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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1970-04-02, Page 5THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1970 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS Slight Drop In Huron County Tax Rate (by Shirley J. Keller) Jack P. Alexander, reeve of Wirsgham and chairman of the executive committee said Wed- nesday at the March session of county council that it looks like the general county mill rate will be down about one and one- half mills. Last year's mill rate was 12.25 mills, According to Alexander the mill rate this year could be 10.75 mills or even lower, judg- ing from the severe cuts in the board of health budget. Reason for the pleasant reduct- ion to taxpayers seems to lie in the fact that the county need not budget for the assessment department which last year ac- counted for $200, 000. As well last year, $100, 000. was budget- ed to finish payments on the assessment building and $70, 000 was included in the budget to make the final debenture pay- ment on Huron County's home for the aged, Huronview. It was Stephen Township Reeve James Hayter who caut- ioned council not to expect a similar reduction in the future, especially in view of increased costs in every department. Approval was given for the executive committee to set aside $100, 000 in a working capital reserve fund to "reduce the cost of borrowing." Stanley Deputy -Reeve Anson McKinley suggested this should be rewarded in their report to read "shift the cost of borrowing. 1 -Ie said no matter how you look- ed at it, the taxpayers still have to pay the shot. Decision was reached to foot Heavy Moisture In Cold Weather Well -insulated barns are often plagued by persistent wet- ness, and moisture condensation becomes more prevalent as winter temperatures become lower. Dr. D.R. Pattie, School of Agriculture Engineering, Univ- ersity of Guelph,, notes that the amount of such moisture that can be got rid of depends on the barn construction and its size. This moisture is largely given off by respiring animals. Thus animal density in the barns and animal management become important factors in the control of excessive cond- ensation. Inadequate ventilation is often the cause of this moisture buildup, says Dr. Pattie. Where this is not the case, the area main batt of the barn is gener- ally satisfactory, while only a small section of the barn is wet anderhaps cold. This barn condition is usually identified by strong odors and is often impossible to correct in a simple manner. Barns constructed to allow internal moisture to permeate through the walls to the outside are less affected by condens- ation problems. Experiments on farm buildings and tests in laboratories have shown there is benefit to be derived from such moisture permeation, even though this principle contradicts the usual practice of making barns and buildings impermeable Moisture that escapes throe h the walls or ceilinns of a buil ing is disposed of to an efficient spanner. No heat loss is involved as there is when moisture is re- moved by ventilation fans. In this way it can be seen that for a building to have this per- meable quality is often more important than the insulation factor that has formerly been emphasized. 0 Three-year-old Cathy Woodley of Burlington, Ont., knows cancer can be beaten because at the age of nine months she beat it. The Canadian Cancer Society needs funds to spon- sor more research into the causes and cures of cancer and to multiply little Cathy's story many times. the entire cost of the warden's banquet in the fall. In the past, the warden has been responsible for a certain portion of these costs. Total budget for the general govertunent items is $44, 286. The general administration budget amounts to $78, 700. , representing roughly a $10, 000 increase over 1969. The cornnlittee has approved a $10, 000 capital grant over a two year period to the Sal- vation Army House of Concord to be constructed near London. As well, patriotic grants were trade as follows: Salvation Arny, operating grant, $1, 500; CNIB $2, 500; Huron Cancer Society, $400. W.I. in county, $45.; St. John Ambulance, $75.; World War Veterans Reunion, $150. Educational grants totallying $5, 825 were also approved. In his annual plea to county council to cut back on the ex- penditures for social affairs, Exeter Reeve Derry Boyle said it was costing the taxpayer about $4, 000 for council's recreation. "The taxpayer, shouldn't have to pay for these trivialities, " said Boyle. "This is a place to come to work." "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, " came a voice from the floor. "I will pay for niy own playing retorted Boyle. We're getting good pay. Thirty dollars a day - that's good pay." In other business, the.execut- ive committee authorized an increase in the rate payable by municipalities in connection ' with indigent residents living in nursing homes. The new rate is $10.50 per day, effective Jan- uary 1, 1970; concurred with a document from the County of Bruce asking the Minister of Education to have the county boards of education do the actual collecting of taxes from indiv- idual taxpayers; and concurred with a document from the Count) of Simcoe asking that marijauna not be legalized. Property Committee's budget for 1970 totals $75, 085 for main- tenance of the court house, reg- istry office, CAS building and jail and the administration build- ing. As well, $28, 000 is budget- ed for the museum which in- cludes $3, 000 set aside for the purpose of buying an old school bus to transport museum exhibits to fairs in the county, etc. Reeve Boyld took exception to this money spent on the mus- eum, saying that since receipts at the museum last year totalled only about $8, 000 it is plain to see the museum isn't a paying proposition. Allan Campbell, reeve of McKillop and chairman of rhe property committee reminded Boyle that the museum has a real educational value. "Knock it off the health bud- get, " complained Boyle, "and spend it on the bloody