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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-09-21, Page 1System to capacity if subdivisions develop Unless either the ministry of the environment or two out of town developers have a sudden change of heart there will be little housing growth taking place in the near future in Zurich. This was the message given at a meeting between council and Neil McMullen of the ministry's Sarnia branch in a meeting before the regular council meeting Thursday evening. The meeting which had been slated to be held at the village's sewage lagoon moved indoors following heavy rains was called to allow McMullen to explain negative comments which he had made over a subdivi- sion proposed by Mothgack Developments. McMullen told council that the Mothgack develop- ment which originally called for a commercial area and 35 lots reserved for housing would receive a negative reaction from his ministry since housing developments submitted by Sirotic Limited of Hamilton and R.J.T. Holdings of Waterloo would utilize the present sewage system to its ex- isting capacity. McMullen said the ex- isting sewer system is designed to serve 900 people and that the above two developments if filled to their designed capacity could cause Zurich's popula- tion to swell to just slightly over 1,000. McMullen told the Citizens News, "a commit- ment to the earlier developers (Sirotic and RJT) has been made.'; He added that he knew of little the municipality could do to force the developers to begin development of their properties. When questioned about the possibility of Zurich expan- ding its lagoon system so as to allow for more develop- ment, McMullen said as with most other government ministries the supply of money was extremely tight. Funds for sewage system expansion are allotted on a priority basis with municipalities having health or environmental problems acquiring a higher priority than towns or villages who require increased sewer capacity for -more develop- ment. According to McMullen the priorities are deter- mined on a province wide basis so Zurich would be competing with municipalities that have "some pretty horrendous problems." When asked if Zurich would receive higher priori- ty if they decided to con- tribute to the capital cost of expanding their system's capacity, he replied "no" but that the village would be eligible for a grant program operated by the ministry that would pay a portion of the total cost of expansion. At the meeting in a discus- sion about the various pros and cons of development for the village, Reeve Fred Haberer asked McMullen "Are you saying we'd be better off without development?" McMullen replied "You might be." Councillor Ray McKinnon asked if it was possible for the village to get the developers to pay for a por- tion of the cost of increased sewer capacity. McKinnon made mention of including such an agreement before the extension of a subdivi- sion draft plan is approved by the village, -- McMullen replied that he didn't know but Tee Cashmore senior engineer- ing technologist with the Kleinflelt group who was in attendance on another matter, said it was the - municipality's right to refuse the extension of a subdivision plan and that possibly the village could in- sert such a clause before the extension is granted. At the end of the meeting, McMullen said his ministry was willing to take another look at the plan submitted by Mothgack but cautioned it was the total number of lots in the village which his ministry was concerned about and not who developed them. During the regular meeting of council it was decided to see what the cost would be in adding an ad- ditional cell to the sewage lagoon so as to increase capacity, Haberer said he would contact C.A. McDowell, the original contractors of the lagoon to get an estimate of what a new cell might cost. NO. 38 FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1978 WANT TO BUY A CAR -- If you have $50,000 to spare Bob Hamather of Zurich and Eric Kints of Exeter can put you behind the wheel of this remanufactured Cadillac Seville Opera Coupe. The car is the only one of itg kind in Ontario. Staff photo Board to hire arena assistant Fee changes for A move by the Zurich Recreation, Parks and Com- munity Centre Board prompted considerable debate from council Thurs- day with one member objec- ting stenuously to one of the charges. In the minutes of the board, it had been decided that when the bar of the community was to be used, the group renting the facility must buy the soft drinks used as mix, from the com- munity centre at $1 per bot- tle. This raised the ire of coun- cillor Leroy Thiel who thought it was improper to Cha e fees for fire At the September meeting of the Zurich and Area Fire Board it was agreed to change rates charged to municipalities outside of the Zurich fire area. A charge of $50 per hour for the use of the tank truck will now be charged rather than the former rate of $90 per load of water. For use of the fire truck outside of the area, the charge will be $125 for the first hour and $100 per hour r'r each additional hour. charge for the use of the bar and kitchen when a fee of $100 had already been paid for the use of the hall. Thiel expressed dis- pleasure over the charging of a dollar per bottle for mix. McKinnon explained that the dollar fee was in reality a corkage charge which was the way most halls were operating these days. McKinnon added "We're in the community centre business and that's what the others are doing." Reeve Fred Haberer said he wasn't aware of the way things were done but that he would rather pay a flat rate for the use of the bar. McKinnon reported that the charge for use of the hall for non-social activities would be $10 per hour while