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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-04-03, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, Apri l 3, 1996 HEJ\LL WS Regional wrap up Toxic fumes from leachate seep into buildings GODERICH - The Mid -Huron Landfill She Board is taking ac- tion alter toxic fumes from its leachate holding facility at Par- sons Court in Goderich recently seeped into nearby buildings, re- ported the Huron Expositor. On March 12 high levels of toxic fumes, possibly hydrogen sulfide, were detected in read- ings taken by Ken Hunter, Com- missioner of Works for Gode- rich, and Pollution Control Plant Supervisor Duane Forth. Hydrogen sulfide is a color- less, flammable gas with an odor of rotten eggs. Chief Zehr faces additionai charges MITCHELL - Besides the five charges under the Police Services Act, reported the Mitchell Advocate, suspended Mitchell Police Chief Chuck Zehr has also been charged with two criminal counts of threaten- ing. The incident in question in- volves a verbal threat to Const. Rudy Hartfiel. When contacted Monday for comment, Zehr told the Advo- cate, "I'm not guilty of the accu- sations and I fully intend to be back to work," • .. His chatgeS wilt be dealt with at the Police Services Board meeting scheduled for Saturday. Barn burns in Hibbert HIBBERT TOWNSHIP - Half of a barn was lost in a blaze at the farm of Ron Pennings of Lot 9, Con. 7 of Hibbert Township at 12:22 p.m. on March 19. According to the Mitchell Ad- vocate, Mitchell and District Firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading to adja- cent barns. "The wind was in our favor," Chief Bill Elliott told the Advo- cate. Firefighters were at the scene until approximately 4 p.m. Lions proposal meets resistance BAYFIELD - The Bayfield Lions Club is seeking support from Bayfield Council for their 50th anniversary project, which would require the construction of public washrooms in Clan Gregor Square. According to the Clinton News -Record, the club ap- proached co..acil with the idea, but was told ft must first ap- proach the Local Architectural Conservancy Advisory Commit- tee, which would in turn make its recommendation to council. The Lions returned to council on March 18, having made a presentation to LACAC. LA - CAC passed a recommendation that the washrooms not be al- lowed in the park. Since LA - CAC advises and assists council said Lions President Doug Sin- namoo, the find decision rests with council. • ' 11'he buliding of these wash- rooms would not most the tax- payers We cent" said Sinna- moa. • • Cocollec tion informationto be distributed to ratepayers IJSBORNE TOWNSHIP The municipalities 'of Osborne and BIan- shard Townships have entered into a waste co -collection service agree- ment with Bluewater Recycling Association. BRA is preparing an in- formation flyer that willbe sent to all ratepayers in the two "communities. The. Kirkton landfill site 'original application indicated the site would service Usborne Township and the north half of Blanshard Township, and as such council will negotiate cost sharing accordingly. It was derided at a joint }ting between Usborae and Blanshard coun- cils that the landfill site. be open on the first Saturday of each month'from April 6 to Nov. 2 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to receive large items not suitable for curbside collection. Blanshard provided a schedule of tipping fees at its own landfill site and council agreed to set the 'same fees for the Kirkton site. All rat- epayers in Usbome and current dump car holders in Blanshard will be permitted aeons. ' Council requested BRA to weigh waste collected in each municipality before it is deposited at the landfill site in order to generate individual sta- tistics. A motion was passed by council to advise Frank Cole that due to changes in operation of the Kirkton landfill site, his services are no longer required. A second motion was carried to offer the position of Kirkton landfill site supervisor to Dwight Kinsman. • 911 addressing Council agreed Huron Road be renamed School Road and Second Line be renamed Morrison Line. Moms Township will advise Usborne re- garding a request for the township to retain the Sunshine Line name. ABCA SOth anniversary The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on July 30 with a reception and barbecue. According to requirements of the Liquor Licence Board, council must be given notice of this event. A building permit will berequired for a temporary pavilion tent to be set up in the area south of the Morrison Dam reservoir. In further business council was informed ABCA will continue to pro- vide flood forecasting and warning service to member municipalities. The primary responsibility of taking appropriate action to protect prop- erty and lives of residents remain with each municipality. A workshop to familiarize municipal employees with the flood mon- itoring system will be held on April 10 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Exet- er Olde Town Hall. A public meeting will be held on April 