HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-08-16, Page 3(Continued: from Page 1)
Maintenance cost ($5 ,400-090e included ta►.
the 1977 Fire Area Budget pursuant to
;Section; .s (a) of the agreement. The matter
Was brought before the Board twice and no:
,action was taken, In September 1977 the
matter of fire hydrant rental was again
bro::aht, before the Board, The part of the
minutes of the September meeting are as.
follows: (q e_) '''The Secretary read a
letter from the Town of Seaforth which
pointed out that under Section 3(a) of the
.current fire area agreement, `all costs of fire
protection in the Seaforth Fire Area. ..shall
be paid by the Board' and which requested
fliat'the total cost -iii `fire •fiyarani rental be
.includedin the fire area budget for 1977 in
the emeent_,of SS,400,00, The representa
rtn o
;liven rrom the Townships stated they wete
unwilling to agree to this since the .fire
hydrants were of no, advantage 'to+ the
;townships and conferred an advantage on
the residents of the Town which was not
enjoyed by the residents of the townships.,
This led to the suggestion that all hydrants;
in the town should be removed and that the
tanker should be used to supply the water to
fight all fires in the fire area," (end quote)
It became ,clear to the town that rural
members of the Board were taking the
attitude that they were only interested in
rural fire problems. At this point Seaforth:
sought its own legal opinion which was.
forwarded to the Fire Area Board along with :.
a further request for consideration in the
matter, The Town's legal opinion in part was:
IMPROVING THE. POST OFFICE Sandblasters work on the Seaforth
Post Office this week. The company., Warren Steeplejacks Ltd. of
Brantford, will later paint the roof.
Council
Seaforth council consid-
ered the following, at its
regular meeting Monday
night:
Arena deposits for July.
were $4,792, and 'the yearly.
deposits to date total 543,739
up from last },
year's $34 874.'
The arena committee
recommended; that signs be,.
placed at Main and. Goderich.
Streets, Main and Duke
Streets, and Goderich and
East William Streets, todir-
ect people to the arena:
location.
A $250 traffic 'sign. and
road marking system has.
been installed 'which bas
recorded each 'sign, on each
street:! in the town.
S3,408 had been spent. on
construction and repair of the
town's sidewalks as of Aug.:
7.
The .. condition of Sperling
Street ditch south of Market
Street was discussed at the
Transportation and Environ-
Ment: Committee. 'meeting.
The Town Foreman was in-
structed to spray the ditch for.
_weeds to prevent blockage.
The committee also recom-
' mended to the council that
tenders be called for a new
dump truck.:
S50 to
n re
A grant request tor f
help LACAC undertake a
structural study of the old
Seaforth Public. School was
denied due to lack of funds in•
the 1979 grant, budget.
Four objections to the' ton-
ing by-law recently passed
were read to .
cou cit regard-
ing
g
ing the parcel of land on
South Main St. where a car
wash is to be built.. In . a
recorded vote, council .did
not agree to three of the
objections, and plans to elim-
inate the objections of • the
fourthersonb- buffering
. by
the ,proposed ; property.
Council . moved v d .chat no
financial assistance 'begiven
to the Township of West
Carleton, which suffered
damages due to the flooding
of the Ottawa River, as there.
are insufficient funds in the
grant budget.
Seaforth Council' u
o nctl declared
th week of Sept. 24-29
(Continued on Page 20)
Sugar and spice
By Bill Smiley
will appear next week.
Schools damc�ge�l
(Continued from Page 1)
Goderich District Collegiate Institute reettk1ted
fourth -- $450.20 (populaton 951), and1F.E.
Madill Secondary School had the least
damage of the high schools -- $411.34` (with
the highest' population of 1,174).
Public school damage was heaviest atGrey
Central Public School in Grey Township,
,
with 51,075. Next was Exeter Public School
with $750.18.
The 'amount of damage declined sharply in
the remaining` public schools. `Usborne
Central had $357.17, the third! highest.
