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The Huron Expositor, 1988-01-20, Page 1Tql INDEX Council — A4 Dublin — A4 Walton — A4 Hensall — A5 Sports - A6, A7, A10 Classifieds A6, A9, Al0 Weddings — All Births — A11 People — All Obituaries — All Legion — Afi2 Seaforth Town Council briefs. See page A4. Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensall and Walton uron xptor HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1988 JUST ADD WATER AND... Despite the fact the snow this weekend was ideal for pack- s snow ter Car- aforth, (wraith ing, It never hurts to have a little extra water on hand - just in case. Here, Pat zak and Luke McMillan work together in the hopes of building a stupendc sculpture. The snow sculpturing contest was part of the Optimist Club's Wi, nivel Activities. Also in conjunction with the Winter Carnival, Lisa Strong of was picked as the Winter Carnival Queen at the teen dance held Friday. M photo. GROUND WORK - Toby Phillips took shovel in hand Saturday morning,in order to gather up enough snow to make a snow sculpture. Area youths took part in the snow sculpturing contest, one of the ac- tivities scheduled as part of the Optimist Club's Annual Winter Carnival. Mcllwraith photo. Town sewage problems to be addressed The town of Seaforth will be doing a lot of improvements and expansion on the Sanitary Sewage Works in 1988. The problem areas have all been iden- tified, and now the Sewer Liason Committee is looking at different solutions to problems. The town held an information meeting for the public on January 11, but attendance was "very slight" according to Steve Burns of Goderich who organized the meeting. Mr. Burns said there were only six people who attended the meeting. Four were members of Seaforth Town Council, one was a ratepayer from the town of Seaforth with concerns for Birch Street Sewage, and one was a ratepayer from a neighboring township. A major problem with the sewer system is the condition of the system. The system is getting old and has become run down due to illegal connections and cracks. The result is water from the outside is getting into the system and causing too much flow. There is therefore potential to have the water back up into residences. To make sure that doesn't happen there is an alarm system in place now, and when it goes off water is pumped through a by-pass into the Maitland River. There are several problems the Sewer Liason Committee hopes to resolve, the first of which is the periodic overflowing of the Oak Street Sewage Pumping Station, in- cluding inadequate by-passing facilities. The Oak Street Station also needs upgrading to improve general maintenance operations and operator safety. Other problems, as identified by the com- mittee include: excess infiltration and in- flow to the sanitary sewer collection system (high sewage flows still exists), and current growth restrictions created by inadequate treatment capacity (high flows and possibly insufficient treatment for current standards) There have also been complaints regar- ding erosion and water quality impacts to the Crozier Drain. The Birch Street Industrial area has a number of properties on holding tanks or septic systems, and this restricts the cur- rent use and development of the properties. Certain sanitary sewers have been iden- tified as needing repair or replacement as well as more frequent maintenance. The Sewer Liason Committee consists of Mayor Alf Ross, Public Utilities Commis- sion Manager Tom Phillips, Reeve Bill Ben- nett, Councillor Garry Osborn, Public Works Superintendent Toho Forrest, Clerk Jim Crocker, Tuckersmith Councillor Rowena Wallace, consulting engineer Steve Burns, and Marc Bell and Ed Sersmith representing the Ministry of the ®.a 50 cents a copy Board votes increase The Huron County Board of Education Education Minister Bette Stevenson, On - has voted itself a four percent increase in tario trustees lobbied hard to have that pay "effective December 1, 1988 and each legislation changed. They felt that they subsequent year thereafter". should be treated the same as other The current stipend for a trustee is $4,800 municipally elected officials who could set annually. The chairman currently gets the their own salaries according to their regular stipend plus 50 percent or $7,200 conscience. annually. These amounts do not change, regardless of how many meetings or events are attended thropghout the year. Also approved at the January meeting was an increase for the vice-chairman of the board. Beginning in December this year, the vice-chairman will receive an ad- ditional one-quarter over the regular sti- pend. In 1989, the vice -chair will receive $4,992 plus $1,248 for a total of $6,240. The chairman will continue to receive an addi- tional 50 percent, or $7,488. The history leading up to this decision by the Huron County Board of Education is He reports that the Ontario government interesting. has given first reading to