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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1983-05-11, Page 6editoriel page LUCKNO(_SENTINEL� "The Sepoy Town" Established 11173 THOMAS A. l HOMPSON - Adhert(sing Manager SHARON J. DIE11 E.detor PAI LiVINGSTON Office Manager JOAN HELM - Compositor MERLE ELLIOTT Typesetter Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 11, 1983—Page 6 Business and Editorial Office 1 clephone 528.2822 Mailing Address P.O. Box 400, t ucknoti . NNOG 2H0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0847 Subscription rate, $15.2S per year In advance Senior Citizen rate, $12.75 per year In advance U.S.A. and Foreign, S38.00 per year In advance Sr. Cit. U.S.A. and Foreign, S36.0O per year In advance Sewers are necessary to clean up polluted river Approximately 35 village residents who live in the area to be serviced by the proposed sewage works system, met at the Anglican Parish Hall May 5, Several questions were asked by the residents of the Village Councillors, Ab Murray and Eldon Mann, who attended the meeting, The most obvious question, Must we install sewers, is there no alternative? was not adequately answered by the councillors present, In the first place Reeve George Joynt did not attend the meeting, Joynt has been reeve of the village throughout the 30 year history of Lucknow's health problems created by the contamination of the Lucknow River by raw sewage, Village residents should be fortunate to have one Member of the council who has been involved in the history of the sewage controversy, because this should mean that member of council could answer •any questions related to why we must have sewers, The village residents who attended the meeting May 5 did not have that privilege, Reeve Joynt did not attend the meeting. In his absence councillors Murray and Mann did their best to answer the questions of the residents. Neither are full time politicians and neither served on council when the problem started in the 1950s, Neither are familiar first hand with the history of the events which prevented sewers from being installed immediately, when it was discovered raw Intolerable delay Lucknow Village Council's withdrawal of the sewage works application from the Ontario Municipal Board, because they do not have land for a treatment facility, will create an intolerable delay. As pointed out in accompanying stories and the above editorial in today's Sentinel, Lucknow must install sewers to prevent the continuing contamination of the Lucknow River by raw sewage. - Since Floyd Milne refuses to renew the agreement to purchase his land for the treatment facility of the sewage works, the complete process will be delayed up to six months, A new application for the new site must be approved by the Ministry of the Environment. This can only be done once council reaches agreement with a landowner for the purchase of property for the treatment facility. The financial arrangements to cover the cost of the project through sewer rates must be recalculated as they relate to the new land to be purchased. The village's engineer, accountant and lawyer will have to prepare a second proposal based on the new land to be purchased. The complete process must be done a second time before the new proposal can be sent to the Ontario Municipal Hoard for approval. Lucknow residents have sent letters to the OMB regarding the first proposal and now they will have to wait until the second proposal is prepared to, learn how much [sewers will cost the taxpayer. Once the new proposal is prepared we will only be back to the position we were at now, before the reeve, George Joynt, and Mr. Milne had their difference of opinion. This delay is unfortunate as well as costly to the village because the work must be done a second time, Money will he spent on services provided by the village accountant, lawyer and engineer as well as the village clerk to prepare the new proposal. The delay could in the end, depending on capital costs and interest rates, create an increase in the eventual cost of the project to the taxpayer. It's a sorry situation! Clarification An editorial in last week's issue of the Sentinel stated the difference in the mill rate on an average assessment between borrowing money at 18 per cent to finance the sewage works system and borrowing money at 11 per cent, shows a decline of one-third in the mill rate or a decrease of $50 when it should have read a decline of one-third in the mill rate or a decrease of $25. The amount paid at 18 per cent is $75. The amount paid at 11 per cent is 550. The annual charge on an average dwelling within the serviced area and outside the serviced area for sewer mill rate for debenture and sewer service mill rate for debenture will be inlcuded in the tax bill not the water rates. The sewage service rate for operating costs will be charged on the water rates to ratepayers in the serviced area only, sewage was present in the Lucknow River. They are left to answer the questions raised by decisions made by previous councils, who did not act to have sewers built 25 years ago. Reeve Joynt was on council at the time and every year since. He is familiar with the decisions made by previous councils and he should have been at the meeing to answer the questions. Sewers are necessary. As the director of inspection