Seven public schools reported no.
damage
Board of Education vice-president Donald
McDonald said he didn't think vandalism
was any worse in Huron County . than
elsewhere in the province. It is likely much
better in the county than in some of the
urban centres, he said.
Hensall {annecation debated
(Continued from Page 1)
7teitierns'Or the residents in the subdivision
should be Considered when planning:
commences for the land use.
Only one ktter of objection was read at the
Meeting, front Campbell and Grace Eyre
who were tenable to attend. They said that
had they wished to live in :Hen'sa11' they
Would have bought there rather thanin the
l w ahlp. 7 .
The pair suggested the village had nothing'
to offer them except higher taxes and said
there was no nelson the present hottses on
Highway 4 cettidn, t be left in Hay.
Aa the titeetiri ; , co6duded, it wax
announced that the two councils would meet
with any residentswho file .their objections
in writingWithin two teeth.
• Dzus said both rnunkipalities• were.
interested in resolving any individual
concerns "and hopefully We can find
answers that are satisfactory."
It was noted that if there are no formai
objections to the Ontario Municipal Boatd
when the application for annexation itt
presented, it could be pissed'three
months.
However, Melt Said, i fitOrititlintil takes
years when there o i
f
ua follows, ;tquotel "As. there optnion, West
should be incu4ed in the ,cost as. provided': in
Section 3(a) are ;all reasonable amounts
expended in providing fire; protection; in the
;fire area and this would• include the Bost of
;renting ,Etre hydreants which are a. Very
necessary part of the fire ,pltectton; tri,
Seaforth.
Further, as nontaxable properties; are
used for the calculation in See tion 3(b) of the
Fire Area Agreement, they, should also be
used to be consistent in ascertaining the cost
in Section 3(a).
Obvously, there are no restrictions on who
attends the non -taxed facilities. Certainly,
the $eaforth Hospital is used by all people in
the' area. In any event. the reason for the
Fire.' Area Agreement is to give fire
protection at a reasonable cost to a defined
area without unnecessary duplication. M
such, as stated previously, elf equipment
costs including the fire hydrants for one of
the participating municipalities should be
included in the cost" (end quote)
Still, the Fire Area Board, made no
decision stating they required more informa-
tion, The Board had stated: they wanted to
know how the hydrant rental figure was
arrived at. The May 1978 Fire Area Board
minutes show that (quote). "The P-U;C,
Manager arrived at the meeting and spent
some time explaining the basis for the;
maintenance costs assessedto the Town}
Seaforth as hydrant rental, The total cost to
the P.U,C, for •maintenance in 1977 was,
56,125.00 andthe cost recovered as rental at
$9Q per hydrant for 60 hydrants was only
$5,400.00" (end quote)
Again, no action was taken by the •Board.
in October 1978, Gerald Groothuis raised the
matter at a Fire Area Board Meeting- It was
agreed that the matter would be discussed at
the next meeting,
At.the next meeting the matter was rased
and: the Board decided to invite the P,It.C, •
Manager. to the next meeting to present a
detailed audited statement of fire hydrant
maintenance costs, for 1977. At the same
November 1978 meeting the Fire Area Board
was authorized to obtain a legal; opinion on
Seaforth's request from Deane and Laugh-
ton.;•
On November. 24th, 1978the Fire Area
Board was notified by Seaford' that Seaforth
would withhold their final' 1978 payment
pending, settlement over the fire hydrant
issue. , The. Fire Area Board Chairman
attended the December Seaforth Council.
meeting asking that the Town reconsider its
decision to withholdthe, final payment. The
Chairman stated that the. Fire Area Board
was expecting its legal opinion on the matter
by early January and he stated that although '
he could not speak for the Board,. it was his...
