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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-07-26, Page 3_207A'AWAriWWA'-E111V1W-LI +j IN THE NFW Times -Advocate, July 26, 1995 Page 3 Blddulph considers zoning update LUCAN - At a recent meeting, Biddulph township council heard recommendations from planner Ted Halwa to update a number of sec- tions of the township's zoning by- law. Council decided to leave the min- imum lot area for General Agricul- tural (Al) Zone at 22 hectares or 55 acres despite the fact the Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs had rec- ommended an increase to 40 hec- tres or 100 acres. Since the present bylaw was passed there have been 22 amend- ments to the Special Agriculture (A2) zones. Bylaw 149-49 estab- lished a minimum of 8000 square metres and a 50 metre frontage to alleviate some of the zonings re- quired under the former wording. In this regard, council agreed to establish a maximum lot area of four hectares or 10 acres in the A2 zone and rezone all existing Tots which exceed four hectares in area and are presently zoned Special Agricultural (A2) to General Agri- cultural (A1), Also they will modify the exist- ing lots provision in the bylaw to ensure that all lands zoned A2 with less than the required lot area, lot frontage or lot depth are exempt from these requirements and not only those in existence as of Sep- tember 2, 1986. Council agreed to the creation of a highway commercial zone, re- zone lands currently zoned Existing Use to reflect their intended future use and• where appropriate apply the holding symbol and create a fu- ture development zone and apply to lands where future development in accordance with the Official Plan is anticipated but the actual uses are not known at this time. 1t was agreed to leave out the minimum setback requirements for provincial highways, but request setbacks for county and township roads be included. Concerning minimum floor area standards for dwellings it was de- cided to maintain the present mini- mums of 968 square feet and 753 square feet for a two-storey dwell- ing. Also the wording will address split level dwellings and clarify the necessity of a two-storey dwelling must maintain the minimum floor area on both levels. Revised definitions of hazard lands and wayside pits and portable asphalt plants will be brought into conformity with th Official Plan. Council are of the opinion that targe satellite dishes appear to be on the way out but some direction to the placement may be appropri- ate. After clerk :Larry Hotson pointed out some problems concerning the placement of swimming pools un- der the present bylaw, it was rec- ommended the removal or levelling of hills, encroachment of decks into required yards and setbacks and provisions to enable use of the Hold symbol. Halwa agreed with Ht tson that it would be advantaged to have a page depicting diagrams of some of the more common irregular lot shapes outlining where and how the yards are calculated. The Granton and district Lions Club requested a permanent zoning to replace the temporary zoning for their "Mud Run" and this was sup- ported by council as this is a very good fund raiser for the communi- ty. Sewer committee reports LUCAN - The village of Lucan's newly appointed and efficiency of the plant. public committee to check into problems at the sew- Perry Caskanette told council, "We can't under- age treatment plant made their first report to council stand the big difference in estimates of operating on July 18. costs for the treatment plant. Originally it was to be The six person committee started their program by $90,000, then it jumped to $133,000 and now I un - touring the plant and then pouring through volumes derstand its costing $230,000 a year to operate. Why of information provided by clerk Ron Reymer and the great range?" works superintendent Doug Johnston. Dale went on to say, "Let's do a full 100 percent Chairman Paul Dale who was accompanied by study on how to get the infiltration problem solved Perry Caskanette and George Mawdsley said, " Our and get the plant to run as efficiently as possible. The desire is to help you in this long term problem with three compressors although fairly new are old by de - a long term solution." sign and not as effective as they should be. They are He continued, " The plant is much the major user of hydro, one of the larger than required and infiltration "if everyone was high costs at the plant. One effective is certainly related to the problemshooked u to the compressor could do the job." at the plant. We can't destroy what p When Dale said, "Whatever we do we have, but must try to make it treatment plant we are not looking at big savings", work more efficiently. At this time there could be a reeve Tom McLaughlin replied, "Any it's only running at 50 percent of ca- 25percent savingreduction will help." pacity." Another suggestion was to shut Right now 701 homes and busi- for each household down part of the plant. Also, shelve nesses are receiving water and 557 or business..." the infiltration program until the are hooked up to the sewage sys- whole sewer program is reviewed. tem." The infiltration issue is part of the Dale added, "If everyone was overall sewage plan. hooked up to the treatment plant there could be a 25 percent saving for each house- Amount of sewage down hold or business, going