Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-07-12, Page 3IPE Nd%iD/111n! 4i%VOCIF.IR16$ Testing Water.; -.Penny Boak, left, and Mary Inglis have been hired this summer for a water quality and septic tank impact study in Howick Township. Water, septic systems to be tested in Howick Twp. GORRIE—Two young women have their work cut out for them this summer — and that work could have an impact on water quality in Howick Township. Penny Boak of Goderich and Mary Inglis of RR 1', Clifford are taking samples of drinking water in residences in the villages of Fordwich, Gorrie and Wroxeter. While in the villages they are also sampling water from the Maitland River which flows through the three villages. The water samples are being tested for total coliform count and the presence of any E -coli bacte- ria. This will indicate whether or not raw sewage from septic sys- tems is leaking into the aquifer. Following their sampling, Ms. oak and Ms. Inglis will do a re- port on their findings. That report will be given ' to , Howick Town- ship. • Ms. Boak is a third year student In environmental engineering at the University of Guelph, and Ms. Inglis is studying terrain and wa- ter at Sir Sandford Fleming Com- munity College in Lindsay. They. are employed for 15 weeks as members : of the Environment Youth Corps. The Township of Howick is paying their mileage and also supplying them with an office.• ' WATER QUALITY , "Part of our job is also to pro- mote proper septic system mainte- nance and to raise public aware- ness of health and environmental concerns associated with faulty septic systems;" Ms. Boak said. However, she emphasized the , •summerproject has nothing to do with trying to promote municipal water and sewage systems. Upon. getting ; test results of their samples, . oak and Ms. Inglis will inform home owners of their fmdings. "If necessary we will make rec- Ice users should be solicited Councillors feel arena can be booked to fullest potential Continued from front page time in town and open early instead of everyone opening at the same time with reduced demand. The councillor also noted that the Junior C club had sent three let- ters to the facility manager seeking 'to arrange their schedule and ice time. As of July 4, no reply had been. given. "The facility manager should be. trying to get more users. I recom- mend that he go out and solicit us- ers," McGrath said. He then pro- posed an opening date of September 21, with ice making to begin on September 15. That mo- tion passed. He agreed the town would prob- ably lose money in 1995 – perhaps as much as $5,000 – but said if han- dled properly in 1996, it could be a revenue -making proposition. ommendations, but they are only recommendations," Ms. Boak said. Home owners are given a report of their water tests, regardless of the quality. QUESTIONS At the beginning' of their pro- ject, the two students held a public meeting to advise people what they were doing, and why. "But the meeting wasn't all that well attended and many people are not aware of our proJect," Ms. Boak said. Besides taking water samples, ' the students also ask village resi- dents some basic questions about • their water and septic systems. Question include: type of weft, depth of well, age of well, fre- quency of .supply problems, if 'any; type of septic holding tank, age of septic system, capacity of septic system, tile field size. "A lot of people don't know how deep their well is," Ms. Inglis said. "If they are new owners, some don't know where their sep- tic system .is located." The students have identification ready when they visit residences.' They have completed their sam- pling in Fordwich and are now working in Gorrie. Asked if they have found any problems with water quality, Ms. Boak responded, "Yes, we have encountered some." Also assisting the students with their water quality project is the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, the Huron County Health Unit, and Ken Smart Engi- neering of Kitchener. The Maitland Valley Conserva- tion Authority sponsors the CURB (Clean Up Rural Beaches) program which offers financial as- sistance for a variety of farm im- provements, including the rebuilding of faulty private septic systems. The CURB grant rate for septic systems is 50 per cent up to $2,000. "Many people don't know about the CURB program," Ms. Boak said. "It helps to relieve some anx- iety if they know there is some fi- nancial assistance available." • For the most part the students hew found residents of Howick to- be•t'o-operative and helpful. "Usually their biggest concern is that their sink istl't clean — they haven't got their dishes done," Ms. Inglis laughed. In order to take a proper water sample from a drinking tap, the students take the aerator off the tap and sterilize the tap before taking the sample. Water samples are sent to a qualified laboratory for testing. The students aim to sample wa- ter in 75 per cent of residences in the three villages. They will have their final report done in late Au- gust and plan to hold a public meeting to let the community know their findings. , 1owns1li decision Employee relations could be strained Continued from froftt page ask where and why his time was deducted and was merely posing the question. However, .Nicholson said when he . sent Baird home for the day, Baird told him there would be "a day of reckoning". "I said no such. of a thing," Baird claimed, adding, "I'll lie for no one." And as far as the eight-hour days are concerned, Baird asked what he is to do if the job requires the men work past quitting time. "Let's say I have a windrow of gravel down. Am. I just supposed to leave it?" "Well, surely you wouldn't do that," said Deputy Reeve Mery Baker. In a telephone interview Mon- day, Nicholson told The Advance - Times that in addition to question- ing his hours on June 9, Baird also claimed he should be paid $13.75 per hour, rather than the $13.66 he has received since. April of. 1993, saying the roadman was "peeved off'. Originally, Nicholson said he went back through his day book to determine where to cut the men's time to bring them down to a 40 - hour week. However, also on Mon- day, Nicholson said he had made a mistake and is compensating Baird for eight hours and Kieffer for five and one-half hours. Also discussed at the June 19 meeting was a trip Baird made to Stratford on May 15 to see. a lawyer retained by the township to defend him on a .charge of failing to yield through to traffic. Late this winter, Baird was ice- blading, on a foggy day. When he pulled away from a cdrner with the grader, an oncoming vehicle lost control and rolled over. Baird was charged with failing to yield to traf- fic, a charge which was subsequent- ly dismissed. . Council agreed to hire' a lawyer to •defend the grader operator and an appointment was made through the township office for the late af- ternoon of May 15 at Stratford. He also was asked by Clerk -Treasurer Dorothy Kelly to pick up a paper shredder for the township while in Stratford. ' When Baird later put in for three hours time and mileage to Strat- ford, council refused to pay ,and, in fact, reaffirmed the decision at the July 4 meeting of council. Baird said he believed that since he was being sent to see the. lawyer by the township, he should be com- pensated. Also, he claimed to have asked whether or not he could take the township truck and was advised by Nicholson to take his own vehi- cle and keep track of the mileage. Reeve Brian McBurney told Baird that he thought it was "pretty small" of him to put in for his time and mileage when going to see a lawyer the township retained for him. "We're not compelled to get you a lawyer," the Reeve told Baird. Baker agreed, saying that council was good enough to pick up a law- yer's bill of $1,500. Councillor Paul Elgie told Baird, "We (the township) were doing you a favor to get a lawyer. I feel the same way as Mery (Baker). We should not pay (the time and mile- age) and you should be thankful." When Councillor Bill Purdon pointedly asked Nicholson, "Did you authorize him to go on town- ship time and put in for mileage?", the road superintendent replied, Police nab two in B & E Wingham Police have made two arrests in connection with the break, enter and theft at Triangle Discount last Friday morning. Deputy Police Chief Jim Dore said the arrests were made Mon- day afternoon. One adtilt and one young offender have been ' charged. Other charges are pend- ing in the investigation. Police report that around 4:05 a.m. on July 7, the suspects en- tered Triangle Discount on Jose- phine