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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-05-28, Page 22 Times -Advocate Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Bluewater budget passed By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF VARNA — The Municipality of Bluewater passed its 2008 budget May 20 that will see net expenditures in the amount of $4,126,324, a 2.84 per cent increase over 2007. The budget means a 1.52 per cent increase over 2007 for a residential property with a $100,000 value. In other council business, Dave McLaren from the Bayfield Ratepayers Association briefed council on the program to have Bluewater beaches certified under the Blue Flag program. McLaren said the biggest accomplishment so far was getting the backing of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. With water quality one of the criteria to meet the Blue Flag program, McLaren noted that in 2006 it was significant that under a water testing program carried out by the Bayfield Shoreline Residents Association, "half the days," were unsafe by provincial standards. Coun. Jim Fergusson asked if McLaren meant that half the tested days failed to meet the standards, to which McLaren agreed. McLaren requested that council provide funding of $10,000 for the BRA and Bluewater Shoreline Residents Association to establish a water testing program for the Bayfield River watershed, which was approved. Veolia With council concerned about extra charges it has received from Veolia Water Canada, project manager Laurie Cox spoke to council to give them a brief on services and the "out of scope" charges. Cox said the Bluewater contract with Veolia is different than some other municipali- ties. While other areas have "complete maintenance contracts," Cox said Bluewater choose to do some of the work itself instead of the previous contract that saw more direct charges to the municipality. Cox said Veolia provides back-up for after hours work and vacation and has no prob- lems with the way the contract is working. She added that while the con- tract results in a great deal of savings to Bluewater it also results in some extra charges for maintenance that Veolia does. "I'd wonder where the bills come from, too," said Cox. Regarding lagoon discharges in Zurich this year, Cox said there are low bacteria levels in the lagoon. "Practically none...it's the best in years." Hensall project left out Continued from front page Funding for last week's announcement came from the $200 million announced in March 2007 to top up the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF) nationwide of which Ontario was budgeted for $64 million. Schellenberger noted that Ontario has not signed onto the Building Canada Fund and that until it does there is funding waiting to be distributed. Schellenberger asked council to talk to the Ontario government to get it to sign onto the agreement. "Bury the hatchet," said Schellenberger. "It's all falling on the municipalities. You aren't getting money, but this is a start." Dowson said Bluewater applied for $4 million in fund- ing for the Hensall and Zurich projects and prior to applying, questioned whether bundling the two togeth- er was all right. "They said it was fine," said Dowson who added Bluewater will continue to work for the funding for the Hensall project. Schellenberger said he didn't know why the two pro- jects were split but Wise said she was told by Schellenberger that he would get back to her. Asked if there will be another round of COMRIF fund- ing, Schellenberger said, "I hope I never hear the name again; it pits municipalities against each other." Matt Pearson from B.M. Ross said he didn't know why Zurich was awarded the grant but said it was pos- sible the amount of money available fit the size of the project in Zurich. REGIONAL WRAP UP Salt mine toured GODERICH — Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle was in Goderich May 22 touring the Sifto Salt Mine, the Goderich Signal Star reports. Gravelle said demand for salt will remain high although efforts are under way to reduce use. Gravelle said last year was a great boom for Canada's mining industry. Student in showcase CLINTON — A student at Central Huron Secondary School (CHSS) is showing a film at the Toronto International Film Festival, says the Clinton News -Record. Isaac Elliott -Fisher is the director of "The Tenant," a 15 -minute short vying for top honours at the festival. Empty lot upgraded SEAFORTH — An empty lot that has been vacant since 1999 is being fixed up, says the Seaforth Huron Expositor. The lot was the site of the EMA grocery store and is getting a facelift courtesy of the Seaforth BIA and other community partners. The parkette will be landscaped with fresh grav- el, planters, shrubbery, benches and garbage cans created by Seaforth artist Jim Dawe. County looks ahead with Action Plan' Continued from front page vision, backcasting, picking the low hanging fruit, a democratic process, broad involvement and to keep it going." "It is really about the residents and the community working together," says Dodds. Four questions were proposed at the meeting, with the public breaking into four different groups to discuss, share and pre- sent their ideas. The first, two-part question is "Tell us one thing you like about your own community and another community?" Highlights for our community are: the community atmosphere, the natural environment, unique- ness, diversity, the lakefront, health care (hospitals, medical centres), airports and the arts and theatres. Highlights for other communi- ties are: public transportation, heritage buildings, walking and bike paths, events and festivals. The second question is "What would you like your community to look like in 20 years (your desired future)?" Highlights are solar and renew- able energy, more attractions for youth