Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-08-23, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, August 23, 1995 jegiona1 wrap up Landfill water poses no threat to supplies SEAFORTH - Water which has come in contact with waste material from the former landfill site poses no significant threat to local water supplies, reported the Huron Expositor. The water is not considered a concern by Frank Vanderloo, en- gineer with B.M. Ross. Vanderloo told the Expositor if the water started flowing off the site, it would be a problem. According to Vanderloo, there are two ways water could affect the groundwater. One is if water left the site on the surface and the second is if contaminated water seeped through the bed- rock. The clay top, however, fil- ters the water before it reaches the bedrock. Police disbanding approved CLINTON - The town has given authorization to disband the Clinton Police Service when the Ontario Provincial Police take over policing of the town, reported the Clinton News - Record. Clinton Police Services Board Chair, Ron McKay estimates that the policing switch will not take place until 1996, possibly not until February. A report will be required for the Treasury Board in order for funds to be released for the OPP strrt-up costs. The switch will mean a small reduction in the number of polic- ing coverage but this will be compensated by the availability of assistance from the Goderich Detachment. Water and humidity cause problems BLYTH - The wet and hot conditions this summer have caused several problems for resi- dents of Blyth and surrounding areas. Environment Canada reported that the 125 ml (five inches) of recorded rainfall in the first two weeks of August is "grossly over" the average. The heavy downpours have cause flooding in many base- ments where there has never been a problem before. Farmers have seen tremendous growth this season. The diffi- culty has been to get crops dried out. Hail storms, reported in the Lake Erie region recently, would devastate may crops and local farmers have been fortunate to have missed it. Native protestors run to Bluewater OODERICH - A group of Na- tive Canadians protested at the Bluewater Correctional Centre last week, saying the basic cultu- ral rights of aboriginal young of- fenders are being suppressed. "Religious freedom has been deemed a privilege by Bluewa- tet' Centre's staff," Cedric Sun- ray told the Ooderich Signal - Star. Sunray is a Ooderich resident who participated in the 75 mile protest run from the Onyotaa:ka Reserve near Lambeth to the Bluewater Centre. Biddulph outlines plan LUCAN - At the latest meeting of Biddulph township council, road superintendent Hugh Davis out- lined a plan to improve Concession 2 road. A request had been received sev- eral months ago from Mrs. Jackie Martens asking for some changes and improvements. Davis said to upgrade this road would require building up the gully about eight feet and cutting down the hill by three feet. By utilizing the gravel available at the Highway 23 bridge project, the estimated cost to complete this upgrade would be about $30,000. Council considered and discussed the proposal and some alternatives taking into account the reduction in the supplementary budget which has already been spent. Clerk Larry Hotson was directed to check into reducing the speed limit on this section as it is consid- ered a safe road at a reasonable speed. Robert Benner of Lucan was in attendance at the meeting to ex- plain how the Hometown Canadian Network and the World Wide Net works on the computers. He ex- plained he was setting up a Lucan- Biddulph page on the network as a hobby. Council authorized the clerk - treasurer to provide minutes, by- laws and agendas to Benner on disk for inclusion on the local page on the World Wide Web. In other business, Benner out- lined where the municipality stood regarding the closed Canadian Na- tional Railways right-of-way. Ben- ner said Biddulph owns all but a very small portion near Granton and this should be cleaned up in the near future. The township has held some money back until this portion of the right-of-way is turned over to the municipality. A letter has been received from the Ministry of Transportation re- garding a reduction in the supple- mentary grant of $28,100. Council noted this money had already been expended and would have to be covered out of reserves. Council has learned from Blue - water Recycling that fourth quarter levies will not be sent out. This sav- ing reflects higher prices received for recyclables collected and sold to date. News notgood from new MPP LUCAN - The news brought by new London -Middlesex MPP Bruce Smith to Lucan village coun- cil on August 15 was not good. Smith was invited to attend to hear village concerns on recent funding cuts and hear about plans for the future. The MPP started, "With a full - .time office at the east end of Lon- don and a part-time office in Strathroy I want to establish a very specific direct liaison with the mu- nicipalities and their residents." Reeve Tom McLaughlin told Smith of some of the accomplish- ments in the village in recent years. He said, "The good news is that our tax rate for local purposes has gone up only once in five years. On the debit side of the ledger, our joint plan for a museum and li- brary has been rejected along with a Jobs Ontario project application and a development study is on hold". Smith replied, "You are one of 12 municipalities in Middlesex that have had their road grants cut. The Premier has already cut capital costs by $1.9 billion and we have been told