Huron Expositor, 2000-07-12, Page 6•
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6 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, July 12, 2000
Koren Wettoufer photo
Thonks.to" a 51,000 grorit from the Molson Local Heroes
.. program, the South Hibbert --Athletic Association recently
erected eight new lights, two ballasts -arid a service panel of
the botlpark,in Cromarty, making the park now more efficient
and feasible. The -Association had already raised more than
51,500 toward the project,. ougmented by the local Heroes
program. -The lights at the. pork were more than 20 years old
and in dire need of repoir. Countless volunteers mode the
. project possible.
Township council
Palen gets a foot hold up on '
to be firm in Staffa getting his .property re-.
zoned." • neighbour Pete
gravel pit expansionin
Klar told council. it would
'put the 30 people ve
News
Cromarty gravel pit on rocky road to expansion
By Anne Kelly
•
Special to The Huron Expositor
It's shaping up to he arocky
road for the owner of a gravel
pit just outside Cromarty who
wants to c wand his operation. '
Seven neighbours of the
gravel pit property owned b)
Ken Palen came to Perth
County council last Thursday.
citing concerns in person and
in letter about noise. dust.
property devaluation, water
quality. truck speed and
safety.
That despite the fact that the
county was actually only
dealing . with a
recommendation by its
planning director to designate
several properties. including
Palen's. .as a mineral
aggregate resource area.
The step was being taken to
correct an oversight by the
Upper Thames River
Conservation Authority when ..
it was..preparing digitized
maps for the county's official
plan in 1997. -he province
had previouldeterminfd
there was gravel on the
properties and there is already
a license to extract gravel
from the pit currently being
operated on Pales's property:
Neighbours don't . want
more •of the unpleasantness
they say comes from living
close to such an operation. '
"If this is re -designated. Mr.
By Andy Bader
Mitchell Advocate Editor
Although their Collective:
hands, are _tied.somewhat.
Rest Perth township, council.
agreed tb be ,as firm as
:possible with an expanding
'gravel pit in Staffa.
With County Planner Mark
Swallow• in attendance to
explain their options, and
those of the pits owner. Bill .
Jennison of. Grand Bend.
council decided last Tuesday
night during their regular
meeting to - not allow
Jennison t6 extract more
gravel an additional 15-
metres (50 -feet) closer to the
existing • houses .along
Concession 9 of Hibbert: -
What council did agree to
do is close unused portions of
' streets in the vicinity. and sell
them to Jennison, although
they have: yet to determine
the, lands' worth. and will
have• a meeting ith him in
the future.
Swallow explained that.
there was a lot of confusion
over the gravel pit:and the
amount of gravel they could
extract from. their pit. Poor
site plans: ass ell' 'as
inaccurate depths from the
Ministry of Natural.
Resources • .didn't help
matters.
The. fact that ; the
municipality "can do nothing
in terms of the .MNR's
licence w nth Jennison didn't
ease theconcerns of some
members of council. who -felt
that the .water table could- be'
jeopardized at - the site.
affecting current and future
residents and their dug wells.
• "I don't know what
guarantees .there are in
place." Swallow told council.
referring-1o_the_ ater_table.
He explained "thaTthe . licence
is a deal between the MNR
and Jennison under the
Aggregate Resources Act.
.West Perth immediately
rejected Jennison's request to
move the 3Q -metre setback to
I S-metres—something they
can control -•:--saying the
standard "at (east gives the
residents some protection," •
said Coun. Bill French'.
"We owe ii to protectthe
people " he continued. "I
'know I wouldn't warn it la
- gravel pit] that close to me."
Council did 'agree to close
Off part of unused "stub"
streets in•Staffa, in effect
giving Jennison more (and
base with which to extricate
gravel. They are just deciding
what price to ask, -subject to
the condition that they are
even allowed to sell the piece
of property to Jennison under
the Municipal Act
With the "stub" streets
closed off. Jennisongains/an
additional 0.94 -acres of an
Swallow informed council.
The land should be worth
something," said Coun. Lou
Maloney. :1 don't feel like'
giving it away: '
.opposition at a disadvantage
as far as preserving their
rights as 'residents and
landowners." he added in a
letter.. -
The re -zoning v.ill have.to
be dealt with by West Perth
council and Mayor John Van.,
Bakel argued that designation
is a "fairly miter" step in the
whole process. "It's just
saying there is gravel there."
Klaver and Peter
Zankowski. two of the four
property owners • whose
properties were also
recommended for designation.
argued the designation would
devalue their property and
bring restrictions that could
limit their use of it.
At the suggestion of West
Perth Deputy -Mayor Bert
Vorstenbosch. council
narrowly approved
designating only the Palen
property. Penh South Deputy -
Reeve_ John Scott was one of
those who disagreed, saying
"if it is supposed to be on our
official plan maps (the
aggregate designation) it
should be there."
Interviewed after council,
Zankowski said he thought
council's decision was a
reasonable compromise, but it
won't remove the fundamental
concerns of neighbours over
the pit expansion. Although
he assured councillors during
the meeting the matter would
be "bumped up" to the
Ontario Municipal Board
(OMB), he said afterward
neighbours would have to
make that decision as a group.
But he would support them if
they decided to appeal.
Several councillors argued
that. the other issues. such as
noise. dust and safety being
broughtt•up'by neighbours are
zoning -related and not for the
county to deal with. • -
But. Klaver argued the
designation for Palen and the
zoning arc linked. He
wondered how politicians
'could approve a designation
for -Palen and then vote
against the re -zoning.