.opinion that should the Fire Area Board's
opinion be the same as the town's, then•the
board would probably pay for fire hydrant
costs'. As a sign of good faith, the Town of
Seaforth 'relented and paid , their _final
installment. ' '
Mr. Toni Phillips, P.U.C. Manager;
attended the December 1978 Boardmeeting
and (quote) "gave :the Board a statement of
costsinvolved in: Maintaining the' hydrant
system for 1977 and presented some
comparativefigures in other, similar munici-
palities" (end quote) Further,, at the same
meeting the 'following motion was passed
(quote) "That the board, defer any further
discussion on the matter of hydrant rental
costs in.the Town of Seaforth until such time,'.
as Deane :and , Laughton provide a legal.
opinion on the liability of'the board°for such
costs" (end ' quote)
The.Board met next on January23, 1979.
The legal opinion from Deane and. Laughton
was read .which stated (quote) .1, The
purchase and installationas such are
properly categorized as capital expenditures •
and, as a result, .are the financial: responsibil
ity of the municipalities; and 2. The rental,
general' upkeep and repair of the fire
hydrants entail costs of an operating nature.
and therefore, are the financial responsibil-
ity of Seaforth Fire Area. Board." 'end.
quote) At the same. meeting the following
resolution was passed (quote) "that we carry
on the way we did prior to 1976 by paying.
$1,000.00 per year' to the Town of Seaforth'
for fire hydrant rental'' • (end quote) Irwin
Johnston voiced hisdtsapp,oval with this
motion and he- stated he would take' this
information back to Town Council. • '
It ;is interesting tonote, that the person
who moved the : foregoing motion was the
same previous' Chairman of the Board who
attended the December meeting of Seaforth
Council` to ask that Seaforth: pay their final'
installment, pending the Board' receiving'
their legal opinion:
4. The Authority of.the Fire Chief: 'Finally in
the Spring Of 1979 the Fire 'Chief called out
some fire equipment to help with problems
during spring flooding. Some members of
the Board phoned the Fire Chief to voice
their disapproval of using fire equipment for
such emergencies. The Fire Area ••Agr"ee-
ment clearly states that the Fire Chief is in
complete eontrol of all fire apparatus and
thus those members of the Board that
phoned e r spoke to him- on, a. personal
basis were interk ring with, the, Fie: Chief.
The foregoing are the highlights of some
of the problems prevalent in the Bre area, A
fire :protection •survey done in, 1978 room.
mended' that Seaforth assume ownerhip;
4nd management of all fire equipment and
sell Fire protection, to area townships.
In May 1979, Seaforth resolved to opt out
of the present agreement and sell fire
protection. At that time Seaforth met With
the Reeves of .the Townships of McKillop,,
Hibbert, Hullett, and Tuekersmith to pre-
sent an agreement to sell fire protection. The
Townships called another meeting which.
Seaforth attended, The Townships stated
that, if there was a problem over taxable/
nontaxable assessment that they were
willing to negotiate the matter. Seaforth
stated that these problems weren't solved in.
2 years of negotiating and legal opinions,.
therefore, the Town was opting out of the,
agreement.
A. week later Seaforth called: a meeting
with the four townships to discuss and
answer questions on its proposal to. sell Fire
Protection. An Ontario Fire Marshall's.
Advisor was also in attendance to answer
questions on the purchase of fire protection.
The townships were,given 30 days to accept
or reject Seaforth's proposal.
• The following is; a breakdown of fire costs.
under the present agreement and Seaforth's
proposal to sell fire protection.
Present Fire Area Agreement.
-Based on an operating cost of 523,393 and a
reserved pf $16,000, total 539,393,
Seaforth:
Hibbeut,8 S5%
McKillop 35.47%
Tuckersmith 16.3$%
Relied 6.21% •
539.3.91"
* Plus the cost: of firemen's time at fires
Seaforth's Proposal; to sell Fire Protection'.
Seaforth 513,000
Hubert 4 fires
Hibbert 4 fires
McKillop 13 fires
Tuckersmith 7 fires
Hench 2 fires
S13,161•
3,3368*
13.e72 *
6,444*
2.44o*
4.000*
4,009*
t.00 i *
*
$j9 ,.