there will be additional 20 percent cuts for all ministries in the fall budget". He continued, "There will be ad- ditional unloading. I expect one lump sum to replace the previous conditional and unconditional grants. Middlesex has a strong voice in the rural caucus and we have the potential of outvoting Me- tro Toronto. Our agenda is broad. Middlesex won't lose out". Councillor Rosemary Gahlinger- Beaune had a number of comments for Smith. She said, "It was devastating to cut the Jobs Ontario funding. We were set to promote economic de- velopment and refusal of the joint museum -library application was a blow to residents of Lucan. We need the province to invest in Lucan. We are ready to explode. I have never seen such a dynamic community. We want your support to lobby for funds for us. Rural councils have a different need for economic development. We have lost a couple of businesses recently and it's because of Mason- ville. We are losing as you dump money into big cities". To this Smith replied, "We know there is a domestic need. I will make an effort to see that you get your share when funding becomes available". In conclusion Smith said, "We are cutting within our own staffs. Each minister has had his number of employees cut from 30 to six persons. Please let me know about your cuts and priorities". Reeve Tom McLaughlin said, " Our clerk will send you a letter about our grants and fundings. The loss of $7,500 for road programs was tough to take, although I know it wasn't as bad as some". Traffic light needed near Grand Bend intersection GRAND BEND - Three delegates from the Min- istry of Transportation attended Monday's council meeting to address an ongoing traffic issue for the village. Grand Bend councilors had a chance to express their concerns to the delegates about the inter- section of Lake Road and Highway 21 South. Due to the steep grade of Lake Road as it ap- proaches the highway, a drivers visibility north and south of the intersection is hindered. Buildings on either side of the road also obstruct a driver's view. Councilor Bob Mann feels the intersection is dan- gerous and would like to see a traffic light erected somewhere near the vicinity to give drivers safe passage to the highway from Lake Road. "There is no way a person coming off Lake Road on to Highway 21 can see far enough down the the highway in either way to make a safe entry. The in- tersection is a fatality waiting to happen and it amazes me it hasn't happened before now," said Mann. Borick Smrecka, senior municipal supervisor pre- sented council with a detailed publication outlining the criteria needed for the MTO to help the mu- nicipality subsidize the cost of a traffic control sig- nal. The MTO delegates advised council the village may not qualify for subsidy under their guidelines .and the municipality could pay up to $125,000 to put a traffic light up themselves. Even so, Smrecka said the traffic signal light would have to comply with the regulations set out in the Highway Traffic Act. "It seems to me that it comes down to whether or not we can meet the warrants for a subsidy and whether we want to come up with the money our- selves," said Mann. Smrecka also cautioned council that a traffic light may not be the solution to their problems. "All they do is allocate traffic. It stops one set of traffic to let the other go," said Smrecka, adding lights are not a sudden cure for heavily congested roads. Mayor Cam Ivey agreed congestion is the "key component to traffic problems in the summer." "Actually, information based on years of study show when you put a signal light in, you increase rear end accidents," Smrecka said. Council agreed to bring in a traffic consultant to analyse the problem. In current business, council was presented with a notice from the county of Lambton informing them as of October 1, 1995 they will be directing gar- bage to a landfill site in Petrolia instead of War- wick. Lambton Cowity has signed a deal with Philip Environmental Inc. who will provide for the long term disposal of municipal solid waste at sites se- lected by the county. The municipalities of Bosanquet and Grand Bend will be affected and will be compensated by the county for any additional haul costs up until De- cember 31, 1995. The savings to the county as a result of re- directing waste would be $66,210 per year; how- ever, the village may be paying more to get rid of its garbage after December. "The county is doing it on the basis of pure ec- onomics and it's their right to do so," said Ivey who supports a user pay system based on an as- sessment of how many tonnes of garbage is actual- ly delivered to the landfill site. Council agreed to note and file the county's no- tice. Bikers cruise for Muscular Dystrophy vr Continued from front page chasing equipment and funding re- search and education programs for MDA clients. Currently, there are approximate- ly 7,000 people in Southwestern Ontario with Muscular Dystrophy registered with MDA. It wash great turnout, we dou- bled the number of people who participated last year," said Simp- son. She said poker runs are common for all "hog chapters" and each chapter adopts their own charity or- ganization. Brent Wilson from Exeter, one of the volunteer organizers for the run said the group of bikers represented a variety of people from different walks of life; lawyers, doctors and firefighters to name a few. When Wilson isn't cruising on his 1995 Electra Glide Classic he manages the agriculture banking unit for the Royal Bank in Exeter. . "We all love to ride and some- thing like this enables us