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The Times Advocate, 2008-11-19, Page 22 Times -Advocate Wednesday, November 19, 2008 SH adopts water rates By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON Council adopted the new water / wastewater rates Mon- day night, although residents will get a slight reprieve on the consumption charge. In a recorded vote, councillors voted unanimously to adopt the rates, but the consumption rate of $1.76 per cubic metre of water used won t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2010. Instead, the rate for all customers in 2009 will be $1.53 per cubic metre. The sewage rate will be 57 cents per cubic metre, until 2010, when it will increase to 68 cents per cubic me- tre. The reason for the slight change is that the municipality had originally intended for the new rates to go into effect a few months ago, so a 2008 rate was devised. But with the municipality running out of time to pass the bylaw, it looked like the 2008 rates would be by- passed and the municipality would go straight to the 2009 rates. Instead, Coun. Tom Tomes suggested the 2008 rates be used for 2009 and the 2009 increase be delayed until 2010. However, the previously -reported quarterly fixed and debt charges will remain the same Exeter homes, in addition to paying the consump- tion charges, will pay a quarterly base charge of $60.70, a debt charge for the new $13.4 million Lake Huron pipeline of $83.90, and a sewage base charge of $20.20. Apartment dwellers in Exeter will pay a base charge of $45.50 per quarter, a debt charge of $62.90 per quarter and a sewage charge of $15.20, in addition to the above-mentioned consumption charges. In Stephen customers pay the quarter- ly $60.70 base charge and a $4.80 debt charge, while those in apartments will pay the $45.50 base charge and a $3.60 debt charge. Sewage rates in Stephen are the same for houses and apartments as in Exeter. Charges for non-residential proper- ties vary according to pipeline size. Five members from the public at- tended the water rates discussion Mon- day night, with Exeter s Fred Simmons saying he would still like to see council revisit the rates over the next couple of years and adjust them. He said the rates aren t based enough on consump- tion and don t promote water conser- vation. He said all residents should pay very similar consumption charges, while he d like to see a reduction to businesses to protect the municipality s economic base. Exeter s Robert Drummond said the rates are outrageous, and said the only fair way to charge for water is by consumption, not fixed charges. Henny Parker, a downtown landlord, said apartments in Exeter have been harder to rent out over the past years and now tenants will have additional charges. She said half of her apartments are empty, but as a landlord, she 11 have to pay the fixed charges she said she d like to see a discount for land- lords who have empty apartments. Mayor Ken Oke said the municipality continues to work with the government for a grant to offset some of the pipeline debt. While the municipality received a $4.3 million grant for the project, Oke said it is less than what other munici- palities received for similar projects. This council does care about having decent water rates, he said. Coun. David Frayne added if the mu- nicipality is successful in attaining more grant money, it will probably mean a re- duced debt charge on residents water bills. Council will pass the bylaw for the new rates at a future meeting. Exeter's Ranch House Inn has new ownership By Ben Forrest TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER Necessity is the mother of in- vention, but it is also the mother of business ideas. This is how it was with The Ranch House, anyway. According to Hugh McMaster, who owned the Exeter motel for 10 years before retiring last week, there was no such facility in Exeter when he started out. There was a need for it then, he believes, and he believes there is a need for it now. The Ranch House did well until the year 2000, when a flood forced the closure of a res- taurant in the building s basement. The motel has retained a steady flow of business since then, McMaster said, but the current economic climate has hindered the business s ability to evolve. We were going to develop this into a Days Inn, and we had the franchise, but couldn t find any money to do the development, he said. Indeed, some $3 million in renovations were required, and finding a mortgage in current times proved difficult. Because of the economy, there s no money for development of any kind, he said. I m 62 years old, I m going to move on. I m retir- ing. McMaster and wife Fran passed the torch last week to Narendra and Rashila Patel, a Markham couple who have relocated to Ex- eter and took ownership of The Ranch House on Nov. 13. Narendra, who owned a motel in the Unit- ed States before moving to