The Times Advocate, 2004-04-21, Page 22
Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday,April 21, 2004
Regional
wrap up
Salt decision
GODERICH — Calling
it a small victory,
Goderich Mayor Deb
Shewfelt praised the
federal government's
decision to implement a
code of practice for the
use of road salt.
The Goderich Signal -
Star reported while the
decision doesn't
remove the threat of
having road salt
placed on the toxic
substance list in the
future, many feel the
new plan will help pro-
tect the environment
while keeping
Canadian roads safe in
the winter.
Tourism
SEAFORTH — As
part of a Huron -Perth
tourism project to
lure Stratford tourists
into the countryside,
William Shakespeare
could be driving down
Seaforth's Main Street
and lunching at the
Van Egmond House in
mid-May.
The Huron Expositor
reported the
Shakespeare to the
Shoreline project
began when a partner-
ship of the Huron
Tourism Association,
Huron County,
Tourism Goderich,
Tourism Stratford and
the Perth County
Visitor's Association
applied for a grant of
$47,000 from the
SARS Recovery
Package offered by the
province.
Wind farms
CLINTON — 22
Degree Energy Corp. is
banking on the notion
the Municipality of
Central Huron has a
lot of creative energy
— of the wind variety,
that is.
The Clinton News -
Record reported
Jennifer Lugtigheid,
business development
manager, reports the
Toronto-based corpo-
ration is currently
actively attempting to
recruit landowners
interested in leasing
out acreage to allow
for the installation of
100 to 130 wind tur-
bines.
South Huron passes 2004 budget
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
SOUTH HURON — It's official — South
Huron council passed the 2004 municipal
budget Monday night in a recorded vote.
The budget calls for South Huron to collect
$3,555,000 in taxes, an increase of 6.72 per
cent over last year's budget. Included in the
budget is operational spending of $4.75 mil-
lion and capital spending of $1.66 million. On
residential properties assessed at $100,000,
the budget represents a $4.08 increase in
taxes in the Usborne and Stephen wards and
a $1.37 increase in Exeter. Assessment, which
used to be done by the province every four
years, is now done annually.
Coun. Harvey Ratz, the only member of
council to vote against the budget, called for
the recorded vote because he said he is
unhappy with the roads capital budget and
how work will be split among the wards. He
said Stephen "got nothing" for roads in the
budget.
He also wondered what happened to the
five-year projection normally done every year
since amalgamation.
"As it seems I am unable to get any answers,
I will be calling for a recorded vote," Ratz said.
Coun. Ken Oke voted in favour of the budget.
While he said he isn't happy with it, "it's as
fair as you're going to get." He said there are
only so many dollars to go around and the
budget is fair overall.
Another person unhappy with the budget
was Robert Pertschy of Parr Line, who said it
seems like the rural areas are paying taxes for
services in Exeter.
"We're paying, Exeter is receiving," he said.
"Collect the taxes fairly or deliver the ser-
vices fairly," he said, explaining he notices
roads in Exeter are plowed earlier than where
he lives.
Mayor Rob Morley explained taxes are
based on assessment and the assessment on
rural land has gone up in "ridiculous" propor-
tions in the last few years.
Chief administrative officer Larry Brown
said one way the municipality has tried to
ensure taxes are collected fairly is the decision
to area rate policing — since Exeter receives
more policing, it pays 55 per cent of the costs,
compared to 45 per cent from the townships.
Other council notes:
Intersection update
The re -construction of the Hwy. 4/83 inter-
section could start as early as next week,
Morley said Monday night. He said a meeting
was planned for this week and the project's
completion date is June 18.
EBA budget passes
Council also accepted a $44,000 budget for
the Exeter Business Association. The money
will be collected from Main Street businesses
in Exeter and is the same collected as last
year. The budget includes $23,500 for beauti-
fication, $20,000 for promotion and $500 for
administration.
Stoop and scoop
In an effort to keep public property in the
municipality clean, South Huron gave staff the
go-ahead to buy 30 "Stoop and Scoop" signs
as a reminder for residents to pick up after
their dogs. The signs cost $27.02 each and will
be placed throughout the municipality.
