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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1987-03-04, Page 1l'st:V)til ON 1.T __....tl T1'�f;-THh, 131,1 TH yI' ANl)�Nl➢ 1'NF 1311 F lFl.,l) Fal (,l,h: NO. 9 121 YEARS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4,, 1987 50 CENTS a er• •. „at �rz c .^w 4712 Hydro line through Huron Committee may appeal route A hydro ,transmission corridor for this area appears imminent after the Joint Hearing Board made public their recom- mendations on February 20 after 131 days of hydro hearings last year. The Joint Hearing Board, an impartial three member board, reconunended to the Ontario Cabinet that a transmission cor- ridor be established to bring power from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD) down to southwestern Ontario. The corridor, known as Plan 1, would in- volve a double circuit 500 Kilovolt line from the BNPD through Bruce, Hurou and Middlesex Counties to Hydro's new transformer station just south of London in Caradoc Township. Another corridor would be established from the London Transformer Station east to the Nanticoke Generating Station as part of Plan 1. According to Ontario Hydro spokesper- son Donna Prout, a 28 -day appeal period will go into effect in which interested par- ties can make their thoughts known to the Joint Hearings Board. After this appeal period, the Joint Board would then take their findings back to the Ontario Cabinet and ask for an Order in Council, which would allow Hydro to pro- ceed with land acquisitions for the cor- a ridor. The land acquisitions could start as early as August 1, 1987, said Prout. Under Hydro's current timetable, con- struction could begin on the hydro corridor in the spring of 1988 with the first "in ser- vice"- of the line scheduled for March 1, 1991, she said. For the Foodland Hydro Conunittee, an organization representing 1,200 farmers opposed to the hydro corridor, the an- nouncement carne as a bitter disappointment. • "It's disappointing. We fought a long, bard fight ever since 1980. All f can say is we've done the best we could," said Foodland Hydro ('urrunittee Secretary Bill Jongejan. "We've got the hest farmland in the world here. We just thought it was worth it to make that point known." he said. Mr. Jongejan said the primary effects of the corridor, the inconvenience of farming around hydro towers, will eventually be overshadowed by the secondary effects of the new hydro corridor which will promote more industry, and take more farmland out of production. "It's the secondary effects is what we're really concerned about. How large will London will become with 15,000 acres Port Elgin BRUCE NPO Huron Goderich B ahfeki Tinton • Chatsworth • G9arg+ari Oby. Collingwood • • Markdale E S S A TS le • • •H anover Walkerton • Dundalk Alliston •Shelburne SYSTEM PLAN 1 Guelph • 401 400 Ailsa Craig $trathroy SITE N • Exeter London • • St Thomas kJ Simcoe Tillsonburg • Port Dove L9ke about to be annexed by the city? Is that the stewardly thing to do as every acre is uni- que in its production ability," he said, ad- ding that the hydro corridor will be supply- ing London with five times as much power as it really needs. He also spoke out against Hydro's claim that the corriaor will make the inter- change of power easier between Ontario and Michigan, saying Ontario Hydro should not be subsidizing the Americans with cheap hydro. "The real reason they're i Ontario Hydro) coming through with the line is to be near the Michigan utilites. Should agricultural land have to pay the cost to have Americans get cheap, subsidized power that Hydro has in surplus? I don't think it's fair," he said, adding that the NitOKE E ,Ia Clinton Council split on, Sunday openings By Anne Narejko CLINTON - A letter from the legislativle assembly prompted a council discussion on Sunday store hours during council's March 2 meeting. The end result was 4-3 in favor of no stores being open. "That's too black," commented Deputy - Reeve Rosemary Armstrong after the vote was taken. "Nothing can be black and white. We just have to try and see that little grey areas don't become big grey ones." Deputy -Reeve Armstrong did not want to see all stores open on Sunday, but felt that convenience stores and drug stores should be allowed to stay open. Those who had the same opinion as Deputy -Reeve Armstrong were Councillors Gord Yohn and John Cochrane. "I think it should be that they are all open, or none of them are open," agrued Coun- cillor Case Buffinga. "A grocery store is a ) 1! G' line from London to Nanticoke will disrupt l , farmland in Kent and Essex Counties. However, he said the Foodland Hydro ' Committee may be down, but its certainly not out. He said the committee will meet,! shortly to "pick up the pieces and find out ti: where we're going froinlVr IW Tony McQuail, the Chairman of the Foodland Hydro Committee, could not be reached for comment. According to Donna Prout, an assistant corporate relations officer with Ontario j Hydro, the corridor through the area was necessary to fully incorporate the generating capacity from the BNPD into the electrical system serving Ontario con- sumers. The line from the BNPD would also permit the "interchange of electrical power" between Ontario Hydro and the Michigan Electrical Co-ordinated System. . Committee has right to appeal