11 at 7 p.m. at the Education Centre in Clinton. The Huron County Board of Education will present in- formation about the 1996 budget and the probable impact on local tax rates. Council carried a motion to advise the Upper Thames River Conserva- tion Authority it approves of the proposed 1996 budget and levy. The Usborne levy forecast is $736. Should a majority of municipalities sup- port payment of their levy, it will become due and payable as in previous Having fun? The Sunshine Kids Co-op Nursery Time and Talent Auction presents lots of opportunities to have fun on Sunday. At left, Sarah Taylor, 4, MatheW Bilcke, 4, and Alex Taylor, 1, enjoy bal- loons and painted faces. Council agreesto large garbage pick-ups EXETER - The Public Works Conunittee had a shouldn't be the cost of leaf collection tough sell on its proposal to reduce the number of Triebner, in an obvious sense of frustration, com- large pick-ups each year at Exeter Town Council Mon- mented that this talk is typical of what the cost con - day night. tainment exercises will produce. " The committee recommended that, as a major cost re- We must understand that we will be reducing ser- duction, there be one Spring pick-up in May each year vices; we can't get around it. We're achieving nothing and two days in the fall when individuals could dis- unless we change!" pose of large garbage items by dropping them off at Council finally agreed to twilpick-ups: one in May the town's land -fill site. As well there would be a and the other in October with the land -fill site opened drop-off area for brush and recyclables. two days in August when residents can take their fare Councillor Bob Spears opposed the plan unless there garbage items to the site at no cost. were a cost reduction, and that reduction would have There was some debate about the priority of the Mac - to come from fewer staff. Councillor Roy Triebner re- Naughton Park Project. The direction of council was plied the intent of the proposal is exactly that. Coun- to endorse the continuation of this project subject to calor Joe Rider raised another dissenting voice, stating budget review. seniors in particular would have difficulty with both Following the meeting council met to review the bud the inconvenience acid the cost of change. He also get and supported the second phase of the park project. quipped that with so many trees cut down, there years. Huron_ Board supports one Rezoning application �n Council pass�'Jed `B jlaw #14-1996 to ,rezone property,at Part. Lot Kt L-�ifMKGs� '.iWt t- l AgriCti4WC. •(At,�7Z) to F , �T. �'i F', i- a .'k 7hv Y�A't\4 ...•.v d: ,.Y^_�i:• t 14..E"= Agricatlturatl� SinalL • -- f.�.:. � b11C1. fund PU, y ed sc h oo� s14�:� Holding (AG4) as requested by the Ron Bilcke application. recent severance from the County of Huron. Council accepts Bluewater garbage collection tender Public concern expressed over proposed waste transfer station STEPHEN TOWNSHIP - Council accepted the Bluewater Recycling Association tender at its March 19 meeting for variable garbage collection from April 1 to March 31, 1997. The tendered price of 542,946.30 is sub- ject to review by the administrator. Jim Dawe along with nine others attended the meeting to express their opposition to the proposed transfer station at Bluewater Recycling in Hu- ron Park. Council advised the group the townshipis looking into concerns ex- pressed by the public and will tour transfer stations similar to the pro- posed Bluewater site. ' Council requested information be obtained regarding waste transfer sta- tions similar to one proposed by BRA and a tour be arranged for members of council and the County Waste Management Committee. A note in the minutes indicated the motion to accept the tender will be rescinded at the next meeting if Bluewater h unable to provide collection to tender specifications. The next lowest bidder is MacDonald Sanitation. Grand Bend Motorplex ' A public meeting was held during the regular council meeting to discuss the proposed zoning amendment for Grand Bend Motorplex.. Letters stat- ing no objection to the proposal were received from the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and the Huron County Health Unit, along with letters of concern from Ron Rile, Grace Moffitt and the Huron County Planning and Development Department. Public concerns expressed at the meeting included increased noise from loud speakers, raring engines, concerts, and camping as well as problems relating to security; alcohol and vandalism of area properties. Imple- menting mplymenting a curfew and fencing were suggested as means to minimize these problems. Applicant Doug Jennison said camping would only be available to those paying admission to the Motorplex at an stdditional cost and' would not be open to the general public. Council advised if the application was amended to include concerts, a second circulation of the bylaw would be made and * second public meet- ing called. This would also allow time fot the applicant to enter into a development agreement to address public concerns. Ykterie Street Dear Tenders on the Victoria Street Municipal Drain will close at 1 p.m. on April 16 and are to be opened iattfediately following., A motiost.wass carried to collect two further quotes for tree moving and allow up to. S48O to be incorporated into the cost of Oommuction tip the drain. 