down from $412 to $ 328 "That's a good sign." - each year. That was the comment of councillor Rob Brady "There are a lot of questions to be answered, " when the water and sewer usage report for the month said Dale. "If costs continue to rise will that be a de- of June was received from the Lake Huron Water terrent to development and the number of new hous- System. es to be built in Lucan? The uncertainty of the econ- The report showed 19,877 cubic metres of water omy in Ontario is a reality and the housing market is were used and 15,002 cubic metres recorded for the stale." amount of sewage received at the treatment plant. The committee is also trying to determine if a full- For the month of May, the amount of sewage was time operator is needed at the treatment plant. far in excess of water used, mainly due to infiltration Infiltration is a big problem. Rainwater washes problems. bacteria out and it takes time to build the levels back In June, the amount of water used was 78 gallons up. During a storm the compressors and motors run per capita per day and sewage use was 67 gallons per more. This increases costs and there is wear and tear capita per day. on the equipment. Infiltration decreases the capacity July 1st celebration took alot of planning Exeter is a community, like more and more these days, which is heavily dependent on volunteer- ism.. Dear Editor: On behalf of the Exeter Legion, the Chili Cook - off Committee and the Exeter Business Association 1 would like to thank Barb Tiedeman for taking the time to comment so positively on what was truly a two-day community celebration beginning with White Squirrel Day on June 30th followed by Cana- da Day on July 1st. The event did, indeed, require a great deal of planning and while the Legion was heavily involved in the preparations, no doubt Ms. Tiedeman intends no slight to the others who donat- ed so much of their time and energy toward the suc- cess of both days. White Squirrel Day was organithd by the Exeter Business Association's Promotions Committee, ,which is chaired by Cathy Seip; the task of deliver- ing balloons up and down Main Street was taken on by the Pee -Wee Legionaires Hockey Team under the direction of Monica Keys; several business own- ers sponsored fun events for shoppers and decorated store fronts for the occasion: White Wonder enter- tained everyone both days; the Opening Ceremonies were organized jointly by the Legion and the Exeter Business Association and featured performances by Buckles, Boots 'n Spurs and the Exeter Elites Baton Club, both groups donating their time to this com- munity event in addition to the individuals who formed the Color Party; the Bike pecorating Con- test was Judged by Mary Keenan, Esther Hillman, Josie Christmas and Mary Allan; the Chili Cook -off Committee included Casey Zechuisen, Paul Dou- gherty and Rick Smith; the children's games were sponsored by Huron County Child Find; the Lion's Club participated in many ways; Beach Volleyball was organized by the Rec Centre staff; the Slo-Pitch tournament was organized by Bill and Janice Brock; the Exeter Community Band provided music; the Forest City Flyers demonstrated their radio con- trolled planes; the Roast Beef dinner was sponsored by the Exeter Agricultural Society, the fireworks were supervised by Stephen Township and Exeter - Area Fire Departments and of course David Holtz - mann and Mike Brintnell worked on behalf of the Exeter Legion Canada Day Committee which Is chaired by Bart DeVries - an individual who works tirelessly in the months preceding July 1st and with- out whom Canada Day would not be the success that it has been. With the exception of the Exeter Business Association's activities, the Legion Canada Day Committee is responsible for coordinating and overseeing all of the above named events plus the three days of clean-up that followed Canada Day. While none of those invovled do so intending to receive kudos from the community, we thank Ms. Tiedeman for the opportunity to have these volun- teers recognized. Exeter is a community, like more and more these days, which is heavily dependent on volunteerism for not only sporting activities, but many of the wonderful happenings which occur all year 'round. The reward is seldom recognition, but is often the satisfaction of watching a community that supports these efforts with such enthusiasm. Karen L. Brown, Manager Discover Exeter Representation in Ottawa "...this person has left our area without a real vote or influence in . parliament." Dear Editor: The gun lobby and a few easily impressed people are applauding the stand of our local M.P. in his de- fiance of the Prime Minister and his caucus. If he is so disenchanted with the party that helped elect him, why does he not call himself an "Independent" and not continue to sail under false colours? It is all well and good to "vote your conscience". but in doing so this person has left our area without a real vote or influence in parliament. While some may admire his stance for personal reasons, the fact remains that this area is without representation in Ottawa. He was elected to represent the whole area, not just a few. Perhaps he should resign? But of course, he may be thinking of that generous pen- sion! Yours truly, "Gibby" J.M. Gibson r Vehicle strikes post in Usborne Township USBORNE TOWNSHIP - Inju- ries did not result