An upcoming meeting in Exeter of the Foodland Hydro Committee will decide whether the committee will appeal the Hydro Hearing Board's approval of a Hydro transmission route from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development ) BNPD) to I,ondon, says the Chairman of the commit- tee in a recent interview. Tony McQuail, the Chair nan of the Foodland Hydro Committee, said the membership will meet in Exeter at the high school on V1arch 11 to give the members "a chance to discuss various op- tions of how to proceed". However, Mr. McQuail said it was still premature to tell if the 1,600 -member corn- mittee opposed to the Bruce to London Hydro route will go ahead with an appeal of the route, but said that the upcoming meeting will result in "a good indication of the way we want to go". "It's hard to be sure of the mood of the membership." said Mr McQuail. The Foodland Hydro meeting comes on the heels of the announcement by the Con- solidated Hearings Board on February 20 to recommend a transmission corridor be established from the BNPD through southwestern Ontario to Hydro's London Generating Station. The line would involve a 500 Kilovolt double circuit line through Bruce, Huron and Middlesex Counties. Also at the meeting, Mr. McQuail said the membership will be given an explana- tion as to what the board's decision means. The committee's legal council will also be on hand to respond to the hoard's decision as well as to answer questions on ex- propriation or any other concerns regar- ding the proposed route. Mr. McQuail said if the membership chooses to appeal the Hearing Board's decision, the committee would undergo a "re -organization of its structure" which, after the appeal is exhausted, would turn the attentions of the committee to aiding the individual landowners in receiving fair treatment from Ontario Hydro, seeing that Hydro's line construction is carried out properly and that the farmers get fair compensation for the land. "If it comes to a line being built, the members will be well informed which will ensure that the individual landowner isn't lost when dealing with the huge utility," he said. Mr. McQuai said he "was disappointed but not surpri d" by the Hearing Board's recommendation of the Hydro route through the farmland of southwestern On- tario. However, he believes the committee did receive some concessions from the hearing board which did listen to some of the concerns of the farming community. He said Hydro originally wanted two lines from the BNPD to I,ondon, but were only awarded one line by the board. He also said the board also recommended more extensive use of the single -based towers which would have less of effect on agriculture. These type of towers would be used when crossing the field of specialty crop class 1 to 4 land when feasible and on property borders on land which is actively being farmed. "There's going to be greater use of the single -based towers than Hydro had originally envisioned. The organization did effectively represent the landowners as Hydro didn't get everything they wanted on the Bruce to London line," he said. Low cost clinics offered to combat rabies as 92 cases reported during 1986 More than 92 cases of animal rabies have been reported in Huron County in 1986 com- pared to 36 in 1985. As a result, 50 people have received the anti -rabies vaccine after coming in contact with a rabid animal, Dr. James McGregor, medical officer of health for the Huron County Health Unit said today. McGregor said that, under a provincial regulation that has been adopted in Huron County, it is compulsory fqr all dogs and cats three months of age and over to be vac- cinated against rabies. The regulation is in- tended to protect people from the disease, he said. Most cases of human anti -rabies treatments result from contact with cats and dogs which have been infected by a rabid wild or domestic animal. Although.vaccinating domestic animals is Fifty people receive anti- rabies vaccine the only barrier between rabies and people, only 40 per cent of dogs and 15 per cent of cats in Ontario are currently immunized. More than 50 per cent of the human ex- posures to the disease occur from contact with owned, unimmunized dogs and cats — often one's own household pets. Special low-cost clinics will be held and pet owners will be charged only $6.00 per convenience store as well." Councillor Cochrane agreed, "It's not right that a smaller grocery store can't, stay open but a convenience store, that has more square footage, can."_ Mayor John Balfour agreed with the ma- jority of council that it should be all stores are allowed to stay open or none at all. "All they I the government) needs is an opening andthey'll put it back to the municipal levcl just like the beer and liquor issue. I'd hate to have that," he said. Deputy -Reeve Armstrong reiterated her statement that she did not want to see all stores open bit would like to see some open by saying, "I don't want to see Sunday become just like any day of the week...but what if there's an emergency?" Those voting in favor of no stores open on Sunday were Councillors Gord Gerrits, Ross Carter, Bonnie Jewitt and Buffinga. • Sandra Beisel resigns, new. junior accounting clerk wanted CLINTON - As of March 18, the municipal office here will be without the services of their junior accounting