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The Citizen, 1991-10-16, Page 25THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1991. PAGE 25. County to study changes in waste management policy Huron County's Waste Manage­ ment Steering Committee will study recommendations from Hul- lett township about changes to its policy regarding purchase of prop­ erties effected by a Huron County Landfill site. Reeve Tom Cunningham of Hul- lett explained at the Oct. 3 meeting of county council that his council was concerned about a county poli­ cy that would allow those effected by a dump in their neighbourhood to sell their land to the county for a period of up to three years after the landfill opened. Pointing out that for many farmers, their land is their pension, he said "I don't think they should have to decide in three years if they're going to lose part of their pension". Grey township reeve Leona Arm­ strong agreed. With the current Special recognition Brussels council’s representative to the Brussels Fire Board, Bruce Hahn, left, presented Fire Chief Howard Bernard with certificates from the Governor-General of Canada and a medallion in recognition of 20 and 30 years of service. agricultural climate, she said, farm land prices aren't as good as they should be. "I feel that farm real estate prices aren't appraised at a value people would like to sell them at," she said. The Hullett council also asked the county to look at either taking over a township road on which the landfill was located, or providing money to the local municipality to pay for road maintenance. Even if the road were paved, he said, many townships don't have equipment for salting and sanding in winter. The recommendations will be passed along to the waste Manage­ ment committee.*** The provincial government has back-tracked on its Back on Track recommendations for increased welfare coverage, John MacKin­ non,administrator of social service for the county told council. The original proposals, to take effect Oct. 1, would have allowed self-employed people to be given welfare assistance if their incomes were below certain levels, just as other "working poor" can now get assistance. Only those who are dis­ abled or where a spouse has left may be able to get assistance if they are self-employed, he said. Welfare for 16 and 17 year olds who have left home on their own has also been reconsidered, Mr. MacKinnon said. Now people of that age will only be able to get assistance under special circum­ stances, such as if they come from an abusive home or if an outside agency such as the Children's Aid Society says the home is not a good Candidates discuss Wheels Away continued from page 8 tions, saying it should be up to individual taxpayers if they wanted to give donations, not to the munic­ ipality. He was also worried about the erosion of property rights. Mor­ ris township was one of the last municipalities to begin issuing building permits, he said, and he would be happy to see it become the first to discontinue building permits. Roy Aitcheson said he felt it was his responsibility to become involved in the community, espe­ cially at a time of high taxes and low farm income. Karl McNaughton, owner of the Walton Inn said he would bring integrity, honesty and good com­ mon sense to his job as councillor if he were elected. John Duskocy said he had been a resident of the township for 15 years and felt township council had done a good job. He felt he should do his utmost to help the county, he environment. Another change is that provincial funding for sole-support families will increase to 100 per cent, sav­ ing the county the 20 per cent that it had previously paid. Twenty-five per cent of the case load in Huron is sole-support parents, he said. That was the good news. The bad news is that social service costs in the county are soaring. The caseload in Aug. 1990 was 189 while this year it jumped to 363, an increase of 92 per cent. Still, of 64 municipalites reporting welfare fig­ ures in July, Huron had the second lowest proportion of the population on welfare at 1.15 per cent. Ottawa- Carleton had the highest proportion with 6.84 per cent of the population on welfare. Huron's Social Services Depart­ said, but on council he would only be one cog on a wheel and have to work with the rest of the council. He was concerned about how taxes were spent and wanted to prevent building permits being required for things such as new doors, windows, etc. During questioning the Wheels Away transportation system came under scrutiny, particularly because of possible grants to support the system from the township. Mrs. Souch defended the system, asking why should people in town have benefits such as being able to get rides to the hospital while peo­ ple in the townships don't. People in Wingham were being charged $2.50 to go a couple of blocks in the Wheels Away van, she said, while people in Morris still only had to pay $2.50 to go a greater distance. "I'm hoping and praying the seniors will use it (the Wheels Away system). If they don't use it, it's gone. They don't need to come ment will be over budget again this year, Mr. MacKinnon reported. As well, because of the increased caseload, the department should have four field workers but only has three. ♦♦♦ The Social Services Department will maintain a cap set earlier this year for money paid to Survival Through Friendship House, the refuge for battered women. The agency had capped the amount of money it would pay to the shelter al $32,890. By the end of August all but $4,859 had been used up and that amount was expected to be used up in September. Mr. MacK­ innon said that regular general assistant (welfare) will be issued to those residents of the home who qualify once the money has run out. back and cry on my shoulder (after it's gone)." Carmen Klaus agreed that the Wheels Away system is needed. She said she worked with old peo­ ple and they want to be able to go places without having to beg to get there. When one ratepayer asked how much the subsidy to the system might be, it was explained that the current formula would see support­ ing municipalities pay 75 cents per capita to support the system. That however, depends on all municipal­ ities sharing the cost and depends on losses not being any larger. George Michie questioned the $2.50 fee, saying it was "way too cheap" to cover the costs of some of the trips. Reeve Fraser said the system could eventually be a county-wide system but cost would be a factor. "If it's going to be too costly, it will just have to go by the wayside,” he said. /CAL LTD. 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