The Times Advocate, 2006-05-17, Page 1JOHN DEERE
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TIMES -ADVOCATE
Exeter, Ontario, Canada
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
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Huron Park
homes sold
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
HURON PARK — The residential
side of Huron Park has been sold.
Charlene Deyarmond of the
Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC)
confirmed to the Times -Advocate
that the 117 -acre, 355 home park
has been sold for $8.5 million to
WCP Holdings Limited, a sub-
sidiary of Parkbridge Lifestyle
Communities Inc., a company with
an Ontario regional office in
Wasaga Beach and a head office in
Calgary. The deal closed May 5.
The province put the park up for
sale in January. Originally on
Monday, Deyarmond said the price
couldn't be released, calling it
"confidential."
"At this point in time it's not
being made public," she said, but
then revealed the price Tuesday.
Parkbridge could not be reached
for comment Monday before the
Times -Advocate's deadline. The
See RESIDENTIAL page 2
Six artists (and one former member) from Grand Bend's River Road Gallery recently donated a total of eight paintings to South
Huron Hospital in memory ofTom Crossman, husband of artist Lynda Crossman.About $2,500 in donations has also been made
to the hospital's emergency room in Tom's honour. Lynda says she came up with the idea to donate prints to the hospital during
her husband's stay at South Huron because she wanted to brighten it up. She said prints were chosen for their "cheerfulness."
From left are South Huron Hospital Foundation board chairperson Matt Clarke, Lynda Crossman and Barry Richman of River
Road Gallery and hospital clinical resource nurse Brenda Palsa. (photo/Scott Nixon)
Chamber
holds annual
meeting
By Nina Van Lieshout
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — "The most impor-
tant and lastly — have fun."
Mac Voisin, chairman of M&M
Meat Shops was the keynote
speaker Monday night for the
South Huron Chamber of
Commerce Annual Meeting
Have fun was just one of sever-
al mottos he goes by in the busi-
ness world which he considers
helped make his business so suc-
cessful.
M&M Meat Shops is not only
one of Canada's 50 Best
Managed Companies, it has also
received the highest awards in
the food and franchise industries.
But, it hasn't always been that
way for Voisin, whose business
had a rough start Oct. 10, 1980.
Voisin, a mechanical engineer
at the time and his brother Mark,
a lawyer, knew nothing about
running a business or the 62
restaurant type products they
were attempting to sell.
"Mark and I knew nothing
about food except how to eat it,"
says Voisin.
And to top it off they had "just
an awful location" in Kitchener
for their business, according to
Voisin.
They also had a string of bad
See M&M page 2
$6.2 million sewer project to go ahead
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
SOUTH HURON — After much discus-
sion, the Crediton/Centralia sewer project
will go ahead.
South Huron council made the decision
Monday night after a lengthy discussion
on the topic as well as a presentation
from Stuart Winchester of KMK
Consultants.
While the municipality has decided to go
ahead with the project, it also intends to
"exhaust" all government grant possibili-
ties, including possibly the third phase of
the Canada -Ontario Municipal Rural Fund
(COMRIF), which could provide up to a
two-thirds grant for the project. As has
been previously reported, the municipali-
ty was denied a COMRIF grant in both of
the first two phases.
As sewer and water projects are tradi-
tionally user pay, residents were vocal in
their concern that the $5.8 million project
would cost an approximately $17,285 per
property, plus hook-up and septic decom-
missioning fees.
As Winchester stated Monday night, the
project's cost has now raised to about
$6.2 million, or $19,300 per property.
The project's cost has risen sharply over
the years due to increases in construction
costs, such as oil, Winchester said.
In addition to grants, there is one way
the project could cost Crediton and
Centralia residents less money and that
would be if the municipality funds $2.2
million of the project that includes the
Crediton pump station, a forcemain and
upgrades to the Huron Park station. In
that case, it would cost $12,500 per prop-
erty, Winchester said.
Council has made no decision on that
scenario and there are a number of
options it can look at. If the municipality
went that route, South Huron Mayor Rob
Morley said the Exeter, Huron Park and
Grand Bend sewage systems that are now
separate, would be merged into one sys-
tem and funds from it would pay for the
Crediton pump station, the forcemain and
the upgrades to the Huron Park station.
Deputy Mayor Dave Urlin expressed
concern about that, saying it "could open
the door" of the municipality's user pay
system. He noted that there is a $12 mil-
lion Lake Huron water pipeline coming to
Exeter eventually. Under the current user
pay system, Exeter residents will be on
the hook for that cost.
Coun. Harvey Ratz wondered if there
was a cheaper way to install the sewer
system, such as digging the trenches in
areas that wouldn't cut through Crediton
Road. Winchester, though, said since
there are properties on both sides of the
road, it would mean digging two trenches
instead of one and any savings realized by
not cutting through the road would prob-
ably be eaten up by having to dig two
trenches.
Ratz expressed concern about Crediton
and Centralia residents who can't afford
the project and he said there is a lot of
anxiety in the villages.
He later voted against the project, say-
ing he knows it will eventually have to be
done, but he's not in favour of it now
because of the opposition from residents
and the hardships they face.
When talk turned to paying for the pro-
ject, Coun. Pete Armstrong said the
municipality has to find ways to cut costs.
He said without a grant, the costs are
"disastrously extreme." He wondered if
some properties could be excluded from
the project.
"We don't need a Cadillac ... we need it
to work," Armstrong said.
Winchester said the municipality would
create "two classes" of properties if only
some properties were made to hook up to
the sewer line. He said all properties
should be served by the sewers.
Winchester's preliminary project sched-
ule calls for complete construction of the
system by September 2007, with con-
struction of private sanitary drains and
septic system decommissioning taking
place from October 2007 to June 2008.
The municipality has been given until
the end of 2007 by the Ministry of the
Environment and the Huron County
Health Unit to complete the project.
Winchester said one of the concerns of
his schedule is that the time frame is
shortened and it could drive up the cost of
the project. However, the municipality
could also want to wait until the third
phase of COMRIF grants are awarded and
that may not take place until March 2007.
As was discussed Monday night, the pro-
ject wouldn't be eligible for COMRIF if
construction starts before the grants are
announced. Also, the criteria for the third
phase of COMRIF hasn't been announced
yet and probably won't be until the mid-
dle of June.
When the issue of "alternative" sewage
systems was brought up, Winchester said
they can cost $12,000 - $15,000 per prop-
erty, plus the homeowner has to maintain
it in perpetuity. Operations manager Don
Giberson agreed the ongoing mainte-
nance and administrative costs for such
systems shouldn't be overlooked. He said
the costs are high and would only drive
the costs higher for those who do have to
hook up to the sewer system.
Also under that scenario, Morley said
homeowners wouldn't be able to (mance
See COUNCIL page 2