Markham, said he learned of the property through the Internet, and saw buying it as a good opportunity. He knew little of Exeter at the time, but his impressions of the place were positive. I liked the location and the town, he said. That s why I was interested, and I bought it. Major changes are not planned, though the Patels plan to live on the building s upper floor and may alter its current banquet hall facility. Hugh and Fran intend to continue living in Exeter, and Hugh hopes to continue work- ing with the South Huron Chamber of Com- merce, of which he is president. In the end, however, they decided waiting out the world s economic woes was not for them. We re both 62, said Hugh. We don t think we could wait it out until the economy changed. We d be probably 65, and ... too late in history. Hugh said Friday he wished Mr. Patel all the luck in the world, and pledged his sup- port. We re showing him how [the business] was run and what the customer base is, and stuff like that, McMaster said. I think there 11 be a smooth transition over, and we ve advised them at any time they can call us. We 11 certainly help them at any point. New owners Rashila (left) and Na- rendra Patel are the new owners of The Ranch House,a motel on Exeters Main Street.The sale was completed last week. (Photo/Ben Forrest) GreenField makes presentation to council Continued from front page ey on the ethanol they are selling and may only buy enough to meet the provincial mandate of five per cent. Creighton said a federal mandate for ethanol standards is expected by the beginning of 2010, but it may not come until the end of the year and GreenField may wait to see what the standards will be to make its plans for the Hen- sall project. The biggest change for GreenField, according to Creigh- ton, has been a credit shortage, which is making it difficult to obtain the money necessary for the Hensall plant. He said GreenField s bank partners may demand more inves- tors and equity in the plant. "A big piece of Hensall is the Johnstown plant," said Creighton, who added it is scheduled to be mechanically ready in six days and will be producing ethanol by the middle of December. Creighton said the Johnstown plant is on time and on budget and will show the banks that GreenField can perform as well as bring in money that can be put into Hensall. It was a banking decision, Creighton said, that the company could build only one plant at a time. Asked about GreenField s projects in other parts of the country in new technologies such as Cellulose and whether it was moving away from corn, Creighton said the company was investing in its future because the Hensall plant will probably be the last one built in Ontario since all of the areas have been covered. Another question concerned the waste water that GreenField will produce and where it will go. Creigh- ton said the water is actually cooling water which will be higher in salts and chemicals and would go back into a drain. Several owners of Hensall businesses expressed interest in using the water and Creighton said GreenField would be willing to discuss it. Coun. Kay Wise said the council and municipal staff had worked hard for the past two years to make the project work and that they had always consid- ered the best interests of the community. We will have clean drinking water and no more nitrates, she said. ATV discussion In other business, Bluewater will not be passing an ATV bylaw after no support for one was expressed at the meet- ing. A public meeting on the issue was held in June and Dowson said since then things have changed, including in Central Huron which is changing its bylaw on ATVs. Dowson asked audience member Mark Cantelon to speak on the issue, who said following the passing of the ATV bylaw in Central Huron, the amount of ATV traffic in Bluewater has decreased and there was an increase in the amount of complaints about ATVs in Central Huron. Cantelon said Central Huron is backing out of its bylaw and has restricted several roads they can travel on for the winter and will probably restrict more. Coun. Tyler Hessel said he didn t see any need to pass a bylaw since they aren t working well in neighbouring municipalities. Coun. Peter Walden said the municipality wasn t in a position to pass a bylaw but he wanted to ensure that farmers could still use them to travel from farm to farm. Dowson said it was already in the municipal regulations that farmers could use ATVs for farm travel. Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) gen- eral manager Tom Prout said the ABCA s experience with ATV bylaws wasn t positive and that while the problem is growing, he agreed with the councillors. Dowson said while a few months ago he was close to saying the roads should be opened to ATVs, he wasn t pre- pared to now, but over the winter the municipality might find a solution. 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