HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-11-22, Page 22
Times–Advocate
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Lucan Biddulph voter turnout "horrible"
By Nina Van Lieshout
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
LUCAN BIDDULPH — The voter
turnout for the municipal election Nov.
13 was discussed Monday night at
Lucan Biddulph council.
The turnout was "horrible," accord-
ing to Lucan Biddulph Township clerk -
administrator Ron Reymer.
Only 12.1 per cent of about 3,400
people eligible to vote actually voted.
Reymer says one reason for the low
turnout is because all positions in the
municipality were acclaimed with the
exception of the Ward 3 Granton and
area spot.
Winning the position was Alex
Westman, receiving 152 votes com-
pared to incumbent Doug Anderson
with 115 votes.
He also says because another by-
election is happening in North London,
this has taken some of the focus off of
the Lucan Biddulph election.
Reymer says the number of voters is
kind of disappointing and is asking
council to consider changing the voting
process for the next municipal elec-
tion, possibly by voting through the
internet.
Reymer says if the voting process
does change and if it becomes more
expensive he would like to see a "dras-
tic improvement."
A public meeting will be held Dec. 4,
swearing in Westman as the new Ward
3 councillor.
Connecting Link update
The Connecting Link project on the
Main Street of Lucan is expected to fin-
ish up in about two weeks, according
to public works manager Steve
McAuley.
McAuley says the rest of the paving,
which is just some extra asphalt,
should have been done yesterday
(Tuesday).
Updated South Huron
election results
SOUTH HURON — There are small changes in the
numbers from last week's South Huron municipal elec-
tion.
Figures released by the municipality to the Times -
Advocate Monday night changed slightly after the paper
went to print.
While numbers changed, the winners remained the
same.
Following are the final election results: Ken Oke defeat-
ed Dean Ducharme in the race for mayor, receiving
2,939 votes, compared to Ducharme's 1,132.
In the race for deputy mayor, George Robertson was
victorious with 1,673 votes, beating Drew Robertson
(1,491) and Wally Fydenchuk (892).
In the Stephen ward, Jim Dietrich (1,044) and Tom
Tomes (745) won council seats, defeating Dianne
Faubert (490), Crystal Varley (342) and Vlado Bjelis (66).
In the Exeter ward, Pete Armstrong (1,262) and Cathy
Seip (903) will sit on the new council. Going down to
defeat were Wayne DeLuca (879) and Leroy Hoffman
(617).
In the Usborne ward, David Frayne (491) defeated
Hugh McMaster (79).
Voter turnout in South Huron's municipal election was
an impressive 56.5 per cent, according to figures provid-
ed by municipal clerk and election returning officer
Sandra Strang.
As has been reported, there were concerns about the
number of rejected ballots South Huron had been receiv-
ing in the vote by mail election, due to improperly com-
pleted declaration forms.
In the end, 573 of the 4,703 ballots had to be rejected.
Since council decided recently to accept ballots that
included the signed declaration in the wrong envelope,
Strang said the resulting number of rejected ballots was-
n't as high as was originally feared.
REGIONAL WRAP UP
Officer dies after crash
HURON — The Huron County community is mourn-
ing an OPP officer who died almost one month after
sustaining injuries in an on -duty car crash Oct. 14,
according to The Citizen.
Const. Dave Mounsey was responding to another
collision when his cruiser, on a slushy road became
uncontrollable, striking a hydro pole.
Mounsey was airlifted to London with critical
injuries. He died the morning of Nov. 13.
Mounsey was an OPP officer for eight years and
highly respected among his peers by both his dedica-
tion as an officer and his personality.
Mounsey, among many things, had served in the
British Royal Air Force and was a member of the Blyth
Fire Department.
His funeral was Friday in Wingham.
Local pilot celebrates
GODERICH — A Goderich pilot was honoured recently
at the monthly Canadian Owners and Pilot Association
(COPA) Flight 45 meeting, according to the Goderich
Signal -Star.
It was an evening of celebration as many of Gus
Chisholm's friends gathered in the downstairs gallery
of Sky Harbour Airport and Museum to recognize his
80th birthday and 61 years of flying.
He also said there was still a "Bell
manhole issue" to be worked out and
that he is going to "talk to them about
their position." McAuley says if possi-
ble he wants to pave over the manhole,
as done with the other manholes on
Main Street but is in the midst of work-
ing with Bell on a solution, as they do
not want the manhole covered.
Radcliffe street names
Lucan Biddulph council passed a
motion Monday night to accept
Radcliffe Crescent and Watson Street
as new street names in the Radcliffe
subdivision in Lucan.
Santa Claus Parade
The Lucan Santa Claus parade is Dec.