when the vehicle of James Wilks, of Woodstock, struck a post during an accident with a vehicle driven by Grant Westlake of R.R. 3 Exeter Wednes- day on Concession 2-3 at 4:10 p.m. Fishermen upset over treatment Three area fishermen capsize their boat on Lake Erie Chris Skalkos T -A staff CREDITON - Three men are lucky to be alive after their fishing boat capsized on Lake Erie on July 2. Mark Desjardine and Clair Mar- ' tene from Crediton were fishing six miles off Port Glasgow in a fishing derby with Bob Snell from Central- ia, when their 20 foot boat began to take on water. Desjardine sent off two mayday messages through the radio before the boat capsized. All three men had life jackets on and clung to the boat waiting for help to arrive. It took only minutes for nearby fishing boats to respond to the m ty- day. Snell and Desjardine were res- cued by Joe Brosseau, a fisherman from McGregor Ontario and Mar- tene was picked up by boaters from Strathroy. While Snell and Des- jardine were being towed back to shore they were approached by a Ministry of Natural Resources boat. Ministry officers asked to see their fishing licenses but the two men ex- plained they couldn't produce a li- cense because they were tossed from the boat along with the rest of the items on board. Snell said the Ministry em- ployees abruptly left without of- fering any assistance. "They never even asked us if we needed any help. They have a ra- dio, they should have heard our mayday," said Snell. Before their boat reached the shore the Ministry boat returned for a second time and flagged them down. Snell said the officers told them they had some doubts about their story and demanded to see a fishing license. "They thought we were pulling a fast one on them," said Snell adding the Ministry of- ficers threatened to board their boat. "After they realized we were telling the truth they didn't even bother to go back out and check [the area the boat capsized in)," said Snell adding their equipment and belongings were still floating on the lake. "They just peeled away and were gone. They never even asked us if we were all right. They were more concerned about our fishing license than our safety," said Snell. Bill Merch, information officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed that the res- cued men were approached by Min- istry officers. He explained the of- ficers had difficulty communicating with them the first time due to the rough waters and that's why they approached them for a second time. "They [the Ministry officers] couldn't make out what was going on so they decided to back off and catch up with them closer to shore in calmer water," said Merch. According to Merch, the radio on the Ministry's boat was not working properly that day and the officers didn't hear the distress signal. During the second approach, Merch said the officers confirmed that the fishermen had capsized their boat and checked to see if they were all right. Merch denied that the officers asked to see a fishing license. "If we did ask for that, they [Min- istry officers) would have recorded the details but we don't have any in- formation of that sort," said Merch. When they arrived back at the harbor the men were further sur- prised at their treatment by the Port Glasgow Yacht Club and Marina. "They wouldn't let us use the tele- phone in the Marina, instead they made us use a pay phone and we didn't even have a quarter," said Martene. The three men said they were of- fered no help or direction from the Marina employees. "We were running around asking other fishermen 'what do we do?" said Martene. John Roodzant, Port Glasgow harbor master was not present at the time, but was aware of the in- cident. He said he was surprised to hear about how the three men were treated. "After something like that we usually take them in and make a special effort to look after them," said Roodzant. According to Roodzant, there was only one volunteer employee working in the marina at the time and wasn't allowed to leave the fa- cility. Therefore, the employee may not have been aware of what was 4 going on. Roodzant said he didn't know the men used a pay phone to call their wives after the accident adding they should have been al- lowed to use the phone inside the marina. The three men were extremely thankful for the efforts put forth by the other fishermen and totally credit them for the quick rescue. "It was the fishermen in the derby that helped us. Not the Yacht club or the Ministry guys," said Mar- tene. "The other fishermen there couldn't do enough to help us. Some of them were even apol- ogizing because they weren't the first ones to reach us," he said. A number of different boaters who were there participating in the fishing derby also assisted in re- trieving their belongings from the water. "What would have happened if we weren't in the derby and there were not other fishermen around to help?" asked Snell. Snell said his boat suffered $1,500 in damages and left him in a mild state of shock but he nor Des- jardine or Marlene will give up their favourite leisure activities. "I don't intend on selling my boat. This hasn't changed my mind about boating or fishing," said Snell. But the incident has taught them a les- son. "We were safety conscious be- fore but now we're a little more cautious," he said. 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