Bylaws already require dogs to be leashed in
public areas and for owners to clean up after
their dogs. In the same discussion, council
rescinded an old Town of Exeter bylaw which
restricted dogs from parks.
Oke said the signs are a "very good idea,"
while Morley said he has heard requests for
them in the past.
Cruise ships coming to Goderich
By Pat Bolen
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
VARNA — Bluewater
council heard a plan to
bring tourist dollars to
Huron County from cruise
ships visiting Goderich.
Judy Crawford, presi-
dent of Inbound Ontario
and Bob Marshall, manag-
er of tourism Goderich
were at the council meet-
ing Monday night.
They briefed council on
Cruising Ontario's West
Coast (COWC), which is a
committee created to con-
vince passenger ships to
visit the Port of Goderich
and have their passengers
experience the surround-
ing area.
Crawford said COWC
was established in
November when Goderich
joined the Great Lakes
Cruising Coalition.
COWC is made up of
representatives of area
business, tourism and gov-
ernment including Clinton,
Exeter, Bayfield and
Goderich.
According to Crawford,
there is one cruise ship,
The Nantucket Clipper,
scheduled to dock at the
Port of Goderich this sum-
mer five times between
July 4 and Aug. 22.
With an average capaci-
ty of 100 passengers who
will spend between 6-8
hours in port and $100,
along with 35 crewman
spending $50, each ship
represents just under
$12,000 per visit and
$58,750 for the 2004 sea-
son.
There are 35 ships
worldwide capable of
operating on the Great
Lakes, of which eight are
operating there presently.
Crawford said COWC is
looking at a three year
plan to increase passenger
ship traffic to 68 visits to
Goderich which would
bring in estimated rev-
enue of $638,400.
Crawford used the
example of Little Current,
which with a population of
1,550, will have four ships
visiting 21 times this year,
creating a revenue stream
of $246,750.
As well as tourist facili-
ties, Crawford said the
ships would require ser-
vices while in port which
would be another oppor-
tunity for additional rev-
enue to the community
and the county.
Asked what she was
requesting of council,
Crawford said, "we are
looking for you to sponsor
the program."
Crawford said COWC
would be creating a ship
requirement form that
would be delivered to vis-
iting ships with the names
of participating businesses
included and the services
they provide as well as
shore excursions.
Saying it was important
everyone involved finan-
cially support the pro-
gram, Crawford added,
Water safe after power failure
Continued from front page
tests, the municipality already knew
everything was OK.
Other council notes:
Pipeline update
While South Huron has already
decided to upgrade its water supply
system with a $12 million pipeline
from Lake Huron, those numbers
could change if Bluewater and
Huron East want the project extend-
ed to Hensall and Seaforth.
Steve Burns, president of engi-
neering firm B.M. Ross, said the
two-year long term water supply
study is almost finished, although
there are some loose ends to finish
up, such as buying land for the nec-
essary pumping station for the pro-
ject.
He said it would be an economic
advantage for South Huron if
Bluewater and Huron East decided
to partner in the project. While there
is a possibility of a 50 per cent feder-
al grant for the project, Burns said it
may not be financially feasible for
the other municipalities to get
involved.
While South Huron is supposed to
upgrade its water system by the end
of this year, Burns mentioned the
possibility of a year-long delay in
waiting for Bluewater and Huron
East to decide whether or not to join.
The size of the pipeline will be deter-
mined by their involvement.
Coun. Pete Armstrong said South
Huron needs to stay on schedule and
it's up to Bluewater and Huron East
to meet South Huron's timeline.
Burns said a meeting with the
Ministry of the Environment and the
health unit will determine if those
bodies will allow South Huron to
delay the project for a year.
"They may say no," he said.
"the more we can offer,
the better chance they will
return."
Marshall said while they
couldn't guarantee pas-
sengers would come to
every municipality, "we'll
work our hardest to
ensure they do."
With $1,000 already
marked to support the
program in the budget,
councillors were in favour
of continuing to support it.
Mayor Bill Dowson
thanked Crawford and
Marshall for their presen-
tation.
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