Plus charges•. after , the number 'of'
designated fires (i.e, McKillop 13 fires) 5200
per vehicle for the first hour and 5100 per
vehicle per hour thereafter. * no cost foe.
firemen's time at any fire.
• Seaforth believes that their proposal
-awll
not cost any more to perate and the
operation of the fire department will be
smoother . under . one management/owner-
ship. It should bepointed out that the above.
eosts are total costs and ` under the new
agreementmunicipalities purchasing fire
protection from Seaforth would not be faced
with special charges when equipment is
updated .or replaced,
The Townships have been offered a credit
of their present equity towards the .cost of
operations under the propsed; agreement.
If any of the four townships decided not to
buy fire protection from Seaforth the town
will investigate the legality of its equity in
the present agreement and will purchase.
new, equipment at an estimated cost of
• 555,000 to ,$60,000. This can be achieved
through the use of present cash reserves and
budget allocations without any undo burden
on Seaforth taxpayers.
It would: obviously be less, expensive for
everyone tobperate a fire department if area
townships purchased fire protection from
.Seaforth. ;However, if Seaforth operates a
department for the Town only there are
some additional benefits. A higher level of
service will! be realized in that the fire trucks
will not leave town except °tinder a mutual
aid agreement, so that Seaforth residents
will not be faced with waiting for a fire truck
to return from a rural area to fight a fire in
town and more emphasis may be put on fire
prevention.
In conclusion, Seaforth "Council ,,feels `that
`
the agreement which has been used for the
past 10 years has not beenfollowed' and that
the parties concerned have been given
ample opportunity to solve problems within
thefire area. The proposal presented by
Seaforth to sell fire ro eC ion is a type of
agreement that is used throughout Ontario
with great, success and is certianly not any'
more costly that the. type of agreement that
was: used 'previously,
Although the four townships have recently
stated that theywishednegotiateto a
new
agreement, Seaforth could not agree to sit at.
a negotiating table with the Fire Area Board
while at the same time taking court action
against them over fire hydrant rental.
This rather lengthy .statement has been
prepared to enlighten the residents and
ratepayers of Seaforth on the Stand Seaforth
has taken. Our Council will nicet with
advisors in late August and proceed to
establish its own fire department commen-
cing January t, 1980+
THE BREEDING RECORDS - Krista Eckert, wlh
t young son Evan, shows
mertnbers of the Seaforth W.I.group how E family
. _ .. ., group ,the . Eckert family keeps
breeding records for' their dull . t wS on the far ..
95h+rhii�farm outt#ide Soafor#h.
The Eckerts are now milkifg dairy' cows on the taritt.
ky.Jt�.Y.lltyY�''1f'§�11'�M,N�•N�W�.;s'..:',."�"� -1i''�'S�''1'-1 N VI•�...�t��y. 40 40,,,.
'THE :HURON EXPOSITOR, :AUGUST' I
HAIRCUT FOR YEAR OF THE CHILD Gaby White, 21 months, is a
week early for the Year of the Child benefit planned by two Seaforth
businesses but she endorses its aims, Piet Loomans of Piet's Place,
above, will donate ail the proceeds from his hairdressing customers on,
one day only,, Monday, August 20 to the local nursery school, and is
asking customers to add a 10 percent donation of their own. Another
special Year of the Child: promotion is planned the same day by Bob
Fisher of Pizza Express. (Expositor Photo)
tomeching to say
Y
by
Susan White,
Correction
We regret that the re-
sidence of . the recently
married couple, Ralph and
Anne Marie Milton, was
incorrectly noted in last
week's Expositor. The story
read that the couple will
reside in Seaforth, but they
will make their home in
Stratford.
