HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-07-25, Page 1man SECTION
1
Ow
Both the Town of' 1411tOwel and
the Village Or Brussels, aecording
to a taped by the Ministry of the
Environment, are polluting the
waters of the MiddleMaitland
River with "untreated Municipal -
industrial, wastes" entering the
river through "uncontrolled
municipal and industrial
sewers".
The report which has not yet
been commented upon publicly
was- received by the Perth
,rederation Of Agriculture and the
Town of Listowel onMay 28, 1974,
When he was telephoned ' last
week regarding the report, Wm.
H King, clerk of the Village of
Brussels, said to his knowledge,
the village had not yet'received
the report.
Titled, Water Quality of the
• Middle Maitland River, the
report details the findings of an
intensive water quality survey
conducted on the 11/lidd1e Mait-
land River from Listowel to a
pohit just upstream from Wing-
ham,during late August'and early
-; September 1972,
The objective of the,study was
to develop waste loading guide-
lines for ListOwel and BrdsSels by
Integrating . physical, chemical
and biological data collected
during the study. •
In its recoMmendations the re-
port states:
"All uncontrolled municipal
and industrial discharges in
Listowel should be eliminated.
Plans to sewer the remaining
portions of the town should con-
tinue in order to aid in elimina-
tion.of these discharges." •
And "Plans to service the Vil-
lage of Brussels with a municipal
sewer system and sewage treat-
ment plant should proeeed to
eliminate =controlled municipal
and industrial discharge to the
Middle Maitland River."
Listowel is presently working
on the second stage of a four -
stage sewerage PrograM Whije•
Brussels.isvOnsidering plans for
a $2v4trathienF
plant for the village.
Listowel clerk, Hartley Fischer
says the town hopes to cOmplete a
stage of its program each, year
which would mean that the town
would , be completely serviced
with sewers by the end of 1976.
Mr. King reports that if Brus-
, sels was to go ahead with the pro -
:posed sewage treatment plant
immediately, then it too could be
completed by 1976 or 1977.
"We are now deciding whether
to g� ahead with it or not," Mr.
King said. "We have asked the
Ministry of the Environment to
give us some guidance on how we
Olo should go about charging such a
project."
Mr. King said the financing of
sewage facilities is the major
concern for places the size of
"Brussels. "This is a big step for
us and we're all (Listowel and
Brussels) hard up enough to
reqitire substantial provincial
assistance."
Septic tanks systems now serv-
ice residences of Brussels, but
'Mr. King noted that main street
bus, inesses pose a problem.
"Along the main street there
isn't room for all of our busi-
ALONG THE MAIN DRAG
Brussels
nesses to have septic tanks, so we
are aware that we are polluting
the river.".
"But," Clerk King added,
"This isn't something which has
happened overnight." .
The Maitland River, Called
Menesetung by the Ind!ank.has
never been a swift flowing, deep
river. .With the exception of
spring flooding, it meanders
slowly through towns, villages
and lush farmland and in ,the
summer is often less than a. foot
. deep. For this reason, the'Smount •
of effluent which can be dis-
charged into it is severely
limited.
In its Water Quality of "the
Middle Maitland • River, the
Ministry of the Environment
recomMends that "in order to
reduce excessive rooted and
algal plant growths, no discharge
Of wages from Listowel should be
.
allowed during the Month Of May
through August."
Since 1971, -the mimstry which
operates the Listowel sewage
lagoon, has sprayed the final
effluent from the lagoon system
onto adjacent farmland during
the summer months (June
through October). The lagoon is
used and maintained jointly by
the Town Of 4.4istowel and the
Cam bell Sou o
• Pa
with the town responsible for 30
•i.)er ant and the company for the
• remaining 79 per cent.
Originally the lagoons were
continuously discharged via the
Chapman Drain into the Middle
Maitland River. Now they are
periodically discharged in the
earlY sPring Mialtgain in the
The minlsirY alio reco
for both loistoweland
that ',!no discharge be *Rowed
streamflow of less than one ctibie
foot per second."
'Vim increase in plant I
Or expansion in Listow. el
require increased reduction.**
nitrogen removal facilities
or streamflow augmentati
the report states.
. The survey found the wter
Want/ of the -Middle Maltiostl„'
"seriously' degraded by _noon,
trolled municipal and industriat
discharges - from the Town of
Listowel." .
"These discharges eou1404
with natural low summer
streaMflows result in bacted0-
logical contamination and execs-,
sive aquatic plant growth .that
cause severe diurnal dissolved
oxYgen fluctuations with
critically low nighttime levels
which make the first nine Miles of
this stream below Li-30Weun-
suitable as a habitat for sport
fish. During periods of drought,
degradation of a sitnilar magni-
tude could result downstream'
'Irom the Village of Brussels."
While the minisry reports' the
"impaired water quality of. the
Middle Maitland River dolt),
stream from ListOwel seriously
restricts its use as a recreational
resource," it also belieVes that if
its recommendations are imple-
mented, "the resultant improved
water quality should return the
Middle Maitland River to a wider
variety of normal river uses."'
Please turn to Page 11
- Huron County officials ;have
expressed deep concern, over,
recommendations made in the
• recently released Ontario Task
Force Report on -Health Plan-
ning. They are so upset that they
plan to call a special meeting of
• the county council on August 12 to
discuss what action to take on the.
report.
Huron Clerk -Treasurer John
• Berry told newsmen on Friday
afternoon that he is very worried
about the future of health care.in
the county should the recom-
mendations be adopted. The task
force has suggested that Ontario
be divided into district and
,regkahd health councils. These
.cOiil$d be Otez). AC -6
extensive PitWeii" as &CAW
where same doctors can set up
practice, what expansion
programs can or can't be un-
dertaken by individual hospitals
and according to Mr. Berry they
may even decide which doctor a
pann
LUAU-e .
t referred 10'.
Gaderich Deputy ReeVe Stan
Profit • 'branded the scheme
• "socialism'beyond David Lewis'
wildest dreams". •'
• The health council wOuld
comprise 10 • provincial ap-
pointees and five representatives
from.mtinicipalities within each
. district.•The clerk -treasurer and
County Warden Bill Elston ex-
pressed fear that 'Huron County
would be overwhelmed and lose
autonomy under the proposed
council. Huron. county is one of
five counties; Elgin, Middlesex,
Perth and Word would be the
other four, tohe lumped together
in one district. That 'district
: 4,01ild have 2nOroximrate
popuiaHonOido,NO
The county officials are afraid
that such cities as London, St.
• Thomas and Stratford would
edge 'the county out of any
meaningful role on the health
Mr. Berry .suggested that the
• district is too large and noted that
the Lambton ',County Council. is negative" toward gie
scheme. Their council would only
oversee Lambton and ' KA*
counties. He continued, saying
that the Lambton couneil felt
th 1 is too arge an „ It
would only have a population! of
200,000.
It was suggested by one county
official that the province has
voiced opposition to special
purpose bodies and bureaucra-
cies but is in fact, creating
Another Point that bothered
county politicians was that suelaa
henith, tonna wOuld emasculate
tiff) Arai& tiiiiiitylfeiilth Unit.
That body, which has come under
fire from local politicians in a
number of instances, is a very
expensive undertaking to merely
dissolve.
Mr. Berry was rather i ued
that the report had been released
at this time and complained that
'Ihe council, which only has 30
•"days from the release of the
Oport to object, 'Auld not have
41fficient time to peruse the
• tepOrt and digest its many far-
reaching ' reco endations. He
• *MS also 'suspicio because the
covering letter which ac-
Companied the county's copy of
the report was dated June 18, but
the report did not arrive until
yluly 4.• .
Mr. Berry . said that the
county's health department is
preparing a brief for the special
council session in opposition to
th011att, The frlerltrtreattitOttittitt
friak40..iO3prassed the ***Irfl'aVA
Member' iiinacal boaidi
and their chiefs of medical staff
attend the session. Warden
Elston plans to attend a meeting
in Perth County to divine that
region's thoughts on the proposed
talth plan.
econd public meeting
held on zoning bylaw
Only a handful of Wingham.
residents attended the final
preliminary public meeting .to
discuss the town's proposed
zoning bylaw at the town hall on
Monday evening.
Gary Davidson, representing
the Huron County Planning
Department, started the meeting
by outlining some of the changes
that had been made in the draft
bylaw by the Wingham planning
board subsequent to the first
public meeting in May.
The county official noted that
the commercial zone that was to
have included the west half of
Centre St. and the east half of
dward St. had been reduced to
nclude on those properties which
ace onto Josephine St. He also
old the gathering that the lands
hich were previously designa-
ed railway lands had been
e -zoned to take on the designa-
on of the closest abutting zone.
The railway. land zone has been
reduced to cover only the actual
land occopied by the railway's
existing tracks.
Aftether change was made in a
commercial zone in the southern
end of the town. The planning
board decided to extend a C5
(highway commercial) .zone
from David St. south to Hwy. 86
on the east side of Josephine St.
Mr. Davidson explained such' a
commercial extension was made
necessary after a zone in the
north end of town around George
and Martha St. was changed
from a C5 zone to a residential
area. The county planner in:
formed the meeting that three
lots near the corner of Cedar St.
and Bristol Terrace had been re-
zoned from a residential to an
industrial use.
Some of the other minor
changes Mr. Davidson pointed
out were the abolition of open
space lands as a designation for
lands on either side of the railway
tracks near Summit Drive; those
lands will now be zoned for
residential uses, the zoning of the
east half of the ball park and the
By
t
i
ti
The
Pedestrian
BICYCLE PARADE—
The Wingham Recreation
Department is sponsoring a Bi-
cycle Parade and Penny Carnival
on August 1. Tiwre will be judg-
ing and prizes for four age
14f•• groups. So, kids get them bikes
decorated and meet at the ball
park at 6:30 p.m. on August 1.
o—o—o
BLOOD DONOR CLINIC—
For those of you who get your
paper on Wednesdays remember
that there is a blood donor clinic
• being held between 7 p.m. and 9
p.m. tonight at the television
station. Please give the gift of
life.
o-0-0
MEETING—
There will be a general meeting
of the Wingham Snowmobile Club
next week in the town hall. Please
contact Don Carter for the exact
time and date.
0-0-0
PLAY REHEARSALS—
If there are any youngsters out
there with , an itch to act the
'recreation department is holding
rehearsals for children's theatre
at the town hall theatre every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
afternoon at 115 sharp. 'Why not
come out?
park at the corner of Alfred and to protect • the zone. It would
Josephine St. to become com- depend, he said, on the kind and
mercial and the reduction of the amount of development planned
radio and television lands to for the area. The county planner
include only the property added that "once the flood plain
presently owned by, CIOIX. has been defined then it would be
• At this point the meeting was up to the MVCA to establish fill
opened up to allow residents a and building regulations.
chance to question the new draft At this point Mr. Davidson.
plan. Mrs. Norman Shiell who explained that the planning board .
lives at the westerly end of is confined in what areas it can
Victoria St. asked why her home designate for certain uses by the
was still included in a hazard town's official plan. When it
land zone. Mr. Davidson an- comes to flood plains he
swered that the Maitland Valley reminded the residents that the
Conservation Authority had not model storm used in the mapping
yet released their flood plain map is a storm of the intensity of
of the area so it had not been Hurricane Hazel centred over the
changed. He continued, saying watershed. He commented that
that the map would be released in people without "a technical
the next two or three weeks, if background only have experience
that map shows any areas that to tell them that certain areas
are now designated as hazard would or wouldn't.
lands are actually not in the flood Angus Mowbray questioned the
plain then those zones would extension of the Cs zone from
automatically revert to the David St.1 to Hwy. 86 and won -
zoning of the surrounding area. dered if that didn't make some of
Mrs. Shiell told the county, the existing businesses there non-
representative that she had been confOrming under the bylaw. He
in touch with Richard Hunter, a was told that the planning board
MVCA representative, and he had expanded the definiton of a
had told her that if the planning C5 zone and the existing
board had seen her property they businesses that might have been
most certainly would realize that affected by the zone change are
it wasn't in a flood plain. Sheincluded in the new definition.
asked why the bylaw should zone Mr. Davidson mentioned that
the area as hazard land when the planning board had made
planning board could wait for the slime changes in the text and
flood plain mapping. definitions of the bylaw. One such
Mr. Davidson rejoined that the change was to allow lots wtiich
zoning bylaw most certainly will were registered before the bylaw
riot be passed before the mapping is passed but do not meet its
Is released because it must be requirements to be considered as
passed by council and then must acceptable after the bylaw is
be accepted by the Ontario passed. He added that changes
Municipal Board. had also been made in lot fron-
John Mann questioned Mr. tage. Frontage has been reduced
Davidson about the possibility of to 60 feet from 65 feet. Along with
the C5 zone at the north end of that, the bylaw now allows the
Wingham being ineltato in the building of homes with only 900
flood plain. Mr. Davidson an- square feet of floor space.
swered that the area could quite Don Deirnage, the owner of the
possibly fall in the flood plain. Riverview Drive In asked why
However, he explained the the land on which his business
planning board in that eVent stood had been zoned residential
could either restrict bulding in rather than commericalMr.
the area or could require certain Davidson said it had always been
control Measures be established residential. Mr. Delmage took
issue with him and said it had not
,been designated residential. Mr.
,Davidson retorted that ever since
,the official plan has been in
existence it has. He added that
when the official plan was being
discussed a delegation of
homeowners in
area had
petitioned
make
'the
the
area
the
planning
residential.
board
Please
turn
to
Page 11
t
ABOVE LISTOWEL—While green algae line the banks of the Middle Maitland above the'
bridge on Sideroad 12 in ,Wallace Township, the water itself run S relatively clear.
(Staff photo)
NM,
V 4 ,
ite,d,
,
"
RIVER IN SUMMER—Reduced to a slow moving stream in summer, the Middle Mait-
land River even above Listowel and Brussels becomes all but clogged with natural
growth. The above lilypad-infested stretch was taken below the bridge on Sideroad 12 in
Wallace Township. . (Staff Photo)
HEAVY GROWTH BELOW LISTOWEL—As outlined in a
recent survey report by the Ministry of the Environment on
the Middle Maitland River, heavy growth obscures the hot -
tom of the river below Listowel. The above picture was
taken at the bridge on the second concession of Elma Town-
ship early this week. (Staff Photo)
•