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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-10-18, Page 3Times -Advocate, October 18, 1995 Page 3 [TV TF -IF NEW, Apple Orchard Tour Children from Tiny Tots Nursery School in Hensall and Sunshine Kids Nursery School in Exeter examine apples at Apple - Dale Orchard Thursday. An employee of Apple -Dale Orchard puts apples into a bin as nursery school children watch. Committee continues plans for development coordinator One councillor understood different consensus from tone of public meeting Heather Mir T -A staff HENSALL - At least one mem- ber of council was surprised and disappointed by a press release is- sued by the Hensall Economic De- velopment Committee to "per- severe" with the idea of a community development co- ordinator for the village. Councillor Jeff Reaburn said he understood a very different con- sensus from the tone of a public meeting held on Sept. 25. "I am surprised to see it going ahead," said Reaburn. The HEDC indicated a poor re- sponse rate from a mailing of 600 newsletters did not accurately re- flect the views of the entire com- munity. Only 80 ballots were re- turned in last month's mailing and of those, 21 were in favor of a com- munity development coordinator. "For this reason, the committee will follow the example of more than 400 progressive communities in this province and continue to ex- amine a variety of options re- garding the position of COC," stat- ed the press release. Reaburn expressed dissatisfaction with the survey method used by the village to gain public input re- garding the creating of coordinator position. "There's no way you can ensure accurate results," said Reaburn. Reeve Cecil Pepper indicated the only true method for reliable results is a plebiscite. Dr. David Douglas of the Uni- versity of Guelph, guest speaker at the public meeting, studied Hen - sail's economic profile and defined the CDC role as an investment in the community. The HEDC said they are com- mitted to working hard to recognize Hensall's potential, exhibiting pride in the community and plotting its direction to meet the challenges of the future. The committee believes much progress can be made by boldly taking the initiative. Councillor Reaburn said at Tues- day's regular meeting it is time for council to express its opinion on the planning for a CDC. To this end, Reaburn submitted a notice of motion to be dealt with at the next council meeting. In addition to planning for a CDC. the HEDC's next step is em - hark on a major clean-up operation for the upstairs of the Village Hall. in an effort to preserve the upstairs for its historic value, committee members are inviting residents who took part in theatre productions (held in the space many years ago) to share their memories and any collectibles such as theatre pro- grams to display during the Christ- mas season. Fire Marshall prepared to conduct study EXETER - Council was advised Monday the Ontario Fire Mar- shall's Office is prepared to con- duct a study into the area's emer- gency fire services. This offer is the result of discussions with the South Huron Liaison Committee and a re- quest from the Exeter and Area Fire Board. Reeve Bill Mickle was con- cerned that the ground rules for vot- ing procedure be fair - "Will there be a weighting factor? Will some municipal reps have a vote on an is- sue that isn't relevant to him/her?" C.A.O. Rick Hundey explained that the Ontario Fire Marshall's Office wants to work with the councils, and therctore the Liaison Com- mittee and not the Fire Board is in- volved. Councillor Robert Drum- mond added that all local departments would continue to function and tight fires. but each would specialize in one aspect of emergency response. Funds to furnish chambers not sufficient EXETER - Council realized. Monday night. it had not placed enough money in the furniture bud- get to equip the new Council Chamber and municipal offices. The $20,000 set aside was only a drop in the budget. apparently as another $27,000 was added to the pot. Co -Chair of the Building Com- mittee. Reeve Bill Mickle, was quick to point out that the addi- tional funds came not from the committee but from council. Mick - le added, in a later interview, the committee was "dead -on" with its budget. Any overages were ap- proved by council, as a whole. and not by either a few members of council or by the committee. Council plans on moving its op- erations from the present to the new site without closing down for the physical relocation. The move should take place during the last week in November with the official opening taking place within a fort- night.C.A.O. Rick Hundey ex- plained that the Ontario Fire Mar- shall's Office wants to work with the councils. and therefore the Liai- son Committee and not the Fire Board is involved. Councillor Rob- ert Drummond added that all local departments would continue to function and fight fires, but each would specialize in one aspect of emergency response. County launches planning process Public to have significant input in the development Cameron J. Wood The Wingham Advance -Times GODERiCH - The public of Huron County can expect to have a more significant'say in the development of the new county plan. Following the regular session of county council last week, officials from the planning department and Warden Bruce Machan launched the plan review process with the in- itial stage - media interviews. The entire process is expected to take several months, with the comple- tion deadline looming at the end of 1997. The county, under provincial leg- islation, must review it's Official Plan and update land use and devel- opment policies; some of which have been in effect since 1974. Ac- cording to Machan and Senior Planner Wayne Caldwell. the time has come to include more up to date land use policies and define economic goals at the same time. Caldwell said the process this time around