Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-04-17, Page 1SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 ttio i Raise s SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 gae Go Get Em Hawks ■ rera sirs atm a>, sass al� lemetenreepi N you to 711e aren't 1 Timrtve OlarY(41:•/.71, tItt todlYi 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I d Addles* 1 Prov. 1 Postal Code Canada MAN 40 mho - 016 tarp addiNNd to non law ca liar addresses $33.00 plus $2.31 Q.S.T. Outside 40 nNtaa - (Q6 Am) or any MINT cs,dsv address $13.00 r $4.41 Q.S.T. Outside Candi 419.00 tom. NIA map* M USE YOUR CREDIT CARD 0LICI ICLEI Card No. 1 Expky Date ❑ Visa ❑ Master Card ❑ Chaqu. enclosed Rehim h, TWOS ADVOCATE ansa;' -masa- j Inside Home, Garden and Leisure Show See page 8 Announcements pages 22-23 Experts page 24 Classifieds pages 27-30 Theft from vehicle at Legion AILSA CRAIG - Lucan OPP re- ported a theft from a motor vehicle at the Ailsa Craig Legion on April 12. Stolen property includes a porta- ble CD player, hockey gloves and two CD's. Wednesday. April 17. 1996 Home, Garden & Leisure saidassillibsixo Fraser King goes for an imaginary joy -ride on a riding lawn mower at the Exeter Optimist's Annual Home, Garden and Leisure Show held at the South Huron Recreation Centre over the weekend. See story and photos on page 8. Man injured Lucan and Biddulph accident discuss amalgamaijon STEPHEN TOWNSHIP - Exeter OPP report Donald Willard of Con- cession 1, Stephen Township re- ceived serious injuries when the all -terrain vehicle he was driving rolled over. Willard was travelling on Con- cession 15-16 of Stephen Township and was transported to South Hu- ron Hospital. He was later taken to a Waterloo Hospital. Exeter says no to Goderich EXETER - Council received a re- quest from Goderich Town Council to honor its commitment to share the cost of the severance package for staff employed by the Goderich Police Services Board operating Huron County police communica- tions. Council repeated its position that notice was given the board over throe years that Exeter was with- drawing from the partnership, that the communications system was no longer viable and that a severance package should be negotiated or notice given to the employees that they would be laid off in a matter of months. Neither option was exer- cised. As a result, "Exeter," ac- cording to Reeve Bill Mickle, "has fulfilled its moral obligation : we gave notice and offered to partici- pate in the severance packaged, but not after such a long time. As well we made to claim on the capi- tal equipment in which we had a considerable investment." The village and township hold their first joint meeting in regards to future plans By Brenda Burke T -A Reporter LUCAN - At the first joint amal- gamation -related meeting between the Village of Lucan and Biddulph Township, it was decided bi- monthly meetings will be held at alternating municipal offices in or- der to make a formal amalgamation decision by Jan. 1, 1997. "Both councils should sit together for aperiodoftimeinor- der to become fa- miliar with each oth- er's current issues and concerns," read the March 26 meeting minutes. The committee agreed the Biddulph Township office would be used as the site ofan amalgamated municipal office. Proceeds from the sale of the Lucan Municipal Office are ex- pected to offset renovation costs of the Biddulph office. For the next meeting, staff were instructed to obtain expansion estimates. The committee decided the amal- gamated council should consist of five members including three coun- cillors, a deputy reeve and a reeve in a new amalgamated municipality to be named the Township of Bid- dulph. For both municipalities, animal control, bylaw enforcement and municipality insurance is expected to remain the same. Meanwhile, terms of each municipality's bank- ing agreements will be in- vestigated. Lengthy discussion involved the issue of solid waste. While Lucan has weekly recycling and bag tag garbage collections, Biddulph maintains a bi-weekly recycling collection and it's weekly garbage pick-up amount is levied on home- owners' tax bills. Regarding water and sewer issues, Lucan Reeve Tom McLaughlin stressed only those on the system pay for the strictly user pay services. While both Lucan and Biddulph road super- intendents will be asked to explore options for road equipment and its housing, it was the con- sensus of the committee that the main yard be located in Biddulph. As well, all recreation operations, including parks and the community centre complex, are to be com- bined. The operation of the two area fire stations will have to be worked out with respect to McGillivray and Blanshard Townships. And while Biddulph Council will consider eliminating the Police Village stat- us of Granton, Lucan Council will explore the possibility of dis- mantling the Lucan Hydro Electric Commission, which would become a committee of council. "Both councils should sit to- gether for a pe- riod of time in order to become familiar with each other's current issues and concerns." 