to ride to- gether for a good cause," said Wil- son. Al Blancher, a Harley Davidson enthusiast from St. Thomas was recognized for collecting the most pledges raising S2,131 himself within six weeks. "I know a lot of people and all I did was ask. I approached over 400 people and very few said no," said Blancher. "It's not as difficult as you think it is, I wish more would do it. 1 think it's satisfying to see people out there trying to help," he added. Blancher belongs to the London Chapter and rides on three differ- ent poker runs, however, he said 1 the Cure in Motion run for MD is his favourite fundraiser. Chris Collins, a firefighter from Waterloo and Michelle Asgarali, a young MDA client were on hand representing the MDA 1995-96 campaign team. The 11 -year-old positioned her wheelchair at the front of the room to face the standing room only crowd and thank them for their contributions. "1 think this is terrific," said As- garali. "There's a lot of different people here helping people with MD and I hope this will double next year," she said to the crowd of bikers. "I never thought I would want to ride on a motorcycle but now I'm thinking of giving it a try." Exeter area hit by bicycle theft Lock up that bikel Police warn bicycle theftshave been on the increase during the past few weeks. Brenda Burke T -A staff EXETER - Police have reported a spree of rcent bike thefts. Eight bicycles have been stolen in the Exeter area during the past few weeks. "We get one or two (bike thefts) a day now," said Const. Tom Richber during an interview at the Exeter OPP station Thursday. Most of the stolen bikes were new and were taken while parked along streets and at work locations and residences. "We've got some idea who's doing it," Richber said, adding "Peo- ple are going to have to change their way of thinking." Richber was referring to the fact that people neglect to lock their bikes. Jan Barnes, of Dashwood Lock & Key, said bike locks are not something people are investing in these days. Since the business opened a year and a half ago at its Main Street location, she has sold only three bicycle locks in comparison with about 500 pad- locks. "(Bike theft) is on the increase and nobody is doing anything about it," she said. "We all feel very comfortable. We feel safe. (Theft) is happening all the time." Barnes recommended bike owners invest in a $55 maximum se- curity bike and equipment lock, but added less expensive locks are available. A six-foot security chain, which may be lengthened by at- taching additional chains, ranges in price from $10 to $35 and should be teamed up with a padlock which costs $15 to $22. The cheapest form of bike security is a $10 long shackle padlock, which is put through the spoke of a wheel and attached to a sta- tionary object like a fence or lamp post. "It depends how expensive your bike is or how much you like your bike," said Barnes. "The best thing is to make it as in- convenient as possible (to steal)...The same with your house or car...Nothing is fail-safe. You just try to deter it." Barnes said thieves have the option of stripping parts from a locked bike but often don't bother when the bike is in plain view of onlookers. And although a long shackle padlock can be cut, it acts as a good deterrent when the bike is locked in a public place. "With a bike the best thing is to disable it or chain it," said Barnes. "Good locks are expensive." The bike owner has security options ranging from $10 to $55. Compare sewer costs LUCAN - In a recent newsletter, council provided a report to rate- payers on actual costs of sewage treatment in area municipalities with similar water and sewer sys- tems. While the report shows that Lu - can's costs are in the middle range of the other five areas, reeve Tom McLaughlin and councillors be- lieve they are too high and arc con- tinuing to investigate every avenue to lower these costs. The figures released represent the actual dollar cost per month in various communities for families of one, two, three, four and five persons based on monthly con- sumption of just over six cubic metres of water per person. Kilworth has the cheapest rates at $17.20 for the first three categories followed by $22.27 for four per- sons and $25.11 for a family of five. The charges in Ailsa Craig are $24.64 right across the board and Ilderton is next at $25 for the first three situations, $26.15 for four persons and $29.61 for five. Lucan fits intd the fourth spot with charges of $17.30, $22.68, $28.64, $36.00 and $39.74, respec- tively. Then comes Rodney at 527.50, $27.50, $31.43, $38.37 and 541.38. Huron Park has a charge of $47.40 for each of the five catego- ries. It is to be noted that these dollar values are for sewer charges only. Lucan plans 125th anniversary LUCAN - Plans are getting underway for the 125th • ' > anniversary of the founding of the village of Lucan in the year 1996. An executive committee headed by chair person Norm Steeper and his assistant Peggy Mastorakos r will bring recommendations to the next general meeting on September 14 at 7.30 p.m. in the Leprechaun Hall at the Community Centre. The first decisions to be made are dates for the special event, the objectives, a preliminary • • list of events and funding. All organizations will be asked to participate in the planning process. Two dates to be considered are Father's Day weekend and Civic Holiday weekend. The balance of the executive includes secretary Sally Mills, treasurer Larry Hotson and members -at -large Doug Johnston, Tem McRoberts, John Mailloux, Brenda Moon, Phyllis Brady and Linda Thompson.