1 11:1111:01:111111.11111111111.01641441101MiNNIM 11:11' CLINTON - The Huron County Board of. Education has begun a campaign in support of the position of the Ontario' Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA) that the Government of Ontario should establish one publicly funded school system in Ontario. OPSBA and the HCBE believe that this concept would guarantee the rights of both Catholic and non- Catholic students and at the same time create a more cost effective and efficient school system. The board also supports the recommen- dation of the Ontario School Board Reduction Task Force that the re- form of education finance is essen- tial before changes can be made to school board governance. In the let- ters being distributed to parents and ratepayers of Huron County, the Board states the following:. "We have a great public educa- tion system in Huron County, and we are working hard to make it bet- ter. In this time of rapid change, we are ready for change. We know that times are tough and that public spending needs to be brought under control. We want to do our part but, alone, a small jurisdiction like the Huron County Board of Education is a voice in the wilderness. You have heard about the report on school board amalgamation. There are several good recommen- dations in that report, but the most important among them are the rec- ommendations for the reform of ed- ucation finance. We must have those funding reforms if Huron County students are going to get their fair share of Ontario tax dol- lars for education. We can live with the call to re- duce the number of trustees, and we have already acted to downsize our administration. We do not agree with the propo- sal to join the public school board of Huron and Perth counties togeth- er into one new entity. We think there is a better way. Please support our call to establish a single school board for Huron County: one that provides for all sectors and protects• the language and religious rights of all parties. This is tho kind of amal- gamation that makes the most sense. As we move forward toward the close of this century, let us ensure that public education in Huron County continues to be a front- runner, - not only in academic ex- cellence and technology, but in governance, administration and fi- nance too." The board is asking residents of Huron County to support its posi- tion by signing a postcard which is available at any of its schools and by forwarding this postcard to Hel- en Johns, the local M.P.P. Impact on 1996 mill rate predicted at 6.8 per cent. Huron Board of Ed may not be able to finalize its 1996 budget until May By Heather Mir T -A reporter CLINTON - Although 1996 budget estimates may not be finalized until the May Hilton bounty Board of Education meeting, the ptedietedfl it tate impact is expected to be approximately big percent. Transfer payments from the provlitce will be re- duced by 53 million this year .nnd according to the Director's Information Report; chic bgski age to the Ontario minis determined steadied mill rate will increase the local ;ropily meths:* of educa- tion revenues by 4.7 per oxUt. The second year phase-in of adjusted market val- ue assessment in Huron will affect various classes of propetty in diffaent ways. There will increases on c ottege and lakeshdtp property for exatnple, as well as decreases In tax . rates. - SPeilding, �W of a **Ind $2 trdllion by the board rfr111'dtictisse tjll<i of prdvinciatliy- imposed ptopetty;IM ehithgtii 11.4 pet etch. Re- ductionb will lilt Audit pniminent sevhtp of approximately *1.7 tidinoo in ting expenditures and through the use of special re- serves to offset retirement gratuities and school ren- ovation costs. "I think the board has come a long way. Hope- fully it will come up with some further reductions," said Trustee Don McDonald at Monday's regular board meeting. Further reductions in spending would require can- cellation of 100 per cent board -funded programs such as Tech 21, reported Director Paul Carroll. However, cancellation of ministry -funded pro- grams, such as Junior Kindergarten, would increase the local tax requirement. Imposed spending reductions of 10 per cent in central administration and transportation costs have been incorporated into the preliminary mill rate cal- culation. More information is required to determine what action is needed to meet the requited re- duction for "custodial and maintenance services" since the board has already achieved efficiencies in this area. "You are at the bottoni of the barrel in your spending," Carroll told trustees. Trustees will be able to finalize 1996 estimates af- ter the board receives and interprets the final Gen- eral Legislative Grant documentation. A public budget meeting Will 1,6 held at the Ed- ucation Centre on April 11 at 7 p.m: