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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-07-06, Page 1rr C) 4-, .--e Cr) incorporating 50 cents — No, -27 Wednesday, July 6, 1983 118th year Clinton tax •:s ripe 11.3%, is year Education and town portions increase the budget By Shelley McPhee While Clinton's portion of the 1983 tax bill has only increased by 5 per cent, the total budget for this year is up by 11.3 per cent. On July 4, Clinton council finalized the 1983 budget of $2,016,286, up $205,442 from last year's $1,810,844 budget. While the town managed to hold its portion of the budget to 5 per cent, Mayor Chester Archibald emphasized that the education levies took the budget increase even higher. The public school levy is up by 10.5 per cent this year and the separate portion has gone up 7.88 per cent. Mayor Archibald noted however that the total budget was partially offest by a 4 per cent decrease in the county rate. In dollars and cents, a public school residential supporter with an assessment of $3,000 will be paying $875.01 in taxes this year, up $49.87 from last year's $825.14. The mill rate for that supporter is 291.67, compared to 275.049 in 1982. The same commercial supporter will pay $1,029.51 in taxes, compared to $970.76, a $58.75 rise from 1982. Mill rates are 343.17. Last year they were 323.587. The separate school residential sup- porter with a $3,000 assessment will see taxes go up $58.75, from $970.76 in 1982 to $1,029.51 this year. The mill rate is set at 343.17, compared to 323.587 last year. The separate commercial taxpayer will see taxes rise by $58.91. This year their portion amounts to $1,028.54, as compared to $969.63 last year. The mill rate has risen from 323.21 to 342.84 mills. The dollar levies for the various pur- poses are as follows (with last year's in brackets): general municipal $537,281 ($511,694); county $105,515 ($110,255); elementary, $253,988 ($223,265); separate $15,772 ($13,142); secondary, $222,688 ($207,900) . Mayor Archibald was pleased with the town's attempts to hold the 1983 tax rate in line. While expenditure costs for the town are up, with additional financing needed for the town hall -library complex and the development of the industrial land park, higher grants and subsidies from the provincial government helped to offset much of this. A new Winter Works grant of $79, 51 netped to pay for initial stripping and clean-up work for the town hall -library project. An Experience '83 grant of $2,552 has allowed the town to hire two ar- chitectural students to help with the legwork of this project. Grants and close financing also helped to offset the increased costs of housing the town hall, library and police station in temporary rental quarters while restoration work is being completed. Adminstration costs, including rental for the municipal offices rose from $118,088 to $141,000 this year. The police budget rose from $222,378 to $239,098. Library costs rose from $19,129 to $31,000 this year, however the town did not have to budget thousands of dollars that . were previously included to cover library engineering. While in 1982 it was estimated that $15,200 would be spent on engineering work, the actual total was $2,908. An additional $53,388 was included in the town hall reserve fund and $5,000 has been set aside to cover interim financing. The 1983 budget has included $39,000 for a new sanitary sewer on Matilda Street. This captial project is required to upgrade the sewage treatment plant and reduce the phosphorous output. The budget also includes a $75,948 ex- penditure to install sanitary sewers at the industrial park. This project will be partially financed by a Federal -Provincial Works Program grant of $33,600. The grant will cover labor costs on the project. A new expenditur :Fiis yeah is a $7,000 On July 5 and 6 a dog show was held in Blyth. Over 500 dogs were entered in the event sponsored by the Blue Water Kennel Club. ( Rod Hilts photo) for the planning and development of the industrial park. The money will be used to promote Clinton and encourage industries to start business here. The expenditure side also showed some reductions. The parks and recreation budget dropped by nearly $17,000 since additional money was spent in 1982 to finance engineering work done on the proposed dressing room additions at the arena. 'The BIA levy dropped by $5,000 due to a small surplus and street lighting costs Are down over $3,000 from last year. 