HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1987-03-25, Page 5Fc:dkind. Hydra. may
,
appeaI ' OH decision
Members of the Foodiana Hydro Commit- extra. ••
""leeagreeditoprepare'asappealtoftheOntaido•-- ;--However, •Gordon• Hi11 -of-Stanley-
cabinet over the recent decision. allowing Township, said it •was imperative that all
Ontario Hydro,; to build a major ' new • land Owners be cohesive in the fight against.
transmission line from the Bruce nuclear Hydro so the utility can't make s.eparate
plant to London, ,but the appeal won't lie deals and put pressure on any one. ;-�
presented unless other parties, particularly Kryworuk warned the owners against
Ontario Hydro; make an appeal. signing the first .thing Hydro„puts on their
Noting that he Was considering the matter plate and' urged them to hire lawyers and
With his; head and not his heart. chairman • appraisers to represent them.
Tony McOtrailadvisetl-that-action-in-his--He-has-prepared a -draft form -which
comments to about 400 of the 1,200 -member members will ask Hydro to sign..It allows
committee in attendance at the Wednesday . owners to hire whatever help is needed and
• session at South Huron District High School. stipulates that Hydro is to :pay those costs.
He said preparing the 'appeal would be •a "You're in a position to fight, ” the lawyer
• "safety precaution and 'would only be advised. "Make sure you get;what you're
presented if 'Hydro appealed the decision or entitled to."
•
it appeared that .some " other group had ' Comments' from the floor throughout the
started lengthy appeal process. meeting indicated.many owners are indeed
'It was explained that Hydro was unhappy. prepared to fight for what they feel entitled
with, the joint board hearing which approved to for the line on their property and one said
a single line which .will pass through prime . he expected to be paid for any time spent in
agriculture land. in Bruce, Huron and Mid- negotiating with Hydro. •
dlesex and there was a possibility the utility • "I can't afford to stand in the yard and
could appeal in an effort to get a different, talk to those buggers for nothing,' he said.
plan more to. their liking or at Least , to Former Stanley Reeve Anson McKinley
change . some 'of".the terms and conditions also argued for compensation for those who
handed'down in the board's ruling. will have "scenic disruption" due to the line
The audience; constituted primarilY by but he was advised that does not appear
land owners who will be directly affected by possible under terms of the Expropriation .
'the new liner were told that any appeal 'to Act unless they' own land within 75 metres of
cabinet would not have a great chance of the transmission line.. • ' •
success as it would be seen as undermining McQuail announced at the meeting that he
the hearing process 'and cabinet would be would • be stepping down as chairman,
very reluctant to throw outa 100 -page report although he would assist in preparing the
submitted by the three members of the appeal for cabinet:
hearing board who heard testimony for 130 `I've used up my quotient of energy over
• days. the past five years," he explained, noting
' The groups's lawyer, Peter W.-Kryworuk, earlier that the hearing had been long,
of -Lerner &, Associates, .backed McQuail's drawn-out and exhausting. .
opinion by, noting cabinet would not want to
second guess the hearing board.
B. initiating an appeal, it could open the
door for Hydro to follow suit and ask that
some of the benefits won by farmers be
removed.
, McQuail said he had no difficulty agreeing
with those who found fault with • the final
decision on the line. "It's a real disappoint-
ment to have any line to London_"' he ex-
plained, but quickly added that it was still
• better than having twd lines.
Two other options were Outlined atthe
meeting: to appeal to the divisional court or
to start an action with the National Energy
Board.. •
While there were calls for taking the mat-
ter to the "highest court in the land") those
alternatives received no support after the
ramifications were outlined.
Both were seen as being very costly (one
in the $100,000 to $200,000 range) and both
were also seen as being nothing more than
delaying tactics. "Thereason for the line
continues to. be there," the Lucknow area
farmer explained, while the London lawyer
said there was certainly no guarantee of
winning either case and it would be only a
matter of buying some time. He cautioned
they could be held liable for costs brought on
by adelay in construction and that could be
in the'millions.