clerk, Sandra Beisel. Mrs. Beisel handed in her resignation at council's March 2 meeting and it was "ac- cepted with regret." "We're sorry to lose her. She was a big asset to the office," said Mayor John Balfour. According to Mayor Balfour, Mrs. Beisel is making a career change. The town is now advertising for a junior accounting clerk. Long distance charges between Auburn and Clinton may be eliminated at the end of March CLINTON - Long distance charges bet- ween the Auburn (526) and Clinton ( 482) .ex- changes will be eliminated on March 31, if approved by the Canadian Radio -television and Telecommunications Commission, Bell Canada announced recently. Janet Chisholm, local Bell manager, said the company this week told the local council that it is filing the application with CRTC, Bell's federal regulatory body. In a survey a few years ago, Auburn subscribers endorsed local calling with both Goderich and Clinton, although Auburn monthly rates would increase as a result. The Local calling, or Extended Area Ser- vice as it is called by Bell, between Auburn and Goderich took effect in the last quarter of 1984. The Auburn -Clinton link was not com- pleted at that time because it would have triggered an increase in the monthly rates in the Clinton exchange and the acceptance of Clinton subscribers was therefore re- quired. They subsequently voted against local calling with Auburn. Basic monthly rates in Clinton,,however, went up November 1, 1986 because phone growth in the existing Clinton local calling area pushed the phone -number total above the highest total for its rate group. The Auburn exchange phone number total can now be added to the Clinton local calling area without requiring another increase in basic Clinton rates. (Basic rates ale tied directly to local calling area phone -number totals. A local calling area includes all ex- changes the customer can reach via a local call). By adding Clinton to its local calling area, the Auburn exchange would go from rate group five to rate group six. Clinton last November 1 went to rate group seven because of growth. In Auburn, private line residence service would increase by 70 cents to a monthly total of $7.10 and two-party service by 15 cents to $5.50 a month. A business individual line would go up by $2.55, to $19 a month. Meeting agricultural needs By Anne Narejko CLINTON - In an attempt to streamline their services in the agricultural field, the Royal Bank is opening agricultural centres which are hoped to give the farmer better service and more attention. Clinton Royal Bank Branch Manager Steve Fraser and Cliff Shewfelt, Manager of the new Agriculture Centre to be set up in Exeter, were present at Clinton Council's March 2 meeting to explain why Exeter was chosen and what this would mean for area fanners. Mayor John Balfour had phoned Mr. Shewfelt before Exeter had been chosen as the site for the agriculture centre. Mr. Shewfelt explained that Clinton was looked at, but Exeter seemed to meet their needs better. "We chose Exeter after looking internally at the number of accounts I with the Royal Bank) and their dollar value in a 20 mile radius around Exeter," he said. "But the Clinton, Goderich, and Exeter branches will still remain. The Exeter office will be for in- vestment counselling." Councillor Ross Carter asked Mr. Shewfelt to explain the process a local farmer would have to go through with, this new system. "Say a farmer from the area goes to the bank and wants a loan," he asked. "If the loan is over $25,000 they would phone the agriculture centre and he will be assigned to an account manager," said Mr. Shewfelt. "We will not deal with consumer loans, we won't have safety deposit boxes, just agriculture." Continuing his line of question, Councillor Carter asked, "After it's all set up, what happens'." "He will do his day to day banking or the handling of the operating loan at the Royal Bank in Clinton," answered Mr. Fraser. Prior to the idea of setting up agriculture centres, the manager of each branch dealt with this type of loan. "Branch managers have to wear many hats and it is now almost impossible to wear that many because more expertise is need- ed," Mr. Shewfelt said, explaining the need for the office. animal for the rabies vaccination. Owners also have the option of going to their regular veterinarian. An immunization certificate will be issued to the owner, indicating when and where the animal was vaccinated and when the vaccination must he repeated. In addition, a rabies identification tag will be provided for each vaccinated dog and cat. The regulation requires that dogs and cats be re -vaccinated on a regular basis. Pet owners who do not comply with the regula- tion are subject to a maximum fine of $50000. In the interest of protecting the people in the community from rabies, the Huron County Health Unit urges dog and cat owners to meet the regulation by getting their dogs and cats inirnunized. Inquiries regarding this regulation should be directed to this Health Unit. • , Kids and adults took part in the second annual Family Fun Night in Stanley Township on February 27. The Singing DJ provided the entertainment and a couple of clowns joined in the dancing fun with the kids. Twenty-one month old Leanne Stephenson found herself a special dancing partner for the night. (Shelley McPhee -Heist photo)