You're
invited
To visit the Van. Esmond
House for an ART SHOW
featuring paintings front the
Central Ontario • Artists'
Assoc., beginning Sunday.
afternoon, August 19th from
1 p.rn. until 5 p.m. and
weekend$ _ following until
Ciderfest?' Sept. 30.
Vanastra and District
tions Club parade, Saturday,
August :'8th, 1979 at 1 p.m.
SAYNGI
GOOD—BYE—After 17 years of service at St. James. Church,
Father Laragh is moving to Sarnia to become pastor of a parish there. He
was honoured bythe townspeople at Father Laragh °Ni ht. in the Legion,
9 9 g on,.
Sunday'
(Expositor Photo)
Farewell' to Father Laragh
9
to Sarni
Over 200 people filled. . the Seaforth
8
Legion Hall on Sundaynight ht, to honor
g
Father H.J. HJLaragh of St.:James Church,
,
who is leaving Seaforth to goto a Sarnia
parish.
Father Laragh has served the St. James
parish since 1965,.and is leaving Seaforth
to work in the Our Lady of Mercy parish in
Sarnia.
The evening, arranged to shdw both the
town • and parish's appreciation of the
priest's service in the Community, was
organized by the parish council 4of . St.
James.
.lames Devereaux, a member of the
parish, read this address in honor of Father
Laragh. He said, " It is an honour and a
privilege for all of us to gather here, this
evening to show our gratitude andappreci-
ation to you Father Laragh before leaving
for your new assignment. We thank God
for ,having. had you as• our pastor for
fourteen years and for the privilege of
having shared these years with you.
Your strongfaith, your love of God and
your life in union with Him, your dedi-
cation to your priesthood vocation, your
service to each one, young and old in our
parish and in our community has been an
inspiration and an eitample for us to
remember and to treasure as well as to
carry on in our awn lives. Fot alt of your.
spiritual :guidance, love, kindness, support
and hard work. among. uS, We want to
express our heartfelt thanks. With Our
thanks go our very best wishes for an
abundance of God`s richest blessings to.
you His good and faithful servant.
As we say farewell we look forward to
your return visits and to any ,otrcasion• of
seeing' you in the future.
Please accept this gift with. ,our sittcCie
thanks froth the parishioner of St. .tames
Parish Seaforth, Ontario,
�".144e!i::al9tw1.
May Godblessyou abundantly and keep
you in His love and care.
During. evening,.Father Laragh was
presented with a mantle clock and purse of
money by the parish; The CWL presented
him with a pen set and the Knights of
Columbus also presented him with a gift of
money.
Mrs, John Segeren,of the •parish,
organized the evening� s entertainment.
The program started with a violin selection
played by the McQuaid sisters; a piano solo
by Sharon; Wilson. dance number by
Cheryl Cook and Pam Betties a choir with
members Melissa "Segeren, Rosemary Van
Dyke, Jamie Groothuis, Jackie Noble, ,
Sharon Wilson, Margaret Ann Devereaux'
accompanied by Maureen Hutchinson who
performed a number of selections, a piano
solo by ' Mary Catherine Vincent and a
atepdancing number by Anne Marie, Carol `
Anne and Madonna McQuaid.
A nutnber of parish and community
organizations were represented at the
farewell party,forFather Laragh. Mrs. Ken
Vincent represented. the CWL, Arnold
Stinnissen represented the Seaforth choir,
Mike Connoly attended from the Huron
and Perth Separate School board, Gordon
MacKenzie represented the "Seaforth Com-
munity Hospital: board, Ittorris Etue at-
tended for the 'Knights of Columbus,
Gordon Rimnter represented the Seaforth
Lions Club and Reverend Father Sanderup
of Wingharn attended on behalf of the
Stratford deanery.
Father Laragh hat served an the.
Seaforth Community Hospital- board of
directors for the past eight years, and wit
'chairman of the board for the past year.,
The priest, Who was ordained 1iSt.
Peter's parish, London, served in par:'
In .Pctrolia and Woodstock' before cotiti'
to Seaforth,