•.In his letter he invited
councillors to a site meeting at
70 ONTARIO WHAT PRODUCERS...
New
urged
GODERICH ELEVATORS LIMITED
•- NNOt•N('ES 5 (;001) REASONS
1 O BRING l OI R t1111: t1' TO O('K C(ll)r:Riau Lo(''i IO\
1, No loads rejected for moisture.
0 Direct delivery gives maximum return.
0 Six large, receiving pits.
• 0 Segregated storage for all pools.
® Extended unloading hours, when needed.
WVVVVVWWL
New Deadline
The Huron Expositor has moved
their deadline for news, letters,
classifieds and advertising to
12 N00
MONDAYS (except for holidays)
We appreciate your anticipated co-operation
"Your Community Newspaper"
527-0240
i►,
<5>
Fax#: 527-2858 * , <o > 5%>
1AAAAAAAAaks.
100 Main St. Seaforth <a 9l
his property. like one Palen
held for them "to experience
the effects of noise. traffic.
speed. dust and the shortage
of water in my well as a result
of the pit operations."
' Palen could not he reached
for comment.
Another letter 'from
neighbour Jack - Van
Miltenburg claims that despite
assurances he received in a
meeting with Palen that the
gravel trucks would slow
down, within a few days they
were traveling well above the
speed limit.
"It appeared as if there was.
a race to see who could make
it to the pit first. We stressed
time and time again the safety
hazards caused by high speed
trucks. flying debris, stones
and how we fear for our lives
when we meet them on the
road with an open tractor,
equipment and even a motor
vehicle. let alone walking," he
wrote.
"Hard surfacing the road
may stop the dust and (lying
stones, but it won't control the
speed. There are many homes
close to the road and at (east
three hidden driveways. We
strongly fear all the high-
speed trucks, on this mad is a
tragedy waiting to happen."
Van Miltenburg argued that
if the new pit is opened while
the current one.•is still
operating, traffic would
increase more than. four -fold.
"This would virtuallymake
this road a death trap."
He also pointed out ;that
West Perth council had gone
to the OMB to try to limit the
size of livestock operations
- and the distance manure could
be hauled, arguing that the
larger the operation and the
more trucks on the road. the
greater the potential for a
mishap.
"The Palen pit falls under
the same criteria," Van
Miltenburg wrote.
HURONf COUNTY
MUSEUM
Request for Submissions
The Huron County Museum
Will be hosting an Art Show
August 18 -October 8, 2000
Submitted work must be done in
watercolour, oil or acrylic and the
subject matter should have some
relevance to Huron County. Artists
must be seasonal or fuA-tine
residents of Huron County.
WINNING ENTRIES will be
given purchase awards Of...
'1000..1 ST PRIZE
'800...2ND PRIZE
'700...3RD PRIZE
Paintings must be received
by the Museum (110 North
Street. Goderich) no later than
Monday, August 14, 2000.
For Information & regulations,
contact Wendy Chan at
the Huron County Museum
AL
eeeeeetseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC ROAD NAME CHANGES
' SECTION 210 (111) of the
Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990
NOTICE is hereby given that the following Councils intend to pass -
a by-law to name public roads which.may not have been previously
named. and to change -the name of public roads which may have • -
been previously. named.
The public.road naming, or change of name is intended to facilitate
the County -wide municipal addressing system which is required to
be in place prior to the implementation of the a-1-1 Emergttncy
o Reponse System for ambulance, fire and.polide services
O throughout the County of -Huron..
O ADDITIONAL INFORMATION relating to the proposed naming/ -
ID renaming of public roads is available for inspection al the
respective Municipal Offices or the Huron County Planning and
Development Department at 524.2188.
DATED THIS 27th DAY OF JUNE. 2000
J.A. Murray. Clerk -Administrator U
County of Huron Ey
at
Public Meeting U
Qata
Aug. 09.. 2000
7:30 p.m.. v
D
• Aug. 01, 2000 v
7:30 p.m. 0
Aug. 21, 2000 v
8:00 p.m. r.
Aug. 21, 2000 3
8:00. p.m.
O
Valerie Przybilla • Aug. 08, 2000
7:00 p.m.D
Rhonda Fischer Aug. 22, 2000 I
7:30 p.m. 3
J R McLachlan Aug. CA. 2000
7:30 p.m. 3
Nancy Michie Aug.15.2000
7:30 p.m. o
Ansberth Willem Aug. 08,2000 D
7.30 p.m. o
Larry Brown Aug. 01, 2000 I
5:00 p.m.
J.R McLachlan Aug. 01,2000
7:30 pier.
Dorothy Kelly Aug 15.2060
9:00 p.m. -
Winona Thompson Aug. 01,2000
8:00 p.m.
L+lrane Nolan Aug. 01, 2000
7:30 p.m
w.d.:Jai
g
Municipality
Ashfield Twp.
(519)529.7383
C Colborne Twp.
c (519) 524.4669
Godarich Twp.
I(519)482.9804
g
Ill
Grey Twp:
(519) 887-6268
Howick Twp.
(519)335.3208
H S Twp.
(519)340
MclCaop. Twp.
(519) 527.0160
Morris Twp.
(519) 887.6137
(5119 Stanley233.7907
Stephen Twp.
(519) 234-6331
Tuckersnwth Twp.
(519) 527-1997
Turnberry Twp
(519) 357-2991
East Wawanosh Twp
(519) 357-2880
West Wawanosh Twp
(519) 528-2903
WWQDOGW.t WWWitiri..r
Clerk
Linda Andrew
Judy Kay
Linda Cranston
Brad Knight