Street by breaking down a small door that connected a crawl space on the video side of the business to the apartments next door. The suspects then entered the retain side of the business and be- gan to remove single packs of cig- arettes, shampoo, deodorant and other products. While at least one of them was at the front of the store, a police cruiser pulled up and saw the suspect through the window. The suspect then ran to the back of the store. When the cruis- er went around the back, the sus- pects then went back to the front of the store, kicked outone of the large windows and escaped on foot. Deputy Chief Dore told the Ad- vance -Times on Monday that some of the stolen items had been recovered during the arrest of the two suspects. The name of the adult has not been released. The young offend- er cannot be named by law. • "No". While Purdon said he possi- bly could see paying Baird for his time, he disagreed with paying the mileage. "I just wouldn't do that (put in for mileage)," he said.. However Councillor Randy Fox - ton said he believed it was a ques- tion of "semantics", or word mean- ings. If Baird, as an employee of the township, was asked to pick up a paper shredder, it should be on company time. - $lgie appeared to reconsider his earlier stance when he heard Fox - ton's argument. "Under the circum- stances, he (Baird) was told to pick up the paper shredder and take his own vehicle." ' 4< (When asked, Baird said he did not pick up the shredder, saying he could not locate the office supply store before his lawyer's appoint- ment and it. was • closed when he came out.) "If push comes to shove, we will pay it (the hours and mileage)," said Baker. "But I'm still opposed." "It's in your ballpark," replied Baird. However, council members ap- peared more concerned about the larger question of employee rela- tions in the township. "If you tan- gle everyday on the job, some- body's got to go. You can't go around with a chip on your shoul- der," Foxton told Baird. After . Baird left . the meeting council unanimously passed a reso- lution supporting Nicholson in sending the,roadman home as a dis- ciplinary measure. Brussels Bulls & Brussels Optimists present Friday July 14, 1995 At B.M.&G. Community Centre Doors open at 8:00 p.m. .3 Giant Screens °Prizes . ...Hot Country Videos •CJBX Host Tickets $8.00 advance $10.00 at the door or call Gerry Wheeler 887-6233 357-1270 o•1"'"4 ‘1C01 poi a, venisemenr Canadian Tire Associate Store - Wingham WINNER... Win a Workshop Draw. Over $500.00 of Black & Decker Power Tools. Lucky Winner, Joyce VanCamp, R.R.#4 Brussels, is seen here with Canadian Tire Store Owner, Terry McKinnon., The Corporation of the Town of Wingham Notice to residents Illegal disposal of garbage The Town of Wingham recently passed a By-law which requires all residents to dispose of their garbage under a system involving the purchase and use of blue garbage tags on regular collection days. The Town currently allows one bag without a blue tag to be collected per household on the regular ,collection day. Alternately, you can arrange for a collection bin from a'garbage collector. " ANY OTHER DUMPING OF GARBAGE BY A RESIDENT, at a place other than their residence or in a collection bin, is in violation of the By-law and could result in a maximum fine of $2,000 per occurrence. ANY NON-RESIDENT FOUND TO BE DUMPING GARBAGE within the Town of Wingham would be subject to penalties imposed under The Highway Traffic Act. J. Byron Adams Clerk QLA KER STATE LUBE, OIL & FILTER INCLUDES: • Grease All Grease Points • Up To 5 L Quaker State Oil • Oil Filter • Labour Included Reg. §24.95 19.'9 Most Vehicles Offer Expires Sat . July 22, 1995 Also Oct CTC Bonus Coupons when Paying Cash '..tnnnnlnn.' \ not Air Conditioning Service Trained Technicians Will: • Check For Leaks • Tighten All Connections • Check & Adjust Belts • Check Operation Of Controls • Check AIC Vent Temperatures • Check System Operation E, pIre,s Ju/y 22. 1995 Canadian Tire Wingham herrn Service Centre Hours: Monday - Saturday 8:30 - 5:30 357-3714 Store Hours: Mon., wed., & Sat. 9 - 6, Thurs. & Fri. 9 - 9 Sunday 12 - 5 QUALIFIED TECHNICIANS•COMUIPtJTERIZED E0UlPMVIENT•NATIONWIDE WARRANTIES 29 �9 AJSO Got CTC Bonus Coupons When Paying Cash Most cars, Freon Extra Enngall`lh'./ "TIRE