ice rental rates would re- main at $22 and $25 per hour for minor hockey, figure skating and other uses, respectively. The rate being charged by the board were lower than most facilities in the area with the exceptions being for ice rental at Hensall, Seaforth and Clinton. At the board meeting, the minutes reported it was decided to hire an assistant for Jerry Rader during the winter months. allc uses debate A letter received from Bill Wagner and Phil Overholt objecting to a change in zon- ing for property owned by Mrs. Catherine Letts should be treated as an application for change and not as an ob- jection according to the head of the Huron County Planning department. Overholt and Wagner who live on the east side of Walnut street said that properties on their side of the street should be single family dwelling so as to con- form to a similar change proposed for the Letts property on the other side of street. Gary Davison of the plan- ning department said that when the zoning change is submitted to the Ontario Municipal Board the letter should be treated as an application change and not as an objection, In other business, council: Accepted the tender of Doug Erb Fuels for the supply of furnace fuel oil for municipality at a net price of 51.6 cents per gallon sub- ject to government price in- creases. Were informed there are still nine residents who have not paid for their dog tags. Rec ived a letter from J.G. ..nyder of North Bay asking their assistance in finding a hand operated bean slicing machine. Instructed the clerk - treasurer to prepare a bylaw naming the street into the proposed Parkside subdivi- sion of Mothgack Developments Parkside Avenue. Were informed by clerk - treasurer Sharon Baker that the village presently has $45,000 available under the Ontario Home Renewal Program. Filed a resolution from the town of Trenton asking for heavier penalities to help curb rising vandalism in municipalities. More projects Bob McKinley (MP Huron - Middlesex) has announced that in addition to the Canada Works projects announced on September two additional projects have been approved. The International Plowing Match Committee of Huron County has received a grant in the amount of $11,790.00 to assist in the clean up after the plowing match. The Town and Country Homemakers Home Help of Huron County has been awarded a grant in the amount of $33,683.00. Price Per Copy 20 Cents Local men to have dealer rights for car Tired of your present automobile with those slightly worn tires and rusting body? Tired of hearing the kids continually "yammering" in the back seat? Well, if you go see either Bob Hamather of Zurich or Eric Kints of Exeter they might have the solution to your problems providing you have $50,000. Kints and Hamather have just been appointed the sole Ontario dealer for the Cadillac Seville Opera Coupe manufactured by the Grandeur Motor Car Cor- poration of Pompano Beach, Florida. What the car is, is a modified version of the four door Cadillac Seville mini limousine which lists in the $15,000 range. This car is special because according to Kints only 200 of the cars will be manufac- tured. Although the car doesn't look all that different from the normal Seville, the chassis -has been shortened, the engine moved back and a body that is fiberglass to the rear wheel walls has been installed. Kints says he became aware of the cars through his dealings as owner of Huron Produce Limited which has extensive dealings in the United States. The only other dealer for the cars in North America is in Detroit where they picked this car up this past Sunday. He said they expect their major markets to be Toronto and London and according to Kints have already received firm offers for two cars. He said this year's model will be available as soon as the 1979 Sevilles start rolling off the assembly line. Although the initial price may seem steep the cars should appreciate in value with an example being sold in California recently for several thousand dollars more than what he paid for, Kints said. One of the advantages of this model as compared to a similar priced foreign manufactured speciality car is that this automobile can be serviced by any General Motors dealer. So if you want something original (Kints says he knows of no other such cars in Ontario) with eight coats of silver metallic paint and don't mind selling either your house or the back forty, this could be the automojile for you. Hensall sewers cost 0, 000 Hensall ratepayers could be faced with an increase of between 14 and 15 mills in next taxes as the village is going to proceed with in- stallation of storm sewers for the portion of the com- munity, east of the Canadian National Railway tracks. Reeve Harold Knight said that the project could cost in the neighborhood of $500,000 with the village's share- being harebeing $300,000. In terms of dollar cost to the ratepayer, the increase over this year's tax bill could be about $35. Knight said the storm sewer project "has been in the works" for about ten years and it is something which the village has needed. He said several agreements in which the storm sewer drain will pass through have been signed. The contract on the job will be let on October 2, Knight said. In another matter, Knight said that council has sent a counter proposal to Conestoga Engineers Limited, the consulting engineers for the Reid subdivision with regards to a water study for the village. At last week's council meeting, Conestoga had proposed that the village pay 75 percent of the cost study to determine if there would be enough water pressure for the village if the Reid sub- division went ahead. Council took no action on the matter at the meeting and held off their official reaction to the proposal until Monday night.