter Council Monday night following the presentation of the Cemetery Board report. It appears that no one told the foreman of the cemetery that the Town would not be needing the flowers that he had prepared for the local beds. Coun- cillor Joe Rider expressed chagrin that the Town did not pick up the flowers it had commissioned and now there is a good chance that they will die. There are over $500 worth of plants in the greenhouse. Someone should take them. Well even deliver. Surely the Communi- ties in Bloom can use them. Councillor Roy Triebner asked if all the beds were full. cant we use them somewhere - the north end perhaps? Councillor Thom Hughes sug- gested that the Town should consid- er buying what flowers it needs from wholesalers who might be cheaper and be able to provide its exact requirements. Mayor Ben Hoogenboom com- mented that the greenhouse should be used to its full extent and that we should specify what we want annu- ally. In other business, Reeve Bill Mickle remarked, I hope that some pre -planning is being done in antici- pation of fewer remaining lots. There should be plans for expan- sion and maintenance of the excel- lent appearance of the cemetery. Decoration Day will be August 13 with a service to be held at 2.00PM. Sign of the Times This reporter was reminded of the song from the 60s, Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs at Council Monday night. Three applications for minor variances had come be- fore Exeters Planning Advisory Committee. Twq, were granted al- though the variances were up to 100%, and one was turned down because the applicant did not attend the meeting. Exeter Building Official, Dave Moyer indicated that the Sign By- law is under review with the objec- tive of streamlining the application process and maintaining a distinc- tion between the requirements in the Core Commercial zone and oth- er parts of the Town. ...Now it's grass It started as a question as to why people were complaining about how the lawns of Exeters playing fields were being cut at Mondays Council meeting, but it ended with a discussion of contracting out and a question as to whether or not effi- cient use was being made of the Towns resources. The South Huron Recreation Board tendered out much of its grass cutting this year in an attempt to make better use of its employees and save money. Councillor Roy Triebner' asked if a board has the power and autonomy to change its methods of operation without going through Council. Reeve Bill Mickle replied, Because it is a board, it has that autonomy to do certain things within its approved budget. Councillor Robert Drummond wondered, Why would two pieces of equipment be sent to the same block with the Town doing part of the job and a contractor doing the rest? It was decided to leave the matter to the only councillor who could answer the questions, Deputy Reeve Dave Urlin, who could not attend Mondays meeting. Truck rolls causing minor injuries CREDITON - A truck rolled over on County Road 4 on Saturday, just wcst of Crediton. Two females in the pick-up were treated for minor injuries at the South Huron Hospi- tal in Exeter. The Ford Ranger pick-up was driven by James Diep- stra of London. No charges were laid. Collision on Thames Road EXETER - A vehicle driven by Kelly Rooney of Dashwood collid- ed with a car driven by Grant John- ston of Stratford on Saturday. The collision occurred on Thames Road East, 30 metres east of Pickard Road. No injuries were reported.