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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-04-27, Page 1vement Association, ►i,;jdirectora of The �e Ontario ani Circus at the xnl'y Owls is a travelling ►r mobile *ergot; a►g displaysfrom, the tui to, sc4$e s ol'exhibits, at ions, workshop s itific films and much more will be presented inside The Li ery on a daily basis until May 15, t The §cIencv extension of tbe1 least25 eshj<i,t Ontario. and • and 7"tto ',7!p.ni. In the eve i>e open to t SaturdaBIA �'!r ,P recceive. directors Otdiding. He said,tbe Science.. circus , -provide many mutating displays but w gran' perience+.: .p,. Circus TheScience o en.and. Ths rida9� rtn . � t " Sri - . .p• tl>R>�; y at a , rom 9e ..ctThe LiveryMay ,1 day 40* 9 a.m. to 5 will beat until Sunday, ay . The Science .Cir provides enter*nne` perience for all;m act as asuper c.af a unique look k a t q The Science ei of 't' m r sl f e. o kf .3h �! eteswfor adulte, role in. that it xe learning ex l • eit does ex - 'While ch ldren, it la also c "viten patticiPatioa from the The fba+_._, den0onstrati... exhibitsThet'S m ch I s: s �... ss� en e y During the" , ay visit firths wiill l open every w Tito omow pine from 1 a. m. to 0 p.m. avid E. ate said • cie }r ce Circus l in oration of The Live the exhibition In t net. alsoaw• ow ' ll. e�e.ora rabt .. is cyclical. and this year -it.js -. definitely on the incoasp. At. a recent town caeneil me. w . SSR bylaw, officer Dick Eisler re luted that 13 sloglka. had been • destroyed in Goderi� this spring. Othose de stroye d , reports fromAgriculture Canada offsc�a1,siSeaforth indicated that five of the skunkswere rabid; - - Eisler reported that Agriculture Cann ad ak.Anel are slow to report on whether or not `a su`was rabid if there was no human involvement. He assured. council there was no human involvement in the; five cases of rabid skunks. Sunday sweep , needed to clean u ► .broken glass 135 YEAR -17 GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 50 CENTS PER COPY, Town refuses to pay full fee for mapping Last Friday was Arbour Day in Goderich, traditionally a day to clean up and plant new trees around the town's schools and parks. At Robertson Memorial Public School, Grade 1 student Crystal MacPhee assisted councillor John Doherty with the planting of a Norway Maple as the remaining students looked on. Several local garden clubs and schools planted trees Friday in celebration of Arbour Day. (photo by Dave Sykes) Town council istbolding fast to its decision to pay only a portion of the $1,650 requested by the MVCA to - complete an aerial niapping project of 20 miles of Lake Huron shoreline. The $50;000 aerial mapping. project, involving the townships of •Goderich, Colborne and Ashfield; as well as the town of Goderich, is subject to a $45,000 grant. The, remaining $5,000 must be shared' by the par- ticipating p a,,micipalities. Counc{l'Arigunally.turned down a request from the authorit�to participate in the mapping project, but the par'ka^. and . waterfront committeesuggested council Xchange its mind to maintain neiourly relatiions,with the townships. _ - •While ; council . was willing to participate in the program forthe sake of good relations, it would do So if . the funding formula was amended to reduce the town's contribution to $1,000 based on assessirient and frontage. At its last:meeting councilalso expressed concerns that the project wouldlead to planning, and, + elopment restrictions. ail" award of the. MVCA told. old council Monday r:t4ti"l*:iestrirlekit1it;1P6t4:uidnPiaeeudiirid �s,?gitunatroj wouldnodplace limion waterevement.: Whn askat adr. vantages the town could 'reap from the aerial map- ping Howard said it would be an invaluable planning tool. "The planning department .will be able to use the map to update plans and it will give us a base to design engineering works in the future," he said. "The mapping is important because it will provide us with a good base for future development;projects. It is not designed to stifle development but actually will help a plan to proceed." The Lake HUron shoreline between Bayfield and Port Albert has been singled out for the aerial mapping project by the province as a test case. Howard explained that the 20 miles of shoreline is" unique with respect to the diversity of problems relating to development, erosion and shoreline protection. Council passed a motion agreeing to participate in the mapping project but with an amended funding formula through which the town's share would not exceed $1,000. Howard indicated to council that an amount less than $1,650 would not be acceptable as the town's share. For three weekends in a row, town works and engineering crew members were paid overtime to cleanup glass frotnThe Square. Works and engineering foreman Stan Meriam repotted to council, recently that crews were called out on three weekends in March to clean up glass. from; the roadway. Meriam told council that beer bottles are tossed on the roadway. . "It's been like that every year," he said. "I guess we'll have to sweep on Sunday." 