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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-10-26, Page 5Opp updates BODY FOUND ON LAKE HURON SHORELINE Should You Find an Aban- doned Watercraft, Please Call OPP (ASHFIELD-COL- BORNE-WAWANOSH, ON) - Investigators from the Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Crime Unit continue to seek the public's assistance in determining the identity of a deceased male that was found this past Saturday located on a beach just north of Port Albert. This investigation, now in its twelfth day, has yet to determine the identity of this man. Investigators would like to speak with anyone that may have recently found an abandoned vessel or related marine/sporting equipment along the Lake Huron shoreline. Any findings of vessels, including, but not limited to: kayaks, canoes, fishing boats, sailboats, kiteboards, paddleboards, personal watercraft, inflatable rafts, dinghies and marine related items should be reported to police. The exact amount of time this male had been in the water prior to his death is not known; however any findings over the last month should be reported to police. Please notify the Huron OPP Crime Unit by calling (519) 524-8314 or 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1 -800- 222 -TIPS (8477), where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000. BREAK, ENTER & THEFT - DRIVE SHED (HURON EAST, ON) - Investigators from the Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Property Crimes Unit are seeking tips in an effort to solve a break, enter and theft that occurred over the weekend in Huron East. A dollar value for the total amount of property sto- len is estimated to be around $60,000. On Saturday, October 15th sometime between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. those responsible attended a rural property located on Cran- brook Road southeast of Brussels. Once on the prop- erty the thieves proceeded to force their way into the large drive shed through a locked man door. Once inside the drive shed they proceeded to load up a truck and trailer with all kinds of stolen prop- erty and three off-road vehicles. The following off-road vehicles, valued at a total of Wednesday, October 26, 2016 • News Record 5 $40,000 were stolen: • A yellow 2011 Can -Am Outlander Max XT 800, 4 -wheel drive All -Terrain Vehicle • A white, 2016 Bobcat, 3400 diesel, side-by-side Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) • A red, 2007 Honda TRX 500cc, 4 -wheel drive All -Ter- rain Vehicle (ATV) The thieves also stole an approximate $20,000 worth of Milwaukee & John Deere brand power tools, a large John Deere toolbox, a Cobalt toolbox and two other tool boxes that con- tained various hand tools and sockets. Any person with infor- mation regarding this crime should immediately contact Huron OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or (519) 524-8314. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1 -800 -222 -TIPS (8477), where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000. Huron East set to compare costs from Stratford Police to OPP Shaun Gregory Postmedia Network Policing costs are con- stantly increasing. The province has recently been recognizing this unpleasant financial fact, and so has Tuckersmith Coun. Ray Chartrand. And with saying that, he has requested that council check to see if the grass is greener in Stratford. The municipality of Huron East has received their esti- mates this year from the OPP and discovered that costs have risen by a small margin of $8,000. This is an amount that council can deal with rather well, compared to the $192,000 spike from the pre- vious year. As soon as the CAO of Huron East, Brad Knight informed council of the report, Chartrand immedi- ately responded. After reading an article by the Huron Expositor about policing costs, Chartrand said that interest was sparked. He went on to say that it would be wise for council to see if Stratford Police are willing to provide an approximation of costs relating to potentially polic- ing Huron East. "Let them give us the price, compare that to see what we are paying the OPP and see if there is a major difference," Chartrand stated at the bi-weekly Huron East council meeting October 18. With the method the OPP use to patrol the area, according to Chartrand, the financials are his main con- cern, but what also troubles him is the wait time. In some cases, ratepayers can be in the range of 30-45 minutes waiting for services. "They might come from Sebringville, Goderich, they might come from Clinton," indicated Chartrand. "Strat- ford is 25-30 minutes away and they have a huge police force, there might be an opportunity to hire them for service" McKillop ward rep, Kevin Wilbee believes this process may take months and Strat- ford Police will be "reluc- tant," to deal with such requests. Sharing similar opinions, as Chartrand was Seaforth councillor, Bob Fisher, who also wondered about a county force. This had been brought to County council a "few times" before, responded the Mayor of Huron East, Bernie MacLellan. He said they had the desire to have all the municipalities under one contract. This procedure would then give leeway to better pricing, he said. "Now that they've changed the pricing model, the OPP themselves state, that it makes no difference Shaun Gregory Postmedia Network Three Huron East council members. From the left is CAO, Brad Knight, the Mayor, Bernie MacLellan and deputy mayor, Joe Steffler at last week's council meeting. Coun. Ray Chartrand put a motion forward to examine Stratford policing costs. They were not that favourable of the topic. whether it's a small contract or large contract. You are basically paying what you are paying," said MacLellan about the new billing model which provides a more apparent cost recovery practise by making sure all municipalities pay a reason- able share. MacLellan attended an OPP session the Friday prior to council and during this time they discussed overall service levels, how they do things as well as their actual cost per house charge. "The actual price per house is dropping, the over- all bill isn't," said the mayor, a number that works out to about $350 per household in Huron East. Currently MacLellan said the OPP are in the middle of arbitration relating to new contracts. "We have no idea what that's going to mean to us," he said. After Chartrand put the motion to check Stratford Police prices, the deputy mayor of Huron East, Joe Steffler had a confused look, he said this was talked about before and for a private police service the costs were "astronomical." "The set up cost for the cars, equipment and build- ings, as far as the countywide police force; I don't think it's a very good idea," com- mented Steffler. "Most of towns under 10,000 have OPP because (of) the cost. It's not because they are doing a better job." Fisher replied to Steffler's comments and said he's aware of the costs that entail with starting up a police force, "but if you had a municipality who are paying $1.5 million or more, that's $14 million being spent on policing in Huron County, that seems an awful lot for 56,000 people." Most of council voted in favour of asking the Strat- ford Police for an estimated cost for service. The Mayor requested that motion be a courtesy call, just to see they if would actually con- sider it.