2, beginning at 6 p.m., travelling
through the Main Street of Lucan.
Loyens subdivision
There was further discussion but no
decisions made on the proposed
Loyens subdivision in Lucan.
Council vets
leaving
Continued from front page
members (of council) I didn't
agree with."
Municipal staff also thanked
the councillors for their work.
Deputy clerk Laurie Dykstra said
it has been a thrill to work with
Morley, Urlin and Ratz.
"It's been a really good experi-
ence working with you guys,"
she said.
Chief administrative officer
Larry Brown complimented the
outgoing council for making
good decisions — "that's what
it's all about," he said.
"I congratulate this council and
I'm sure the next council will be
as astute."
Clerk Sandra Strang echoed
Dykstra's thoughts and wished
the councillors well.
Morley noted the South Huron
ratepayers must have been
happy with council's work
because the incumbents were
re-elected in last week's elec-
tion.
The outgoing council has one
meeting left — Monday night's
communications meeting, while
the new council is sworn in Dec.
4.
Bluewater
turnout high
VARNA — A total of just over 50
per cent of eligible voters in
Bluewater cast their ballot in last
week's municipal election,
although with a total of 619
spoiled ballots, the percentage of
eligible votes was 45.1 per cent.
A total of 4,771 ballots were
received out of a total of 9,205
electors in Bluewater with 619
ballots spoiled. Of the spoiled bal-
lots, said clerk -administrator
Janisse Zimmerman, 496 were
rejected because of declarations
not being returned.
Another 66 were received with
declarations not being signed and
35 were received from Canada
Post Nov. 14 that Zimmerman
said appeared to have been
mailed Nov. 9.
Commendation — Outgoing South Huron Deputy Mayor Dave Urlin,
left, received a surprise at Monday night's council meeting as Ray Hurd,
right, the past chairperson of Road Watch Huron, paid tribute to Urlin
for being with Road Watch since its inception.Work on Road Watch
started in 2001 and was officially launched in 2002, promoting road safe-
ty through education, awareness and enforcement. Hurd complimented
Urlin for his "untiring efforts" at the municipal and county levels."Our
applause goes to you," Hurd said, adding Urlin will be receiving a letter
of commendation."You've done a marvellous job for us." (photo/Scott
Nixon)
Crediton property owner gets another chance
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
SOUTH HURON — As one of its
final acts Monday night, the outgo-
ing South Huron council, spear-
headed by Deputy Mayor Dave
Urlin, showed some heart.
The municipality was about to
declare surplus a Crediton property
at 4 Victoria Ave. E., and put it up
for auction after the former owner,
Danny Thomas fell into tax arrears
for three years and lost the proper-
ty. The property fell into the munic-
ipality's hands after it wasn't sold
during a recent tax sale process.
Thomas owed $5,894.10 in prop-
erty taxes on the site, the former
Bank of Montreal in Crediton.
While the municipality was pre-
pared to go ahead and sell the
property by public auction, a plea
by Thomas, supported by Urlin,
convinced council to give him three
weeks to pay his taxes to regain his
property.
Thomas said he paid $700 of his
taxes in January, but wasn't aware
his property was up for a tax sale
because the municipality sent a
notice to an address in London he
hadn't used in 10 years. He asked if
he could pay the money he owed to
keep his property.
"I'd be happy to pay it," he said.
"I wasn't properly notified ... I do
apologize for being in tax arrears."
South Huron Mayor Rob Morley
explained that once tax arrears go
beyond the three years, the full
amount has to be paid, not a por-
tion. He and chief administrative
officer Larry Brown said they
weren't aware of any alternatives
for Thomas.
"The process didn't work in your
favour," Morley said, "That's the
Municipal Act of Ontario."
But when Urlin asked Thomas
how long it would take him to pay
back the nearly $6,000 he owes,
Thomas said he has three quarters
of the amount now and could get a
loan to cover the rest.
Urlin then proposed giving
Thomas until Dec. 11 to pay.
"It is Christmas. Let's do some-
thing right here and let the gentle-
man keep his property."
Council supported Urlin's motion
and withdrew an earlier motion to
proceed with the public auction.
Thomas thanked council for giv-
ing him another chance.
"That's more than fair," he said.
Other council notes:
Huron Park project
Council officially authorized the 40 -
year debenturing of the $6.9
million infrastructure project in
Huron Park. Brown said the project
was well run and came in under
budget.
The $6 9 million project will be
paid back by the current owner of
the residential side of the park,
Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities,
and the new owners of the former
McCurdy Public School.
Also, as Parkbridge is allowing
residents to buy their homes,
homeowners in the park will pay
back the debt as part of their prop-
erty taxes.
The interest rate of the debenture
is 4.87 per cent.