1VMeriam was referring to the street sweeper that is pressed into operation on Sunday during the summer months to clean up broken glass from beer bottles that litters The Square and radial streets. • March busy month for department March was a busy month for the buildingdepart- ment in terms of the number of building permits, but the dollar value laggedwell behind figures of last 'year. . In a report to council, Doug,Harrison indicated that 25 permits were issued during the month of March .. this year, compared to only 11 at the same time last year. However, the 1982 dollarvalue was $956',426 compared to $429,443 for the 25 permitsissued m March, 1983. Almost half of the total dollar .value for March came from the two industrial permits issued. One, for a new building in Industrial Park was valued at $114,000 and the other, for renovations to an existing building, was for $94,500. The other major contribution to the total was two government and institution permits issued for a total value of $118,000. Sixteen permits were issued for:. minor residential repairs at a value of $56,643" and $43,000 .Was spent on renovations to commercial iildings., ;. Commissioner of Works. Ken Hunter told, council `. that the month of April should be the busiest on �recdrd for the town's building department He said a `r` 4 �� *Immo t ',** thevp iF nd t el'. i�0 were enqu7iries on'perni tt fortwo orthreenew single .i. unit dwellings, One of the biggest dollar=,value permits issued for the month of April is for renovations to the People's Store on The Square. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Farmland tax rebate program is safe says Timbrell By Sharon Dietz Ontario's agriculture minister assured members of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture last week that the proposed farm land tax rebate pro- gram is safe and that farmers do not have to fear the government is trying to usurp their property rights. "A fundamental part of the proposed tax changes in the program is that the individual farmer will still pay his or her taxes to the municipality," stated Tim- brell, who was speaking to the North West Huron Federation of Agriculture annuai meeting held at the Lucknow District Community Centre, April 20. The tax rebate proposal calls for farmers to pay taxes on their houses and a `deemed' lot. The lot, because it cannot be severed will be assessed at 50 percent of a similar lot. Farmers will be eligible to receive a rebate of 100 percent of the taxes on their farm property, land and farm buildings. A previous proposal exempting farmers from pay- ing taxes was dropped. The municipalities feared an erosion of their tax base and farmers feared a loss of property rights because they were not paying taxes. Timbrell said present fears that the new proposal will result in a loss of property rights some time in the future are based on a misunderstanding of the infor- mation. The people of this province are not likely to elect a government that will ignore property rights, observed Timbrell who pointed out that if this argu- ment is followed to its logical conclusion, accepting any form of government assistance for that land, a system for tile drainage debenture, a 25 percent rebate or a 50 percent rebate or whatever, would be sufficient grounds to give that kind of government the authority to take away property rights. Timbrell add- ed that a government with that kind of philosophy is not likely to be put in power inthisprovince. ' Premier William Davis announced in the legislature the following day that Ontario urill support the inclusion of property rights in the charter of rights. If property rights are entrenched in the con- stitution, said Timbrell, nothing could abridge an in- dividual's property rights by reason of applying for or accepting government assistance. Despite the opposition to the proposed farm tax rebate program in Huron County, one farmer at the meeting said he is in favour of the rebate and would like to receive more rebates from government. Earl Hay of Kinloss Township said he wants a tax rebate for the tax charged on fuel used on the farm. Hay estimates lie pays $4,000. tax on fuel in a year and last year his income was only $3,000. The minister pointed out that there are three governments taking taxes on fuel: the producing pro- vince, the federal government and the provincial government. The provincial tax is rebated said Tim- brell, but the taxpayers of this province do not have the money to rebate all the tans on fuel charged by the 'other two governments. While Timbrell was asked to speak to the meeting to explain the farm tax rebate program, most ques- tions asked during the question period did not refer to the tax proposal. Insteatl farmers took the opportuni- ty to vent some of their frustration with high interest rates, low commodity prices and foreign absentee ownership. Timbrell reminded the farmers it is • the federal government and the Bank of Canada which sets the high interest rates and they are responsible for the economic policies of the country. The taxpayers of the province do not have the money for the provincial government of Ontario lower interest rates for everybody and every business in the province to reasonablelevels, he reasoned. Timbrell also told the meeting the provincial government does not set the prices for commodities. His government is trying to help marketing boards with special assistance to sell their surpluses which resulted in such low prices last year. Unless farmers are willing to accept the principle that the government should be all powerful and direct and control everything, then they will have to