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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-01-12, Page 1NO, 2 FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS Residents won't budge THURSDAY,January 12, 1978, Price Per Copy 20 Cents Council 100 percent behind reeve Oakwood doesn't want Grand Bend "I have no intention of becoming involved with the village of Grand Bend any further than I am now, I just refuse." stated long-time resident of Oakwood, David Jackson at a public meeting sponsored, by the village of Grand Bend. The meeting held Friday evening in the village town hall, was attended by about 35 people from Oakwood, Grand Bend and the surrounding townships and was billed as low key affair designed to gauge the residents of Oakwood opinion about the boundary realignments which the village has proposed. In his opening remarks to the audience, Councillor Harold Green stated that "council is 100 percent in favor of annexation and that it just isn't Bob Sharers who wants the changes." Green turned the meeting over to the chairman for the evening Tom Crossman, head of Crossman and Associates, a management consultation firm. Several letters voicing opposition to Grand Bend's proposal were read by Sharen with one letter stating that "the benefits of joining Grand Bend are illusory." John Cram representing VISITORS FROM ABROAD — Members of a Copenhagen, Denmark bantam hockey team visited Zurich on Wednesday. Presenting a key holder to the Captain of the Danish team is Reeve Fred Haberer of Zurich. Staff photo Building fee to increase for Hay construction At the first meeting of the year, Hay township council decided to increase the fee charged for building per- mit& On the first $1,000 spent, the fee was increased from $10 to $20, while $1 will be charged for each ad- ditional $1000. Council authorized the road superintendent to advertise tenders for supply- ing, loading and spreading of approximately 22,000 cubic yards of crushed gravel on township roads. Tenders are to close on June 9. • In other council news: Claire Deichert was ap- pointed as Hay's represen- tath a on the Dashwood Community Centre Board and the Dashwood Recrea- tion Board for the year 1978. Several appointments to area fire boards were made; Exeter - Jack Tinney, Hen- sall - Lloyd Mousseau, Zurich - Lionel Wilder, Donald Geiger. The fence viewer for 1978 will be Lloyd Campbell. Clerk -treasurer Joan Ducharme was authorized to make application to the ministry of transportation and communications for the final payment of the subsidy on 1977 road expenditures. The authorization of a bylaw that allowed the borrowing up to $175,000 from the Zurich branch of• the Bank of Montreal for emergency expenditures, was passed. The next meeting of Hay council will be held February 1. Danes visit Zurich Wed. morning A hockey team with an in- ternational flavour arrived on Wednesday to savour life for a few hours, in a rural Ontario setting. The Copenhagen bantams from Denmark stopped in Zurich on their way to tour the Bruce nuclear power plant at Douglas Point and play a game in Chesley. Arriving in Canada on Boxing Day, the team which consists of bantams selected from the cities of Copenhagen and Jutland, had participated in games in Point Edward, Arthur, Dresden and Thedford .prior to their Zurich visit. According to Frede Lund, an official with the Danish Ice Hockey Federation who is accompanying the team, the players who come from 10 different clubs, were selected for their character and hockey skill. The captain of the team, Claus Weinrech Muller said that the players were enjoy- ing their stay in Canada. In his remarks to the team, Reeve Fred Haberer of Zurich said that he would like to see international hockey played in Zurich, Wishing the squad an en- joyable stay in Canada, the reeve added in jest "I hope that you. won't win all your games on the tour." Haberer presented each member of the team, a key case with the crest of Zurich emblazoned across it. the Oakwood Owner's Association stated that the members of the association were firmly opposed to the annexation of their area and presented a brief to that effect. The Oakwood presentation which took up most of the evening, was based on a letter which the village had sent to the residents of Oak-' wood and residences on Highway 21 north, about three weeks ago outlining the benefits of a larger Grand Bend. Cram stated that Oakwood Park has been well kept and that "We have not been unduly demanding of ser- vices (from Stephen)... We strongly oppose any efforts by the village of Grand Bend to annex." The council letter said that taxes paid locally would be used to increase the value of taxpayer's property rather than being spent on areas fifteen miles away. The owner's association refuted this, saying that the cost of servicing would be more than the revenues and that the long term benefit to the residents of Grand Bend had not been established. On the question of in- creased ease of com- munication with the municipal office, Cram said that he doubted if more than 10 percent of the residents would have any dealings with the muncipal office and that when problems have arisen "Stephen has been just great." A prolonged discussion on the validity of using the mill rate as a means for com- parison of taxes took place between Cram and Reeve Sharen. A chart provided by the village showed that the mill rate in Grand Bend, over a seven year period, has in- creased 36 percent while for the same period in Bosanquet and Stephen tdwnships, the increases have been 86 percent and 54 percent. Based on an assessment. of $2500, taxes in Bosanquet would be $372.50, Grand Bend residents would pay $367.50 and Stephen taxpayers would hand over $300 with mill rates of 149, 147 and 120 respectively. Sharon stated that a comparison of mill rates for tax purposes is valid providing that the assessment is the same. Spokesman Cram disagreed, stating that equal assessment for all areas does not occur. While agreeing with this, Sharen said that the moves }by the provincial govern- ment towards market value assessment should help to alleviate the inequities which presently exist. Disputing the point that "Services would be better utilized and more equitably paid for by the users," as stated in the letter, the Oak- wood resident said that his group is satisfied with the level of services which it has. In answer to another question, the London lawyer made it clear that Oakwood considers itself to be an urban community only in the summer months and that its problems would not necessarily be dealt with best by an urban com- munity. The Grand Bend letter claimed that a larger municipality would have more "clout at the senior levels." "We have no complaints about clout with the senior levels of government," Cram stated and added "There is no reason for having power for power's sake." Sharen said that an over- riding theme that the Oak- wood residents have ex- pressed is the maintenance of their privacy. As stated in the letter, Sharen went on, formal agreements between Oak- wood Park, Southcott Pines and Beach O'Pings and the village should be made to ensure the recognition of positions. Once again Cram was in disagreement saying that if a council changes, it may decide to invalidate the agreement that was made by the previous council. A member of village council countered this by asking if the owner's association changes it's executive on a consistent basis which would mean that both parties would be on the same level. Cram answered in the affirmative to the question. The Oakwood residents expressed concern that if they did join Grand Bend, they would be forced to hook up to the sewer system with pressure eminating from government sources outside of Grand Bend such as the ministry of health or ministry of the environment. Cram questioned the need for sewers in Oakwood. Following Mr. Cram's presentation, two residents of Oakwood made comments pertaining to the proposed annexation. Philip Walker, son of the original developer of Oak- wood, said that the move of Oakwood into Grand tend would mean that county jurisdiction over the area would switch from Lambton to Huron. Walker said that "Huron may be a preferable place to live in." He expressed concern that the hydro rates for Oakwood Please turn to Page 2 A SHOT ON NET -- Midway through the second period this unidentified member of the Zurich bantams fired a hard shot on the Huron Park netminder. Zurich went on to trounce their Huron Park counter- parts. Staff photo.