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The Times Advocate, 2006-11-15, Page 3Wednesday, November 15, 2006 TIMES -ADVOCATE 3 Record attendance — The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) Night Hike and Owl Prowl Nov.4 drew 170 people to the event, more than doubling previous events. Children and adults enjoyed good weather, a mug of hot chocolate and a nighttime walk in the woods.They also heard three Eastern screech owls which flew overhead, responding to an owl call played on a compact disc.Above from left are ABCA conservation edu- cation specialist Julie Hicks,Troy, Steve and Jeannette Stellingwerff and Penny Christie and John DeYoung. (photo/submitted) Flood project for east end of Exeter By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON — The munici- pality is moving closer towards a project designed to combat the flooding problems in the eastern part of Exeter. A committee of South Huron councillors consisting of Pete Armstrong, George Robertson, Ken Oke and Harvey Ratz has been working with three property owners east of Eastern Avenue (the Hamather, Dow and McBride families) to develop a flood control project on their properties. After seven months of negotia- tions, "All three property owners are on stream," Armstrong said. The proposal, which Armstrong said should cost in the neighbour- hood of $800,000, would see a four -foot diameter drain start north of Huron Street east and collect the water from a drain located behind the Huron Street east houses. The drain will travel north to Sanders Street, with catch basins along the way to col- lect surface water. From Sanders Street north to the boundary of Ironwood Golf Course, the drain will be under the road allowance of a 34 acre proposed subdivision from property owner Bob Hamather. The drain will then go north to the Ausable River, where it will outlet. The diameter decreases in size along the way as the drain slopes down towards the river. This project to serve the eastern portion of town comes about a year after the municipality com- pleted a flood control project for the south end of town. That pro- ject saw a large 'dry pond' dug south of Huron Street east to hold up to 32,000 cubic metres of water during a flood. Both flood control projects will be paid for by the Exeter Community Development Fund (the former Exeter hydro money). Armstrong said he's happy with the success of the project at the south end of town and said it has proven that it will hold large amounts of water during storms and thaws. "It works extremely well and we anticipate (the new project) doing the same." Because private land is involved, the municipality had to negotiate with the involved property own- ers. Payments to the McBrides and Dows (Manx Developments) will be based on financial settle- ments, while the Exeter Community Development Fund will pay $26,420 for a compre- hensive growth review to see if the 34 -acre Hamather subdivision proposal can go ahead. That report will take four months to complete. Armstrong said the project offers an opportunity not only to resolve the flood issues at the east end of town, but also to pursue potential residential growth through the subdivision proposal. If the subdivision doesn't go ahead, the drain will still go ahead along the Exeter-Usborne boundary line, Armstrong said. He added there will be "big sav- ings" if the drain and subdivision start construction at the same time, since the flood control drain and sewer and water pipes for the subdivision can all go in at once. The municipality has initiated the Drainage Act that allows South Huron to proceed if there are any breakdowns in negotia- tions between the partners. Armstrong said he anticipates the new South Huron council will honour the arrangements the flood control committee has made with the property owners. Missing woman found safe EXETER — A missing Exeter woman was found unhurt last week a day after OPP asked for the pub- lic's help in locating her. As reported in last weeks Times - Advocate, Wendy Gayle James, 39, of Edward Street was reported missing by her family Nov. 5 after they had not heard from her for a week. Police reported they found James in London's north end. George Robertson wins close race By Scott Nixon voters that they would recognize the hard TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF work he did. Robertson said it was a good campaign and SOUTH HURON — It was a close race as the outcome couldn't be predicted. He added soon as numbers started being released there were good South Huron candidates who Monday night, but in the end Exeter's George went down to defeat Monday night. Robertson was chosen as the municipality's Robertson said the new South Huron council new deputy mayor. features a "good mix" of people, with some Robertson received 1,616 votes, a relatively new councillors and some with experience. slim victory over Crediton's Drew One of Robertson's priorities will be Robertson, who received 1,444 :", county council. He said South votes. Crediton's Wally . Huron needs a stronger voice at the Fydenchuk came in third with 1 6 : ` county level. 