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The Citizen, 1991-05-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 15,1991. Smoothing the bumps Residents in the southern part of Huron County mustn't know just which way they want the cunent debate between the Ministry of Transportation and the Huron County road committee to come ouL The province had been suggesting again to the county that Highways 83 and 84 should be taken over by the province and maintained as county highways. Both are relatively short stretches of road compared to Highway 4 or 21 which connect distant parts of the province. The county, with enough road of its own to maintain, wants the province to keep the two highways. County taxpayers won't be happy to find they have to maintain more highway if the county does get stuck with the two roads but if you were a taxpayer in the Exeter or Zurich areas served by the two roads, you might be wishing the county would take over. You don't have to travel much in Huron to know that the county road system is far superior to the provincial highways. It wasn't always so. At one time the term "provincial highway" automatically brought the impression of some grand, smooth road. Ontario was known for its highway system. Today many of those highways are getting in sad shape and the money just isn't there to fix them. Successive governments, dating back to the latter days of the Conservative regime, through the Liberals and now to the NDP have made roads a low priority. The recent provincial budget made services to people the major priority of the Bob Rae government. Which is all well and good but Mr. Rae must remember that we are able to afford to have a generous government because of the general prosperity of the province. Part of that prosperity was built on a first- class road system that attracted industries that had to move goods by road. Cosdy as it is, we must keep the provincial road system in good repair. What are the costs? Blyth's reeve and councillors last week again expressed their opposition to the wishes of at least some of their taxpayers that the village should be getting into the act of recycling. The councillors' expressions, seemed to indicate they feel they are misunderstood and underestimated by the misinformed people who want to be part of the same recycling programmes that most surrounding communities are already taking part in. If only people knew how much recycling would cost them, Reeve Wasson said, then they'd understand the councillors are saving them a lot of money by not getting involved. So okay, maybe it's lime people did know. Maybe it's time councillors themselves knew. So far as we know from attending regular council meetings, there has been absolutely no research done as to what would be the costs involved. There was talk of inviting a representative of Bluewater Recycling to address council but so far there's been no action even on that. While recycling may be expensive, talk at least is cheap and council should be able to afford to listen. Maybe they'd find out the cost isn't so great after all. Every other community locally except Blyth's partners in Hullett, has gotten involved in recycling. Those communities figure even if they have to pay extra for recycling they save in prolonging the life of their landfill site. It's the same reason they encourage home composting. But Blyth councillors figure they've already got that angle covered. They battled the Ministry of the Environment for years for the right to keep on burning garbage and worked out a system that allows separation of garbage into burnable and non-bumable. The Reeve proudly pointed out the village cuts the volume of garbage to be buried by two-thirds by the plan. But the garbage just doesn't disappear, folks. Just because you don't have to bury it doesn't mean it's harmless. It seems to be another case of "out of sight, out of mind" as far as the council is concerned. They either haven't thought about where the pollutants from the burning go, or just plain don't believe there is any pollution caused by burning. Under the same thought processes the village could perhaps look at saving more money by simply disconnecting the sewerline to the treatment plant and letting everything flow into the Blyth Creek. After all, once it has left Blyth, who cares? Waste disposal is a complicated issue. It isn't as easy as throwing garbage in a hole and burying it or letting it go up in smoke. There are hidden factors in getting rid of our waste problems of contamination of water and air. Recycling loo is complicated and isn't the perfect solution many of its proponents make it seem to be. But it does deserve study and councils should not reject it out of hand without getting the facts. Spring in bloom Looking Backward One Year Ago May 16, 1990 Morris township taxpayers were hit with an 11.13 percent increase in their 1990 taxes, while Grey township taxes rose 8.5 percent. Brussels council gave permission to the Optimist Club to erect a sign at the ball diamond in recognition of the work done on the facility by the club. LCBO shot down Blyth’s hope of having a liquor store in the village, saying the market wasn’t big enough. Area athletes won at Huron- Perth. Jason Gropp of Brussels, placed second in the senior boys long jump, Mark Bylsma of Blyth was second in midget javelin while Matt King of Blyth got a first in the senior javelin. On the second day of the meet, Sara Lyon of Londesboro brought home a second in the midget girls 400 metres, second in the 800 metres and third in the 1500 metres. Melanie Knox was first in both the 100 and 200 metre heals for junior girls while Dawn Becker of RR2, Bluevale was second in the 80 metre hurdles. Ian Morton of Belgrave was first in the midget boys 100 metre hur­ dles and Jason Bloemberg, RR4, Wingham was second in the junior boys 100 metres. Rick Howson of Blyth finished third in shotput and Lyall Winger of Ethel was third in pole vault. Jason Gropp came third in the senior boys triple jump, Steve Vandendool was first in shot- put, Malt King was third in discus. Overall team championships went to Madill’s senior boys and CHSS junior girls. Three Years Ago May 11, 1988 Jack Bryans was selected from eight Brussels-area residents, as the Citizen of the Year. Mr. Bryans had been nominated by three people for his work with the Community Cen­ tre, the Cemetery Board and his church work. George and Margaret Wasson marked their 50th anniversary al a celebration in Blyth. The couple were married on May 7, 1938 and moved to Morris in 1944. Blyth Lions spent $10,000 on park renovations. Relatives from Holland and Cali­ fornia journeyed to Blyth to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Johannes and Antje Verburg. Five 4H beef calf club members weighed in their project animals al the Brussels Stockyards, beginning a summer which will hopefully end at the prestigious Queens’ Guineas class at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair in November. Registering steers were Darren continued on page 30 The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 i Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 GST] for local; $41.73/year ($39.00 plus $2.73 C.S.T.] for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels]; $6CLQ0/year for U.S.A, and Foreign. 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