1 It was agreed Biddulph Clerk - Treasurer Lawrence Hotson invite a representative from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to the next meeting in an attempt to answer questions about the amal- gamation process and possible grants. He suggested the committee regularly meet with such a repre- sentative. Biddulph Reeve Earl French stat- ed he would like assurance from MMAH that a population base of 4,000 to 5,000 is acceptable as an amalgamated community. Biddulph Deputy Reeve Herman Steffens noted the recent study on Lucan's downtown by the MBA students at the University of West- ern Ontario suggested amalgama- tion will benefit both Lucan and Biddulph. On the municipalities' rec- ommendation, the students will for- ward their background information on this issue. McLaughlin noted the financial aspect of the Chowan Report be ex- amined in more detail before both councils make a final amalgama- tion decision. He also suggested the group attempt to foresee questions that may arise in future public meetings on amalgamation. Meetings of the committee were scheduled for April 11 at the Bid- dulph Township office and April 29 at the Lucan Township office, both rt 7:30 p.m. Taxes jump but mill rate decreases EXETER - Exeter Council passed a budget Monday night that pro- duced an increase in taxes but strangely a decrease in the mill rate. Money raised to operate the town for 1996 increased by one per cent or $13,000 (to $1,374,545), but the residential mill rate fell from 6.3 to 5.2 (commercial from 7.4 to 6.1). The reason for the apparent contradiction is the change to 1992 Mar- ket Value Assessment. That update caused many residential property assessments to increase and many commercialrndustrial property val- ues to decrease. The lower mill rate will minimize the increases to res- idential properties whose assessments increased this year. Business, commercial and industrial taxes for the most part will be lower than in 1995. Reeve Bill Mickle, who presented the budget to council, said a sub- stantial surplus has been built in to off -set anticipated further provin- cial ct{ts next year. "It is a realistic budget" remarked Mickle in an- swer to Councillor Thom Hughes comment that "... the taxpayer is tired of paying; there shouldn't be an increase of even one per cent. \ Thirteen thousand dollars should be cut from the budget." Hughes was alone on this issue. Councillor Robert Drummond said, "This is the first increase in five years, for local purposes. It is not un- reasonable now." Councillor Roy Triebner added, "Look at the total loss of grants from the province: over $170,000. That sum cannot pos- sibly be found in operations. We've reduced costs significantly to ac- commodate that Toss. The slight increase in taxes is a small price to pay for absorbing such a huge hit." Clerk -Treasurer Liz Bell commented, "The rate is, in effect, drop- ping. If individuals are paying more in taxes, it is more likely that they are doing so because of the rate revision. Those who pay commercial taxes will be very pleased with their decrease." The budget was approved with Hughes the only dissenter. Council prepares 911 addressing report ZURICH - Zurich Council's April 11 meeting included brief dis- cussion of urban 911 addressing and mapping requirements, result- nB :.ittr .the .kleci_,$on that ,Clerk- .reasurer Maureen Simmons.and� Councillor Marg Holmes prepare a report for the Huron County 911 Project, which now requires map- ping of all urban areas within the county. A Municipal Urban Addressing Seminar will be held for the county on May 8 at 10 a.m. at the Clinton Town Hall. Also, council has approved capi- tol projects for 1996, as proposed by the Zurich Recreation Parks and Community Center Board. The projects include repairs to arena truss supports at a cost of $1,500, reconditioning of the ice flooder at $1,000 and repairs to the building's roof and ice plant con- denser. Also on the repair list is the installation of vents in risers of arena seats at a cost of $1,000 to $2,000. During a structural inspec- tion of the building in May 1994, the vent work was recommended. A new roof for the dressing room, office and lobby, at an ap proximate cost of $ 13,000 to $13,500 is to be put on hold. In related budget news, Simmons and Fire Chief us Frb:ravicwtd thej rfcr it Area -the 'fiscal year of 1 . Nighllghtst included a dispatching system and $1,500 repair bill for breathing ap- paratus. A deficit of $3,497.73 will be carried over to the 1996 budget. The new budget proposed a list of equipment totaling $8,892, an in- crease in insurance premiums and the inclusion of the fire hall rent of $6,750. Also, Erb requested a five per cent increase in the retainer fee and in fees for senior officers. The Zurich and Area Fire Board declined the wage increase and au- thorized equipment and supplies to- talling $5,200. The board will look into insurance coverage and premi- ums for the Dashwood Fire Depart- ment as compared to the Zurich and Area Fire Department. A motion was moved that the board present the 1996 budget to respective coun- cils for approval at a final amount of $54,657.91. As well, Jack Dunn was appoint- ed the 1996 chair of the board. "Trees for hopes to creating a na ur i GRAND BIsNi) - Council approved a proposal from the "Trete for Tomorrow" Committee to establish a community ar- boretum on village propertylocated directly behind the mu- nicipal office and adjacent to the I.cgion. Permitted uses of the open space `property, zoned • (I8-1, in - elude operation of a conservation area. Committee representative Janice Dkkie attended last Tues- day's council meeting to prevent the Concept for the arboretum. The hope is this area will serve "not only as an educationalsite for area youth but also as a natural parkctte for the enjoyment of all present and future community members." Council members were enthusiastk about the concept. "I think It's a great Idea," said Councillor Barb Wheeldon. ''I love 11." "You've chosen a good pkce of ptoperty, " added Councillor ShirleyAndriztr. The small Corot t et tttNt j 'i- f 6tteti*tive species of trees and shears anti hopegLte `nOrit In ,pititnerahlp with area rel. - idents. Althod&h .) rt out modestly, plans for the future rrtall�iu - � �t.�iiitll that will make the areal j more accessible inti'. _ ' Ing a bridge across the creek. "'There bre''t is safe or pedestrians to access tyttnt, re , said Mayor Cam Ivey. Council will advae.the Park* and Recreation Board of the eonirnittee's;plarus and trequest inptft,Dregarding ismies that in* be>`probieinat in tt> future.. a , 4