museum." The county development committee budget includes $4, 050 for reforestation; $14, 200 for the weed inspection services; $2, 200 for bounties; $25, 000 for development at CFB Clinton;. and $7, 000 for grants. It is interesting to note that although only $20, 000 was cal- led for to be budgeted for devel- opment at CPB, committee fees of $3, 000 and public relations costs of $2, 000 have upped the costs to $25, 000. Captain Vince Cummings, the new man hired last month by council to promote development at CFB Clinton, was present to sheet council. The County of Huron Planning Board has appointed a special committee to study the problems relating to municipalities bord- ering on Lake Huron. They are Ralph Jewell, Clayton Laith- waite, Ed W. Oddliefson, An- son McKinley and Ian McAllist- er. The budget for the planning board was approved at $45, 000 and includes the $40, 000 for consultants' fees to prepare a preliminary official plan for the county. Anson McKinley, chairman of the planning board, also told council that J. A. Nickloin of the G.V. Kleinfeldt and Assoc- iation (London) Limited, has suggested that all municipalit- ies in the county should belong to either the Ausable Authority or the Maitland Authority Council approved the library budget for $165, 980, at a cost of approximately $02, 000 to the county. The new librarian hired by the board is Miss Ethel Dewer, Dresden, at a salary of $10, 000 per annum. Walter Sheardown, chairman of the library board, announced that his committee is concerned that there are a number of books in the main headquarters in the Court house which are not in circulation. The board is giving some consideration, he said, to changing the system whereby the bookmobile carries the books to the libraries throughout the county for the librarians to make their book selections. Instead, said Sheardown, it is proposed to have the librarians travel to Goderich to stale their bpok selections. Then the books would be packed and shipped out to the current libraries via a smaller, more economical vehicle, than the present book- mobile. It has been proposed to buffy a station wagon or some similar vehicle to make the deliveries. This system would be faster and would require only one man to deliver the books. Sheardown told council be and his committee intended to strean line this "Half-assed" library operation. PAGE FIVE Huron County Road Department Will Operate on Same Budget as Last Year (by Shirley J. Keller) County engineer Jim Brintnell who read the report of the Hur- on County Road Committee chaired by Elgin Thompson, reeve of Tuckersmith, told county council Wednesday that his departure will hold the line on the road budget this year, The trill rate, said Brintnell, will remain at 10 mills. In 1966 the mill rate was 9.3 mills, It was increased in 1968 to 10 mills where it has remained since. "From this you can see that the road levy has increased by a total of only 0.7 mills or 7.52 percent in five years while wages and the cost of most materials are rising at a rate of five per- cent to eight percent per year, " noted Brintnell. "The variation in our total yearly expenditures on county roads is accounted for by a slowly increasing assess- ment and different proportions of bridge work (subsidized at 80 percent) and road work (subsid- ized at 50 percent) in our prog- rams," The road budget calls for a normal bylaw of $1, 246, 000 which has already been approved by council plus a budget of $60, 000 for bank interest, commit- tee pay and miscellaneous items, A supplementary bylaw of $270, 000 was passed at the session in the hope that the entire amount will be approved by the Ontario Department of Highways, al- though this is not a certainty. Total proposed road expend- itures amount to $1, 576.000. In 1969 council approved a total budget of $1, 631, 000. An interesting table of snow- fall statistics was presented by Brintnell in his road report. It showed that during the 1969-70 winter Huron County has already had 96 inches of snow, 13 inches more than for the average win- ter over a 30 year period. On an average, reported Brintnell, it snows on 41 days during the winter. During this winter, it has already snowed on 63 days plus 17 days when there has been a "tract" of snow. "One reason we may get the impression that this wasn't a bad winter, " said Brintnell, "was the absence of high winds and the fact that our ieaviest 24 hour snowfall was six inches in November. " Expenditures on snowplowing and sanding to date stands at $83, 115. 88 compared with $109, 117.78 for the same period last year. A bylaw was also approved adding 3.0 miles of road to the Huron County road system, the portion of road between the county of Huron County of Mid- dlesex from Greenway on High- way 81 to the Ausable River. U THE CANCER CONUNDRUM Cancer is found in all countries and in all peoples, but there are puz- zling differences in the incidence. Japan, for example, has more stom- ach cancer and less breast cancer than Canada. French-speaking men of Quebec Province have twice as much cancer of the colon but only a third as much skin cancer as English-speaking Canadians. Using such facts to discover the causes of cancer and ways to defeat them is one role of research, made possible by your contribution to the Cana- dian Cancer Society. ATTENTION FARMERS Order Early And Make Big Savings Now ON: Save 25c Bu. SEED OATS Save 30c Bag Save 25c Bu. SEED BARLEY Save 2c Per Lb. MIXED GRAIN CLOVER SEED & GRASS SEED ALSO: FOR EVERY 10 BU. OF DEKALB SEED CORN YOU BUY ® YOU GET ONE BU® FREE SO HURRY - We Still Have A Good Supply Of 85 And 90 Day Coon Seed Other varieties of seed corn available are Funk's, Warwick, United, Northrop -King, Seneca. SEED OATS - SEED BARLEY, CORN & BEAN CONTRACTS AVAILABLE FERTILIZER SUPPLIED WITH CONTRACTS CHECK OUR FERTILIZER, PRICES ON: 8-32- 16 13-52-0 6-24-24 18-46-0 5-20-1b Potash & Aero Prills Available: PATORAN, SUTAN And EPTAM With Contracts BEFORE YOU BUY - GIVE US A TRY W. G. Thompson & Sons Ltd. MENSAL!. PHONE 262-2527