will rely heavily on public input. Community Action kits will be sent to various groups, agencies and municipalities (availa- ble to individuals on request) in the county between November 1995 and February 1996. These self- administer kits are designed to de- velop a "county -wide" profile of is- sues and stimulate ideas about com- munity vision and planning. In launching the process, Cald- well described the concept of going to the public as a method of exam- ining issues that may affect Huron by going beyond the normal realm of normal land use planning. He said issues such as economic devel- opment, health care and non -land use agricultural policies are such examples. "We are trying to give the public the opportunity to identify these is- sues," he said. Certain agricultural policies have been in place for 25 years. "And they have served the county well. The review may not lead to that set of policies changing that much." An example of policies con- tained under the plan is the siting of livestock facilities, Caldwell said. "This bears a fundamental impact for producers. Now we can exam- ine the trends, if we look at exam - Council approves bunkhouse construction EXETER - Exeter Council ap- proved the building of two one - storey bunkhouses at Monday night's meeting. The two buildings, one for migrant workers from Ja- maica and the other for seasonal Mexican workers will be erected by Exeter Produce on Highway 83 near the main plant. The structures violate neither the Town's Official Plan nor its zoning bylaw. Gary Hartman of Exeter Produce, in pre- senting the proposal, stated that the buildings would ease the housing problems for the men, but because the dorms will be pre -fabricated, they will also be simple to disas- semble if they are no longer re- quired. rJV ad kt.4 tiArry 0". County Plan logo pies from the United States, for ex- ample, and seek the appropriate di- rection." In terms of environmental issues, the senior planner said concern has grown in all elements and legisla- tion has changed. The county's plan will seek to minimize the impact of these legislation changes, while en- suring appropriate consideration is taken when handling environment issues. Machan described the five point lat<nch and stated that since the adoption of the current Official Plan in 1973, many things have changed in Huron. "The develop- ment of a plan is an opportunity to focus on community and economic change." "The key to the process," Cald- well said. "Is that we want to incor- porate the views we receive from the public. The advantage to this...i r that our goal is to ensure the policies are in place that reflect the wishes of the residents." The process of review is being done within the existing financial resources of the county, Caldwell explained. In addition. liaison with other agencies, such as conserva- tion authorities, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, will help keep the costs within a workable range. Machan, who is Wingham's rep- resentative to county council and will surrender•his seat as Warden shortly, said the process of the county review will mean munici- palities that intended to begin their own Official Plan reviews may have to defer that process. He said the priority of issues may change once the municipalities receive the county's plan. The economy of Huron is a new area for Official Plan consideration. Caldwell said the original plan fo- cused specifically on segmented land use, but not the employment opportunities that existed within Huron. The launch team is hoping the public will provide feedback to them on these kind of concerns and from there create community eco- nomic development strategies. Once the community action kits have been issued, the launch team will then focus on public work- shops. The time frame for this is Feb. to May 1996. Then for the sec- ondhalf of 1996, the team will con- duct topic -specific meetings to al- low for public policy development. At the conclusion of this. they will draft a. document and allow the county the entire year of 1997 to re- view the proposal. A flexible sched- ule of Aug. to Dec. 1997 has been identified as a possible time frame for acceptance of the plan. Huron County's 5 Point Launch •The new county plan will be de- veloped through extensive public discussion. •The plan will be developed by county residents using the exist- ing resources of the county. •The plan will deal with a range of issues identified by the com- munity. While traditional munici- pal plans have focused on land use planning, the new county plan is expected to include com- munity development strategies. These strategies will support the local community and economy. •A new county plan is required under recent provincial legisla- tion. The plan is to be adopted by county council by the end of 1997. *County residents will be'kept in- formed and their involvement is encouraged in several ways. The county will provide community action kits to interested individu- als and groups. Workshops and public meetings willbe held and media releases will be provided to the media. The Huron County Board of Education Volunteer Tutors Needed Would you like to help someone improve his/her reading, writing or math skills? There is someone in your community who needs you. For more information call Darlene Williams at 482-5428 ext. 353 or 1-800-265-1778 Part of our lifelong learning initiative. R. Brown Chair out t 4to P. Carroll Director 1 4 1 1 4 1 A-AftiegmmAA'" tt� The aittingay is having their THIRD ANNUAL eta -1v-4 1 COLOUR SPECIAL Colours Highlights Colour $22 Highlights $19 Colour & Cut $28 Highlights & Cut $25 Colour & Set $25 Highlights & Set , $22 Colour, cut & set $32 Highlight, cut & set $29 • ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST • SENIORS DISCOUNT DOES NOT APPLY • PATCH TEST REQUIRED FOR FIRST-TIME CUSTOMERS • LONG HAIR EXTRA Wellin: ton at Main, Exeter 235-4247 MIR -Tvr vv w v v --r FT 4