for the Bruce County Health Unit and the Bruce County Medical Officer of Health stressed in an interview with the editor of the Sentinel, if septic tanks would solve the problem, those in the core area who do not have them would have been forced to install them long ago, Those in the core area whose septic tank systems were not working properly would have been asked to replace their systems. The village isnot installing a costly sewage system beeause a few main street property owners refuse to clean up their act, The village is not installing sewers because a few residents are dumping "nasties" into the Lucknnw River. The village is installing sewers because there just is not the land available in the core area to accommodate an effective septic tank system. Who do we blame? Do we blame the first merchants of the village for building commercial properties over the Lucknow River and developing the business section near the river? Those people used hand pumps at their kitchen sinks and an out house in the back yard. They did not have problems with contamination of the river. The development of modern household appliances including indoor toilets, indoor bathtubs, automatic washing machines and dishwashers, means every resident in the serviced area is using between 80 and 100 gallons of water a day. A system, designed to handle water from a hand pump, cannot accomodate this excessive use of water, If our fore- fathers could have seen the future, they may have chosen to develop the core business area on the top of "Quality Hill" and our problems would have been prevented. If you doubt the Bruce County Health Unit and the Ministry of Environment and you still think septic tank systems will work along the main street, walk around behind the main street businesses, look at the land available to accomodate septic systems using weeper beds along the river, and tell us where you think the untreated sewage from those septic tanks is going? In recent years concern for the environment has played a prominent role in cleaning up our water systems and Lucknow should not expect to be an exception. It will be costly to install sewers but the benefit to the entire village should be a concern to every village resident. Polluted water is a health hazard and the problem has to be cleaned up. This picture was taken about 75 years ago near the old town Identify the others In the picture. If you can, please call the hall. The identity of the teamsters is known. Can you Sentinel, 528-2822. one foot in the furrow by bob trotter Ralph Barrie inust be feeling something like a football these days. As president of the Ontario I"edera- tion of Agriculture. he fought for some kind of tax relief for farmers. '1'h(' federation, in its wisdom and after considerable discussion w itl) members, asked the province to ex- empt fartrl property from all real ('shite taxes. Federation delegates hung in ihere for tnotiths. 'Che plan evolved to the !Mint %5'i1e1'(' fal'1nerS wt'r(' to get a lax rebate 011 all prope'rtand buildings e'xc'ept for a deemed lot and the farm house. No farmer would be forced to pay taxes 00 farce land and farm buildings. 'Che plan would replace the present system whereby fanners get a 50 -per cent rebate on property taxes, Barrie and the federation members thought they had scored a victory for fanners. The province agreed to rebate to farmers property taxes on farm land and huilditlgs. lint fanners – some of thein. anyway -- thought differently. '1'lley said if they were exempt almost en- tirely from municipal taxes, they would lose interest in municipal The Christmas Farmers Federation insisted that fanners. if they were ex- empt from ' most municcipa1 taxes, would los(' interest. Farmers have. traditronally. been extretrlely active to local governmler)t, the t said. and ihis exemption would convince there that. becot's(' they were t11H ins so lit- tle in municipal taxes, the would (ease being a(tive at the local level. I think their fears are groundless. In spite of the fact that rnanS townships. 1raditronallrural in philosophy, have elected urban representatives, the agricultural idea flan been fostered. Most councillors are still agricultural- ly oriented. Ever) if they are not full - Line fanners, they continue to Se(' the rural point of view and that point of view is constantly reflected in the decisions made at the township level. In rev horse area, for instance. the majority of council have a less -than - agricultural point of view yet those same members of council continue to press for the preservation of farm land. They fight constantly to keep land in production to the detriment of developers. Developers do not care whether farm land is good or bad, the just ant to sell lots. The want to make a buck or tw o or five on the .sale of land. Fill be it from 111(' to suggest that making 0 profit is a bad idea but to [make' a profit at ilk' exp('rlSe r,f [eneratlons 10 c'Urne is ‘,t hat bothers 1111'. In this great land of Canada. less than five per cent of the land is arable and it is our Christian duty to preserve a5 much of that land as possible from enc'roac'hment. if the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, in its wisdom, feels that fanners should be exempt from real ('state taxes, then 1 am willing to go along with theril until a better rnet'hod i5 suggested.