and immigrants, a balance of rural and urban life, preserving lakefronts and woodlots, improv- ing health care, safe community and more growth. The third question is "What needs to be done as a community to help achieve the desired future?" Highlights are employing local people, shopping locally and pro- moting the community, encourag- ing youth with community driven activities and more incentive to stay in Huron County, planting more trees, focus groups (like Communities in Bloom) and vol- unteerism (GrassRoots approach). The fourth question is "What can you do as an individual to help achieve the desired future?" Many highlights were similar to the previous question, including: shopping locally and promoting the community, continual envi- ronmental conservation, keeping up with the infrastructure and keeping hospitals and schools in the area. Dodds says next month the Sustainable Huron project, a five- year official plan, will move into its next phase All information gathered from community meetings, consulta- tions and fmdings will be brought forward and a Sustainability Action Plan will be developed for Huron County. For more information or for updates on the Sustainability Action Plan for Huron County visit www.sustainablehuron.ca or www. huronstewardship. on. ca South Huron looks at water options for properties Continued from front page The Stephen samples had a perfect record — of the 20 residential, two non-residential and four distribu- tion samples taken, none exceeded the safe levels. Giberson said the lead results in Exeter were expect- ed as "the majority of locations that exceeded the reg- ulatory limit had a lead water service on private prop- erty." He added there are 34 documented properties in Exeter that have a lead water service on private prop- erty. Giberson said there is no lead service in the Stephen system and, while there are no lead services in the Huron Park system, there is older plumbing. Property owners whose water samples exceeded safe levels were notified, as was the Huron County Health Unit. Sampling reports were reported to the Ministry of the Environment. Sampling was done between Dec. 15, 2007, and April 15, 2008, and is to be repeated every 12 months. A second round of sampling is required to be done between June 15 and Oct. 15 and repeated every 12 months. Giberson said homeowners have no legal obligation to upgrade their private water services. Coun. Pete Armstrong wondered if the municipality could offer $250 incentives to homeowners to upgrade their services, similar to a previous program for sump pumps. Giberson said he would support such an initiative, but it would be up to council to decide. Deputy Mayor George Robertson said he would be against such an incentive. Well options With the Exeter system hooking up to the new Lake Huron water pipeline, Giberson presented council with a number of options on how it can provide water to nine Usborne properties in the area of the wells. With the Exeter system switching over to the pipeline, the wells will start to be decommissioned or sold. Giberson said there are six properties near the well sites that have ultraviolet disinfection units on their water services and three more customers close to the well sites. Giberson's report states, "It is unclear what legal obligations the municipality has to maintain service to properties that are currently serviced in the vicinity of the wells or those who receive water at no cost as a condition of their land owner agreement." He presented council with several options on what the municipality can do with the situation, from doing nothing; cutting off the mains and discontinuing the water supply to those customers near the wells; trans- ferring the wells to private ownership; or decommis- sioning the wells and drilling individual private wells on the affected properties, something that could cost $15,000 or more per property. Another option is installing re -chlorinators on the distribution system, an option Giberson said would be "effective, but expensive," costing about $350,000 for two sites. The option Giberson said was the best was installing point of entry ultraviolet disinfection units on the affected properties. He said it is cost effective since most of the water services in the areas of the wells already have an ultraviolet unit. However, approval from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) would be needed. "It should be noted," Giberson's report states, "that the MOE turned down our initial request." Mayor Ken Oke said Monday the municipality has applied again for approval, citing "special circum- stances." He added it will be costly to provide water to the aforementioned Usborne properties, Council made no decision on the options presented, with Armstrong saying he thinks it's premature. He said council needs a legal opinion on what its obliga- tions are. Council authorized a review of the agreements with the landowners and will seek a legal opinion. Shipka upgrades Council approved hiring Gamsby and Mannerow for $65,000 for engineering services for a project to upgrade the watermain in Shipka to improve fire pro- tection in the area and repair a problem with exces- sively high water pressure in the hamlet. Giberson said repairing the infrastructure in Shipka was included as a "long term" priority in the 2007 Stephen Area Water Servicing Master Plan. Tendering for the project, estimated to cost about $130,000, will happen at a later date at council's discretion. Gore Road upgrades Council also hired Gamsby and Mannerow for $35,500 for engineering work for a project that would see watermain upgrades on the B Line between the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System transmis- sion main and Gore Road to improve fire protection in the area. The Stephen Master Plan has identified the project as a "medium term" priority.