863 votes. Drew Robertson He said big issues in the new term received the most votes in the Stephen and will be the Exeter water pipeline project and Usborne wards, with 718 and 249 votes, the Crediton/Centralia sewer project. He said respectively, but George Robertson won with South Huron will continue to work on a mas- his 1,078 votes in the Exeter ward. ter plan for its water system and landfill site George Robertson said he felt great after the so the future will be looked after. victory and admitted it was hard to put his "It's up to us to maintain it." feelings into words. He said he had faith in the Frayne beats McMaster in Usborne By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON — With Ken Oke moving to the mayor's position, the Usborne ward has a new representa- tive on South Huron council, with David Frayne's big win over Hugh McMaster. Frayne defeated McMaster with 491 votes compared to McMaster's 79. Frayne said he was happy with the win and didn't assume anything going into Monday's election. He said he was a little surprised at the numbers, but admitted his name is well known in the area. Frayne said he is looking forward to his first council meeting Dec. 4 and said there will be a learning curve. This was the first election for both Frayne and McMaster. Frayne said he will work with everybody for the benefit of the municipality and, with a longer four-year term, council should be able to make accomplishments. He said he wanted to run for council before and now has the time for the job. McMaster said Frayne will do a good job on council. Asked what his reaction to the results was, he said, "You had to live here for three gen- erations and promise to die here," he said, but added the campaign was a positive experience for him because he met a lot of people and can grow from it. McMaster, who owns the Ranch House Inn, said he still thinks there should be a busi- ness person on council, but added the new council will do well. Surprises in Lambton Shores election LAMBTON SHORES — After 15 years in pol- itics Cam Ivey decided this election not to run and says he has no doubt the new council will work in a professional manner and will let staff run the business while they set the poli- cies. The new mayor is former ward five Coun. Gord Minielly. He ended on top with 4,042 votes with new candidate Jeff Krpan ending with 1,113 votes. Again Deputy Mayor Carolyn Jamieson came out a winner with 3,041 votes to new candidate Elizabeth Davis's 2,155. Ward one brought two new faces. After 12 years in politics Shirley Andraza decided not to run. John Dehondt won this race with 482 votes and Brenda Farhat stepped up to the plate and ended with 252 votes. Neither has political experience but had a "clean up Grand Bend" platform. Ward two candidates incumbent Bill Weber won with 623 votes and new candidate Steve Clemens ended up with 212. Weber was reeve of the former Stephen Township and then ward two councilor for Lambton Shores. Ward three candidates were incumbent Mark Simpson who has been councillor for this ward for the past six years and had aspi- rations to run in the provincial election in 2007 but decided to stay at the municipal level. He won this election with 660 votes to Bess Sniderhan's 334. Sniderhan was a coun- cillor with the former Bosanquet council and ran in the last 2003 Lambton Shores race. Ward four was acclaimed by Ruth Illman Ward five has three new faces: Gerry Rupke Jim Hansen and Bill Ritchie. Hansen has run but not succeeded twice before. He has attended every regular and special council meeting. Ritchie ran for mayor in the 2003 Lambton Shores race. Garry Rupke is new to the scene and has no political background but won this race with 362 votes. Hansen ended with 241 and Ritchie 164. Ward six is acclaimed by Ken Evans. Ward seven is made up of incumbent candi- date Jeff Zavitz who has been councillor of the ward for the past six years and was on Thedford council before that. Running against him in this election was Ted Boere who was a municipal employee for many years. This race was the tightest with Zavitz winning at 365 votes and Boere with 348. With there only being 17 votes between the two, Boere intends to ask for a recount. — with files from the Lakeshore Advance Help out the Christmas Bureau By Susan Hundertmark SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE EXETER — The Huron County Christmas Bureau will get a boost next week as com- munity newspapers across the county take part in the Christmas bag program for the ninth year. In next week's Times -Advocate, sub- scribers will find a brown paper bag spon- sored by the newspaper and several busi- nesses and industries. Printed on the bag, along with sponsor information, are details of where each of the county bureaus are located and the times that gifts and food can be dropped off. It also provides information for people who may need help this Christmas on how to reach the bureau and register. Each year, the bureau collects food and gifts that assist more than 1,000 children and their families across the county. The Christmas Bureau served 977 children and their families in 2005, 110 fewer chil- dren than the year before. Numbers had been rising since 2000. In Exeter, the number of children using the service dropped by 17 down to 258 in total with 131 families. Poverty statistics in Huron County, accord- ing to 2001 statistics show that 645 families in Huron County earn less than $10,000 a year with another 1,420 families with annu- al incomes of less than $20,000. They also show 2,665 children under age 18 living in low income households, 1,580 of them being raised by single parents. This year, Christmas bureaus are located at Exeter United Church, First Presbyterian Church in Seaforth, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Clinton, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Goderich and Wingham United Church in Wingham.