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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-10-08, Page 1YFIE 1`rQ.:ORI ORA"t'11GTHE BLl t'H STANDARD -THE i3A 0111116, Woo NO. 41 121 YEARS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1986 50 CENTS Varna farmer is hopeful some beans will be saved BY SHARON DIETZ Farmers are still optimistic part of this year's white bean crop can be harvested but they estimate more than 50 per cent is damaged. Varna area farmer Bev Hill said there is bound to be some of the crop salvaged but the unknown is the quality of what is harvested. Hill said in an interview Tuesday morn- ing, he doesn't think the crop is' physically lost. It will be physically possible to harvest the crop, but whether it will be marketable is the unknown. A minimum of 50 per cent is not marketable, said Hill and more likely bet- ween 50 and 75 per cent is of dubious quality. �At this point it is unknown whether it will be worth trying to harvest what is salvageable when the rain stops, but Hill points out that all of the white bean crop in North America is in the same situation. The crop in Michigan is in worse shape than the crop here. Hill who has 225 acres of white beans and 1500 acres of soybeans, said his soybeans appear to be alright quality wise. The big- gest problem with them is they are ben- din;/over and lodging which makes it is more difficult to harvest and there is more harvest lost. Hill expects farmers could be on the field in a week to 10 days if : get no rain for a week. "It's hard to say. We have no bench marks to work with. We've never ex- perienced so much water at this time of year," said Hill who has been farming for 20 years. Previous to this, 1977 was the worst year on record for wet bean harvest and that time, Hill harvested his crop in October. He salvaged all of the cop but the quality discounts meant the value was low. Exaggerating the wetness is the warm temperature. "We could have lived with the water but the warmth is causing mould and discolour,"said Hill, Beans are a risky crop to grow. The in- put costs are not as high as corn, but the weather conditions have to be just right during the growing season and for harvest. Adding insult to injury this year is the fact that it was an excellentbean crop just sit- ting in the field waiting to be harvested un- til the rain hit. Hill sprayed his beans by helicopter, with a chemical to defoliate the plant and kill weeds, just days. before the rain started, so he has this cost invested in his crop as well. Solid seeded beans are more prone to uneven maturity and spraying to defoliate enhances the quality of the harvest. He is optimistic he will get the crop off because he solid seeded his beans, planting them in 10 inch rows so they can be straight harvested with a combine. The ad- vantage of direct combining is that it eliminates some risk because you don't have the cost of scuffling and pulling. Beans which were ready to harvest before the rain and had been pulled are lost, said Hill. Hill believes his solid seeded beans will be an advantage this year because, you don't have to wait until the land is dry enough to pull and then harvest, you can proceed to combine immediately. Ashfield Township farmer Ray Hogan is looking at clipping his beans rather than pulling them, if he ever gets into the field. He believes. the plaht,5, ill be too rotten to pull, although there won't be as much deterioration now that the weather has turned cold. Hogan says Michigan farmers are worse off than area farmers. Beans only repre- sent a portion of our harvest here, but in Michigan farmers have beans and sugar beets in one-half to two-thirds of their acreage and both are rotting in the fields. The corn crop here is starting to mould but Hogan says farmers will get it off one way or. another. The wet conditions are particularly depressing because farmers were looking at a bumper bean crop this year. The wheat harvest was poor because of mould and even though the corn is a good crop, the price is low. "Farmers were looking to the beans for their profit this year," ,said • Hogan ."Now it's gone. What a disastrous harvest will mean to farmers over the long term, con- cerns him. Hogan accompanied the tour provincial Agriculture Minister Jack Riddell made Friday when he visited farms in Middlesex and Huron to assess the damage. Riddell appeared to pass the buck, said Hogan. He told the farmers the aid they are seeking is federal jurisdiction. The farmers told Riddell there are things he can do immediately like enhanc- ing the interest rebate program instituted last year, which will help