legislation that For many years, the Ontario Education will change the Stevenson legislation. The Act fixed the trustee's salary according to more modern new ,legislation will allow a scale based on population. In the term of trustees to set their own stipends. Ms. Stevenson responded by changing the legislation to say that trustees could grant themselves an increase only once during a term of office, and that being im- mediately prior to an election. This year, 1988, is an election year. The Huron trustees will get an increase effec- tive December 1, 1988 - just prior to the municipal election date. Director of Education Bob Allen called the Stevenson legislation the "meanest" on the books. McKillop family loses car to flames Environment. The committee will be looking at a number of alternatives they have outlined to see which is the most feasible way to deal with sewage problems. Some of the solu- tions the committee will be considering are: -To improve the collection system existing flows could be reduced through repair and replacement, and sewers will also be con- sidered for the Birch Street Industrial Area. -To solve problems with the pumping facilities the pump could be replaced, or the pumping station could be replaced. Other solutions are paralleling the existing force - main, gravity by-passing, or pumped by- passing. -Treatment facilities can be improved with seasonal or annual retention lagoons with post aeration. Another alternative is an aerated lagoon with continuous winter discharge and • or bulk discharge in spring. A mechanical treatment and polishing lagoon with continuous winter discharge and a or bulk discharge in spring is -another option. And changing the location of effluent discharge will also be considered. The Town of Seaforth, with the assistance of the ministry of the environment, will soon be looking at which alternatives are feasible and come up with the best solutions for the town's sewage problems. The Sewer Liason Committee meets January 20. Huron council considers county -wide tax Under either of the two new proposals, taxes will be based on the market value of the p-operty. Lettner stressed to council the overall amount of taxes collected by the county will not increase but individual tax payers may have their taxes go up or down depending on whether or not they were paying too much or too little under the old tax scheme. Section 63 creates five main property classes — residential (1-6 units), multi - residential (seven units and over), com- mercial, industrial and farm — and equalizes the tax payments for each class throughout the county, based on market value. In other words, a homeowner in Goderich with property valued at $50,000 would pay the same county and school tax as a homeowner in Zurich with property also valued at $50,000. Each class of pro- perty has its own equalization factor. Pro- perties of equal value in different classes' will not be paying the same taxes under section 63. Under section 70, assessments are based on property value only. Regardless of what type of. property it is or its location in the county, property owners will pay the same amount of -school and county tax ,on land of the same value. The Ontario Ministry of Revenue feels the county -wide reassessment program section 63 has four noteworthy features including: 1. Corrects assessment inequities by pro- perty classes within the county. 2. Prevents fax shifts from one class of property to another. Since assessment un - BY TED SPOONER Huron County Council is considering On- tario Ministry of Revenue county -wide tax assessment programs that could affect every property owner in the county. The ministry has two proposals, section 63 and section 70, to ensure that similar properties of comparable market value would pay the same county and school tax, regardless of location within the county. County council may accept either sec- tion 63 or section 70 or they may keep the tax system 'the way it currently stands. Mr. Lettner, of the Ministry of Revenue, stressed during his presentation to council this past Thursday he was not trying to sell the proposals to council. However, in a slide presentation, he pointed out several inequities in the cur- rent system. For example: three residen- tial homes in different areas of Huron county sold for $40,000 in 1984 and all paid different county and school taxes in 1987. The homeowner in Turnberry Township, who sold his home for $40,000, paid $76 in county tax and $267 in school tax. The homeowner in Wingham paid $97 in county tax and $397 in school tax, while in Hensall, the county tax was $89 and the school tax $312. Inequities were also found from a sam- ple of farm sales in 1984. A farm in Usborne Township soli for $212,000—and the farmer paid $590 in coui►ty tax and $1,648 in school tax while a farm in Morris Township that sold for $225,000 was charged $364 in county tax and $1,129 in school tax. There were two fires in the Seaforth area end