'The revenue side of the budget includes $29,000 that the town will recover from Greymac Trust Company investments. Revenue also saw the resource equalization grant increase by $8,979 and the general support payment go up by more than $4,000. In general revenues and expenditures, the. town's poij1on of the budget followed closely with last year's figures. There were few surprises in the 1983 budget and Mayor Archibald expressed his pleasure at Clinton's attempt to keep costs as low as possible in these economically insecure times. While in 1982 the town portion of the budget dropped more than 4 per cent from 1981's 14.8 per cent, again the education levy has brought the taxes up and will have Clinton property owners digging a little deeper into their pockets this year to finance the increase. JTh.:4 close If f report isn't ,followed By Rod Hilts The Blyth-Hullett Waste Disposal site may be forced to close its gates unless it follows recommendations given in a report from the Ministry of the Environment. Blyth council received a hydrogeological site report from District Officer Wayne Page stating that the two hectare site in Hullett Township has been excavated virtually to its boundary. "It also appears the water quality in a recreational pond approximately 100 metres away from the site has been af- fected from the landfilksite," said Mr. Page. "Based on the geology of the site and the proximity of the waste to the site boun- daries, our hydrogeologist has assumed that unacceptable off-site groundwater impacts are occurring at the Blyth landfill, although your consultant has not ad- dressed nor identified impact at the site boundary in the preliminary report," the letter stated. According to Blyth Clerk Larry Walsh, a meeting between Hullett Township and Blyth council will be set up to discuss the issue. Mr. Walsh said the next step will be for the council to convince the ministry that the waste disposal site is a viable operation. Council will investigate the possibilty of continuing the hydrogeological study to include the establishment of impact at the site. The cost of the first part of the study was $3,600 and is covered by a $5,000 grant the village received. Mr. Page went on in his report to say the ministry recommends that the municipality submit a plan of development and operation to close the site. If the site was closed, a plan would allow for land- filling for a period long enough to properly grade the site and cap it with a low per- meability cover, applying , minimum slopes to promote surface water run-off, from the site. An alternative to closure of the site is either the purchase of or a suitable leasing arrangement of lands for a buffer zone to the north and west of the site, which would be extensive enough to dilute waste to acceptable levels. If the municipality took this route, an appropriate detailed hydrogeological assessment of the site to determine the appropriate buffer zone would be required. ' Action by the ministry to close the waste disposal site won't be carried out until Hullett and Blyth councils give their position on the issue. Government backs Huron Soil Conservation, but financial support is still needed BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE Several provincial government ministries have given their moral support to the concept of the Huron Soil Con- servation District, but when it comes to financial support they will take a "wait and see" attitude. Representatives of the ministries of natural resources; agriculture and food and the environment were on hand to discuss the newly -formed Huron district at thsummer meeting of the Ontario cy : ter of the Soil Conservation Society of rica in Holmesville. But, MPP Jack Riddell (Lib. Huron - Middlesex) urged the government to make a more substantial commitment in the area of soil conservation. Acknowledging that he himself has always promoted less government in- volvement, Mr. Riddell said he would change his tune in this instance by saying the province "can't simply rely on farmers to finance this". A farmer himself, Mr. Riddell said the government couldn't be exonerated from the problems currently faced in soil A erosion. Citing reasons for some soil erosion problems, such as grants for field enlargement and encouragement of monoculture farming, the MPP said it is the government's responsibility to clean up the problem. "It's not the farmer's fault. Farmers did as they were told," said the MPP. Dr. Rop McLaughlin of OMAF in Guelph said his ininistry is treating the Huron Soil Conservation District as a pilot project. "If it goes well we'll promote it to other soil and crop improvement assiciai.ons," said Dr. McLaughlin, cautioning that heat may work in Huron may not necessarily work in other counties. Defending his ministry's position in assisting the district concept financially, Dr. McLaughlin noted that OMAF is currently providing office space for the district out of the Clinton branch. Carl Schenk of the MOE office in London said over $120,000 has been spent during the current fiscal year by his ministry in the area of soil conservation in south- western Ontario. "It's safe to say there will be some contribution in another year if I continue to control the purse strings," said Mr. Schenk. The Huron Soil Conservation District is the "natural growth" of what started as the Norman Alexander soil conservation award. From that early beginning only three years ago, Don Lobb of Clinton said, the Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Association was formed. Continuing to promote soil cgnservation, the association conducted a no -till soil conservation project last year. "As we approached 1983, there was an increase of farmers who wanted to try (conservation measures), but we did not have the necessary technical advice," said Mr. Lobb. Through the combined fefforts of the Maitland Valley Conse-vitioit thority, the Ausable-Bayfield \\ Conse ation Authority and the Clinton bras h. MAF along with the HSCIA, an agrologist and technician were contracted to work out of the Clinton OMAF office. The major task of the staff is to co- ordinate the services available to farmers in the area of soil conservation from such agencies as the conservation authorities, ministries and federal departments it was explained. The staff also assist farmers requiring technical advice on soil con- servation. Mr. Lobb has a vision of the district concept expanding across the province with about 10 to 12 districts. Bruce Shillinglaw of Londesboro, whose name along with Mr. Lobb's is synonymous with soil conservation in the county, said soil conservation awareness in Huron has increased three -fold since the Norman Alexander award was started. The FISCIA president said there had been a lot of duplication of efforts and therefore the need. to co-ordinate the services available to Huron farmers' became a necessity. The district concept, said Mr. Shillinglaw, has received "good ac- ceptance" in the farming community. The afternoon session of the meeting consisted of tours of co-operators' farms in the Clinton area. The farrns of John Maaskant, Jack Tebbutt, George Thompson, Don Lobb, Gordon Lobb and Marg Haak were visited with various soil conservation measures being demon- strated. ell s na es seve ]`Marto Se olars Seven Grade 13 students at Central Huron Secondary School have earned Ontario Scholar status. Principal Herb Murphy explained that these students must obtain an average of 80 per cent or more and must have a minimum of 480 marks on six Grade 13 courses. Darryl Fox, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Fox of Clinton had the highest average of 93 per cent. Barbara Gross, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carmen Gross of Hullett Township had the second highest average of 91.2 per cent and Sandra Coleman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Coleman of Stanley Township had 90.3 per cent. Brian Cartwright, son of Mr. and Mrs. Doug Cartwright of Clinton had 82.8 per cent. Ann Deichert, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Deichert had an average of 81.8 per cent. Cameron Moon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ken Moon of Hullett Township and Julie Wright, daughter of Mrs. Evelyn Wright of Kippen both finished the year with 81.5 per cent averages': Darryl Fox Ann Deichert Cameron Moon Julie Wright Brian Cartwright Barbara Gobs Sandra Colvin,?n Ideated debate okays farm tax rebate report BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE The approval June 27 of a report by the Huron Federation of Agriculture's task force on the farm tax rebate wasn't without tense moments as name calling and restrained tempers surfaced. While numerous topics were discussed at the meeting of federation directors, the audience was waiting specifically for the directors to deal with the tax report. The report was amended and approved, but first federation president Tony Mc Quail had to clarify that the task force was formed after the March member's' meeting at Blyth Public School. The main objective was to look for alter- natives to the government's proposed 100 percent tax rebate on farm land and buildings. it was also noted that the task force was a separate entity from the vote taken in the spring whereby the majority of Huron federation members voted in op- position to 100 percent farm tax,rebate. The thrust of the task force's report is the idea of legislating the present 50 per- cent farm tax rebate until a program can be developed which 'would include either the rebating or removal of education taxes on farm land and buildings. The report also calls for a farmhouse to be assessed as a rural residence, farm land and buildings to be assessed on their productive value, and farm residences- to he taxed on the same basis as other rural Turn to page 2 • Weather� 1983 198 .IUNF, HI LO 28 21 11 29 24 10 30 21 12 .JULY " 1 29 18 2 28 15 3 33 21 4 30 18 Rain 9 mm HI Id) 27 15 19 6 20 7 20 5 24 8 25 11 21 10 Rain Omm