in the short term. This program was more successful than its predecessors, said Hogan, because it did not require the banks' participation. With previous programs the bank re - Turn to page 2 • Provincial Agriculture Minister Jack Riddell, right, examines rain -damaged beans on the Brucefield-area farm of Ken McCowan, left, during a tour of farms in southwestern Ontario, last Friday, as other Huron County farmers look on. Riddell has not committed yet to any government emergency aid programs for farmers affected by the recent heavy rainfall. (photo by Patrick Raftis.) See story inside - Page 2 A large number of people dropped in to the Goderich Township Hall from October 3 to Oc- tober 5 to see crafts such as these ceramics made by Isabel MacDonald. There were four door prizes given out at the show and Dianne McKenzie won luggage, Annie Klomps won a turkey, Cathy Connolly won a teddy bear and Mrs. J. Kolkman won a Christmas wreath. (David Emslie photo ) Kootstra landfill site could prove expensive to operate By Heather Mcll.vraith TUCKERSMITH - The Kootstra site, the potential new landfill site for Seaforth- Tuckersmith was pronounced technically viable recently after an on-site inspection by engineers and officials of the Ministry of the Environment involved in the landfill search. But it. is a long way from being officially declared the site. "From a technical aspect it looks quite good," said Tony Crutcher of Conestoga Rovers and Associates. "But there are other, non technical aspects that still have to be addressed. We've done extensive testing and it's look- ing quite good." Mr. Crutcher told a crowd of about 20 peo- ple representing Seaforth-Tuckersmith and other' interested parties, three levels of in- vestigation had been conducted at the site, all of which proved it was "quite good for landfilling." "We've drilled test holes and conducted a two-phase drilling process and from our viewpoint the geology in the northwest cor- ner of the site makes it conducive to landfill- ing," he said. Based on these findings B.M. Ross and Associates have proposed the back 15 acres of the 150 acre Kootstra site, which is itself located immediately past the railway tracks on the right hand side of the Vanastra Road, be secured to provide a landfill site with a life expectancy of approximately 30 years. "It's a very environmentally sound site," said Mr. Crutcher. "It's ideally suited. Because it's by the river it gives us a comfortable handle on things because we know where the ground water is running and we can predict what's happening with some assuredness," he said. "Water, as common sense says, and data confirms, flows toward the river." "We've dealt with a lot of landfills, and geologically we're very pleased with this site. It's reasonably remote, and where there is visual intrusion we can adequately screen," said Mr. Crutcher. On the down side however, Mr. Crutcher, added the site will not be a "particularly easy one to operate and may be more expen- sive than anticipated," since it requires some engineering work be done to control and dispose of the leachate which will col- lect on the site. An attenuation zone appears id be necessary, and Mr. Crutcher said discharge to the river is so slow it would never be measurable. "We'll have to look at the economic feasibility. But the site has a good life, ap- proximately 30 years, so any cost will be borne over a long period of time, not all at once." Ministry of the Environment officials made little comment on the landfill site, saying the design and proposal of the engineers would have to be reviewed by a ministry committee before any official com- ment could be made. Phil Byes, however, of the Owen Sound of- fice of the Ministry of the Environment, ex- pressed some concern over the mounting protest be neighboring landowners to the location of the landfill at the Kootstra site. Their concerns, which primarily focus on the operation of the site, should it locate on the Kootstra site, were addressed by those members of the Seaforth-Tuckersmith land- fill site committee and the engineers and • hydreologists and government officials at- tending the on-site investigation'. "The public has a right to know exactly what we're doing and exactly how it will af- fect them," commented Seaforth Mayor Alf Ross. "I would hope if they have any further concerns they would address the commit- tee. We're not trying to pull anything off here," he said. As to what happens next the ministry of the environment expects to be able to reply to the proposal for the kootstra site by the second week of October. Following that ana uepending on whether the reply is favorable, a public meeting will be called. After that there's still a lot of bureaucratic red tape to get through. "There has to be one more public meeting Turn to page 5 • Marie Jefferson is sworn in Monday as new clerk treasurer A. recommendation for landi severance.: was requested by Homer Andrews for Lot 34 on George Street in Clinton. Council agreed to recommend to the Committe of Adjust- ment that the title for the 80 foot by 90 foot piece of land be merged with land abutting to the south. A request was received from the Township of Oxford -on -Rideau asking for Clinton Council's support in a petition to the Minister of Municipal Affairs concerning putting a ,ceiling on liability insurance claims. Clinton Councillor Gord Gerrits noted that CLINTON - Many well wishers attended the Clinton Town Council meeting on October 6 to witness the swearing in of Marie Jeffer- son as the new Clerk -Treasurer. `_`This is a very special evening, as, you all know, as tonight we swear in our new Clerk - Treasurer," Clinton Mayor John Balfour said. "The lady on my right beat out all competitors; Marie can take pride." To obtain the job, Mrs. Jefferson was in competition with 28 other applicants. Mayor Balfour had another job announce- ment to make. "On my left is the new Justice of the Peace, Leonard Theedom. We have been without a J.P. since the last one retired about a year ago," he said, and add- ed that it was a pleasure to make the announcement. Mr. Theedom's first official duty was to swear in Mrs. Jefferson, and he stated, "I hope all the duties I have to perform will be as pleasurable as this one. • Following the announcements a short congratulate Mrss was taken . Jefferson on order to n heowrvict people The deadline for the Program for Renewal, Improvement, Development and Ecoii'ornic revitilization of municipally s the ed property (PRIDE) app first order of business after the recess. The due date is October 21 for this grant that is an expanded' Ontario Neighborhood Im- provelnent Plan (ONIP) program, and will snake financial assistance available in the fain of a grant covering 50 per cent of the • coat- of an eligible community 'improve- tilent project. For the record CLINTON - In last week's edition of the News -Record, a story carrying the headline of Proctor Settlement will end October 9, 1987, had two misleading sentences in it. The first error concerned Mr. Proctor's 1986 salary. For a full 12 months, Mr. Pro- ctor was payed $35,292. However, Mr. Pro- ctor was working until March, therefore, three months of his salary were not part of the settlement. The second error was in the wording of a sentence explaining the lawyers' fees. Last week's story said, "Both the town and Mr. Proctor acquired lawyers with the town paying both bills which totalled $4,510 - $500 for Mr. Proctor's,lawyer and $4,010 for the town's." Although the figures are correct, the sentence should have said the town paid a portion of Mr. Proctor's lawyer's fee. _aithough..such.,support . may not be able to change anything, perhaps it 'sti uid—be" given. "We should support this just to let.the ministry know we're not satisfied with the way things are." Council voted in favor of giving their support. A bylaw regarding the setting of sanitary sewer rates was passed by council. With this bylaw, those with water consumption of one to 1,500 cubic feet of water used will pay a flat rate of $16; 1,500 to 2,000 cubic feet $27; 2,000 to 3,000 cubic feet $35; 3,000 to 10,000 cubic feet $55; 10,000 to 20,000 cubic feet $80; 20,000 and over cubic feet $100. Council passed the resolution that when Maple Street is paved during the 1987 street construction, a sidewalk should be installed on one side of the street as well as adequate lighting. The matter of a deadline for agenda infor- mation fell under lengthy discussion at the meeting. "Almost a year ago. we requested that we get information for council meetings prior to the meetings, so we don't get hit cold," Councillor John Cochrane said. He said it is necessary to get the information early so it may be studied, but not all of it has been coming in on time. "1 would like to propose a cutoff date for agenda material," he stated. The motion was put before council that all correspondence for the council agenda will be received no later than 5 p.m. on the Wednesday prior to the meeting. "It seems pretty strict in my mind," Turn to page 3 • During the Clinton Town Council meeting on October 6 Mayor John Balfour (left) au- nouneed the hiring of Marie Jefferson as clerk -treasurer and Leonard Theedom as the new Justice of the Peace. (David Etnslie photo)