of the -car was burnt. The trunk and rear last week, one which caused only minor tires were all the fire department could save damage and the other resulting in the loss of for the Campbells, and the car is a write-off. a vehicle. The cause of the fire is not known but an Leslie and Gayle Campbell of McKillop electrical short is suspected. The car had Township were awakened at approximately been turned off only half an hour earlier 4 a.m. Friday morning by a light in their when the Campbell's daughter Cheryl arriv- bedroom. At first Mr. Campbell thought his ed home. barn was on fire, but it turned out the flames Another fire occurred on the RR 1 were coming from his 1986 LeSabre. Seaforth farm of Con Eckert, when a wagon The Seaforth Fire Department was called being welded suddenly caught fire. At one and Mr. Campbell went at the flames with a ifoint it was feared flames -reaching as high fire extinguisher. The extinguisher ran out a''S the ceiling, would ignite the workshop. before the flames did. Although the fire The Seaforth Fire Department was called, department arrived in good time, there was but even though they got there in good time little left of the car for them to save. the Eckerts had the fire out. There was a Fire officials say the fire apparently pile of sand and gravel handy which was started under the hood and the entire front shoveled onto the blaze. Town hires contract police officer The Seaforth Police Department will return to full strength after almost a year of operating understaffed. The four -man police department was reduced to three men when Constable John Cairns shat- tered his knee and broke his leg in a snowmobile accident on February 6, 1987. Constable Cairns is still on sick leave, and whether or not he will be able to return to active duty in the future, is still unknown. In the meantime, in order to combat the manpower problem, Seaforth Town Coun- cil has given its approval to the hiring of a replacement officer. Harro Maydell, a constable with the Metropolitan Toronto Police Department since 1976, will join the Seaforth Police Department on January 25, for a guaranteed minimum of one year - until which time Constable Cairns returns to the force, or goes on permanent disability. He will be paid at the rate of a first con- stable, which is $32,156 per year. Social assistance recipients receive increase All social assistance recipients will receive a five per cent increase in their basic allowance , effective January, 1 as part of the Ontario Ministi y of Community and Social Services 1988 rate inreases. It is basically a five per cent across the board increase, Huron County Council learned in the Administrator's report at the January, 7 meeting. The increases include: a five per cent in- crease to the maximum and minimum boarding rates; an eight per cent raise in maximum shelter subsidy for all family sizes; winter clothing allowance will in- crease to $84 from $80 per child and will be paid in November of each year; pregnane) item allowance goes from $26 to $28 per month; maximum discharge allowance in- creases to $500 from $450. Monthly foster child rates have also in- creased, with the first child receiving $172 (up from $163), the second child, $141 (up from $134) and $116 for each additional child (up from $110). fairness is corrected within each prperty class tax shifts from one property class to another within the entire county are prevented. Some tax shifts could occur on the municipal level due to the equalization of assessments by property class within the county. • 3. The program revises all assessment according to their 1984 market values. This will make the county's assessment base more current and assessments which relate to more current market values are easier to understand. 4. The program Orevents erosion of the tax base. Since the reassessment makes property assessments fair, understan- dable and defensible, it will lessen the need for appeals. Fairer assessments will also reduce the success rate of appeals. Some rural reeves, notably Ernest Snell of East Wawanosh Township and Gerry Prout of Usborne Township, felt that overall rural landowners would be paying a higher rate of taxes under either of the new schemes while urban landowners would experience a decrease in taxes. Lettner replied that all landowners would be paying the same rate of tax for similar land of equal value and some taxes would increase while others would decrease. He also mentioned that the Ontario Government would absorb tax increases through a transitional grant. Over a three year period money would be made available to municipalities to offset in- dividuals who had been adversly affected Turn to page 12A AgairiMMENEW AUTHOR'S NOTE - Dean Robinson, author of the book, "Seaforth Beginnings", was in town Saturday morning to autograph copies of his book. Here, Mrs. Herb Travis of Seaforth, watches as Mr. Robinson, of Mitchell writes a note in her copy. Mcllwraith photo.