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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-09-08, Page 1(519)235-1115 www.hurontractor.com jirc]cp l JAlic)? a a?ich a ( 1'3 ov f : A TIMES -ADVOCATE Exeter, Ontario, Canada Wednesday,September 8, 2004 x.25 (includes GST) fELCOW% BACK CKQ, Students disembark and head in for the first day of school at Precious Blood School Tuesday. (photo/PatBolen) Council debates spraying poli By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF VARNA — Despite intense debate at the last council meeting Aug 30, Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson says council is working well. "It's working and it will work and we just have to work our way through the rough edges ... It just takes time." The debate was sparked over weeds sprayed on municipal proper- ty Aug. 16 in contravention of a res- olution passed by Bluewater council not to apply pesticide on municipal property except for health and safe- ty reasons. Dowson said he had been contact- ed by Cam Steckle earlier in the summer as to whether spraying could be done to control ragweed Zurich Rec Facility. After checking Dowson told him it was against the resolution. Dowson said he received a phone call Aug. 16 telling him the weeds had been sprayed. "It turned out three councillors were chatting. ... They made the decision to spray. And that was what had me so worked up. It would have been quite easy to cultivate them." Dowson said he felt he had no choice but to bring it to council. "I could have handled it a little dif- ferent, but after a while you get tired of ... covering up. I know there will be people who think I shouldn't have done it but I felt in my position I had to because it came to my attention by the public." Dowson raised the issue at the council meeting, and asked if the site could not have been controlled with methods other than spraying Coun. Jim Fergusson, one of the three who recommended the spray- ing, along with councillors Joshua McClinchey and Marg Deichert, said the three councillors had been attending a meeting at the Zurich Rec Facility. They were asked by facilities man- ager Tom Dickens about spraying weeds around the facility. Fergusson said he identified a sig- nificant amount of ragweed around the arena. Since it is considered a noxious weed under the Weed Control Act RSO W.5 and a health concern, he recommended to Dickens a herbi- cide application to destroy the rag- weed. "I found enough ragweed to pre- sent a health concern due to allergic reaction ... We are inviting people to a public building and I stand behind that decision." McClinchey said he was looking at an acre of ragweed that is consid- ered a noxious weed, "I don't think we are outside our bylaw at all." Clerk Administrator Janisse Zimmerman said it was a matter of process. "We haven't defined health and safety and it should have been brought to council." Deputy Mayor Paul Klopp agreed the decision should have been made by the council. "You have to take the time to tell someone. We have to remember it has to come to council." Dowson added, "I try to be fair and honest and this wasn't handled properly. We could have cultivated it out and not sprayed it. The easiest weed to cultivate out is ragweed. We didn't need to contravene our rule." McClinchey asked "what do we have managers for if they can't make decisions?" After a request from Deichert that the resolution be rescinded and clarified, it was decided to defer any action. Fergusson said the resolution is left open to interpretation and it should be reworded to make it clear to all. McClinchey said he would also like to see the wording changed. "When there is a gray area on these sort of things, we need to iron out the wording ... if you read the resolution it's really vague." Despite the debate, Dowson said council has worked together well since the election. "The problem is, and I was likely the same when I started, the new councilors come in and they don't understand the importance of bylaws and rules." Dowson said whether the resolu- tion would be taken back to be clari- fied would be up to council. See COUNCIL page 2 Premium Pork in receivership By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF LUCAN — Lucan's Premium Pork Canada has gone into receivership. The company, founded in 1997, was one of Ontario's largest hog operations. KPMG has been appointed receiver for the central portion of the company, which includes the headquarters north of Lucan and half the company's livestock operations. Company chief executive Herman Lansink could not be reached for comment before the Times -Advocate went to press, but Lucan Biddulph Mayor Tom McLaughlin said he was disappointed to hear the news. A KPMG partner was quoted last week in "The London Free Press" as saying it's business as usual for now and the company plans to sell its portion. McLaughlin said Premium Pork is one of the biggest employers in the municipality and had several farms in Lucan Biddulph plus the head office. "I had heard some rumours that there were some diffi- culties there, but until it actually happens you're still hoping that it will remain viable." McLaughlin said the collapse of Premium Pork will have an impact on Lucan Biddulph as the company's properties had a large assessment. In addition, he said Premium Pork was also good with charities and spon- soring local sports teams. "That will be missed," McLaughlin said. He added he hopes Premium Pork's properties can be sold off as one entity, but he doesn't know if that is prac- tical. There were also many local investors in the company, McLaughlin said. "Obviously it hurts the community ... when people lose their investments." McLaughlin explained the farming industry as a whole has had a tough time over the last year. Premium Pork Canada, with its headquarters just north of Lucan on Hwy. 4, has gone into receivership. Lucan Biddulph Mayor Tom McLaughlin said the com- pany was one of the municipality's largest employers. (photo/Scott Nixon) Man killed in accident BLUEWATER — A 41 - year -old Bluewater man was killed after the sprayer boom he was operating touched power lines. Dan Beeler was killed in the accident Saturday. Huron OPP arrived on the scene and discovered that Beeler was on his rented property just off the Goshen Line south of Zurich. In the process of lower- ing one of his 14 -metre high sprayer booms, one of them touched 16,000 volt power lines. The sprayer unit caught fire, Beeler jumped off his trac- tor to investigate and was electrocuted. Hydro One was contact- ed and the hydro turned off. Emergency personnel attempted to revive Beeler but were unable to. The Ministry of Labour and the Farmers Safety Board have been contact- ed and will investigate fur- ther.