accept that there are some things government could do, observed the minister. In reply to questions concerning farm credit assistance, Timbrell said he had hoped the federal government would provide more money through the Farm Credit Corporation to assist farmers. In the budget announced last' week, another $100 million was allocated to FCC for distress cases. This, $100 million is only for distress cases and -it only.goe&, to rewrite existing debt load and will not be used for new mortgages. Timbrell explained that the Ontariogovernment of- fers the Ontario Farm Assistance Program which has been extended to provide assistance to farmers. He, as minister, is working with:the other. provinces, to establish a stabilization program for alt pro 1ueers not covered by existing market stabilization plans and Ontario plans a new program for beginning farmers in May. Conflict-of-interest legislation explained The new municipal conflict-of-interest legislation that came into effect March 1, sus' nothing to be "hysterical about" or "ashamed of", London lawyer, John Judson told close 'to 70 elected officials from Huron County last week. Judson was the chairman of the Association of Municipalities in Ontario (AMO) when it reviewed the legislation before it was passed. "The act is not intended to expose you as connected with some insidious involvement in,the community," he said. "If you're honest and frank, nobody can condemn you. But, if you act guilty, the press will see you act guilty and,you'll find it in the paper the next day. I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy." Judson and Charles Godkin, of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, held their third in a series of seven meetings in Western Ontario last Tuesday at Huronview to educate municipal politicians about the revision of the act and to clear up any concerns or misconceptions. The act, first passed in 1972, has now been revised so that a municipal politician must explain the nature of any conflict in addition to declaring it in the first place. And, any citizen who suspects a council member of not declaring a conflict can report the member to a judge within six weeks. A councillor can come into conflict if he or she has a direct or indirect pecuniary (financial) interest in a matter concerning council. If the matter involves a financial interest of a spouse, parent, child, a business partner, or an employer, the councillor is in conflict. Also, if the council member is a member of a body or has a controlling interest or is a senior officer of a corporation in which the council is concerned, he or she is in conflict. "The act does not carp if you are voting for or against your interest or ,ven if you don't affect the outcome; it only cares 'r: at you have a. pecuniary interest," said Mr. Jut Even if the count . a member of a local group that wants a gr. r , bm the government for a charitable cause, h conflict. "If you're the s , anon director of the local Optimist club and lsc fitting on council, you'll have a conflict of intere;, you ask council for a grant for hoc you're key me t ,ef he sodoesn't matter if goi be theperconflictnally-of-interest act in - Some exce r ., z s to dude membe • y�,. gave a financial interest that is in common with the r t of the electors and members who have ark interest in land affected by work ur►der the Drainage Act or the Local Improvement Act. "I think the exception from the Drainage Act is an important relief especially in rural areas," Mr. Judson said. a• The act states that the elected official himself is responsible for declaring his interest and its nature, keeping out of any discussion or voting on the matter, and refraining from trying to influence the voting. "It's a useful Symbolic gesture to move back from the terestcouncil,"saictabler.Juwhendson. you declare a conflict of in - If the meeting is closed to the public, the councillor is responsible to declare the conflict and leave the room while the matter is discussed. When the meeting is again open to the public, he or she must then declare the conflict and its nature.once again. This section of the act does not Cover the committee meetings of Huron County council which are never open to the !Mlle. The way the ad now stands, a conflict declared during the closed meeting would never be known to voters since the meeting is always closed, There are three penalties for councillors who do not Turn t� page 2 Season opens The ball hockey season started this week in Goderich and more than 140 men, who range in age from 16-35, are participating. Even though the league was only organized last year interest in the sport is steadily increasing. For the story about the Goderich Recreational Ball Hockey League turn to the first page of the Recreation section. Awards given The Goderich Minor Hockey Association held its Awards Day on Sunday, April 24. Teams and in- dividual members were honored during the afternoon ceremonies. For the winners' pictures look inside the Recreation section. Volunteers honored April 18-24 was Volunteer Week and as part of the week the Huron Day Care Centre for the Hbinebound honored the people who donate their time free of charge. One of the volunteers, Russel Alton of Goderich, was one of the many people Who were recognized for their special work. For the story turn to page 7 of the Recreation section. I,