After taking a break and meeting in their
respective township groups, the members
overwhelmingly adopted the plan to prepare
an appeal to cabinet and to use it only if
some other, group initiates the action.
• However, the land owners let it be known
they were not prepared to back down from
their fight with Ontario Hydro and will turn
their energies to getting the best possible
deal for owners who will be affected by the
transmission line.
It was unanimously agreed to restructure
the organization so the board represen-
tatives will be primarily from the townships
directly affected. That is expected to take
place within the next two to three weeks.
Although there • was. some minor opposi-
tion„ the membership also agree to accept
new members at the current rate of $1 per
acre or $SO per household.
Maguail said the alternatives were to
deity new memberships, allovethem under
the existing terms, or allow thein with a
premium being charged. -
One audience member argued against
allowing new members, at the existing rate,
noting that many land owners sat back hop-
ing there would lie no line near them. 'Now
that there is, he contended, they should pay
Vanastra Public
School gets .
.long term. lease
The future of the Vanastra Public School
has been further stabilised with the agree-
tnentthat a long'tetm leasing arrangement
will be made to secure the school's present
location.
The Huron County Board of Education at
its March meeting Voted to enter 'Mtn a long
term lease agreement with Conestoga
College in respect to the Vanastra Public
;School facility
The school is located m a bliildifiroVitied
by Conestoga College The board of -educe-
tion learned that the oollege had reduced its
space requirements hi the.building for the
I986 and 1981 sciit5ol year.
The trustees 4ieard that the Conestoga
dintnbutiefi of 4,18a square feet of space is
Public
t6 the tumidal viability of
Vaught P rblic School Preliiniriary' iiegoti
tions With Conestoga have resealed that the
eOliege ie interested m Maintaining this
tnota Of space over a period of tittle. A
proposed' lease has beett forwartfed td
G'onesl6ga vshith proposts a three year
guars» teed term. a tight to renew, automatic
renewal if lid terrriination iS made, advalite
notice to terminate and an annual rent
escalation based on the coal of living index
AVVARDINGEXCE CE
In oihetbtisiness at the MSrch meeting of
tiletrustees, rt•was-agreed-tohold an -Awards-
Of Excellence B'aiiquet in 1987. The new
initiative' Was' undertaken. last year as a pint
project between the hoatid of education brill
the district chapter of the Onta66'Se0Mary.
School Teachers' Federation
In 19;88 the banquet waS held' at the
Godetie4 Cehtfe in
HolmesSlle There, awards were given td
outstatidiig students teachers acid c6inriiuii-
icy members
The Otero 0f ffusfees• agreed that the
affianfIS,,N011074.4 a worthwhile concept
and it was Voted to participate in a similar
function in 1987 This estimated that the board
of education wit pay $2,500 towards the cost
'of the event.
THE HURON EXPOSITQ,ttr 1�1!A;
C H.
k?,1,907.„
NEW BABY BILLY -BOB - Booky welcomes a new brother Into the
family during' the production Thursday of, that Scatterbrain
Booky." About 100 children attended the, Cascade. Theatre
Company production, : hosted by the Library at the Community
Centres, ss part of March break activities. (Mcllwraith photo)
' Lr
5
e
OPEN
HOUSE
SUNDAY, MARCH 29
ti
I~•
11�}y4
• S H
3 '04
�, k\i it
14,
r.t#Yf .��: y •3 •
db!1
*
12 noon till 5:00 p.m.
'REFLECTIONS'
We invite you to help us celebrate
the GRAND OPENING of our
new addition, 'REFLECTIONS', during
our OPEN HOUSE this SUNDAY from
noon- • until 5:00 P.m. The timing is
great! Our new spring lines have
just arrived.
Nibble on a cookie or donut Sip
on a coffee, Stay awhile. Enjoy
a leisurely Sunday afternoon and
browse through our extensive
collection of fine furniture
and accessories.
Your -hosts, Barbara -and Ga Betties
1d'<
•
.. r �< a ,•n '1 .: , ,.
k ! kl , I411
a,