Loading...
Times Advocate, 1991-12-11, Page 1DONATIONS RECEIVED AT IRIVITT MEMORIAL FOR CHRISTMAS BUREAU 'Tll. DEC. 13 7T Gaiser-Kneale Insurance • Service Experience & Value 235-2420 Serving South Huron North Middlesex & Lambton Since 1873 Inside Still Stompin' Exeter band comes home page 10 Pacers Youth movement strikes team Second front Granny's Attic Old faGhi sought for levee page 32 ,{V Council votes against waste HENSALL - Hensall Council voted Monday evening against a request by the Township of Ste- phen to accept waste from the Township prior to the implementa- tion of the Huron County Waste Management Master Plan in 1996. The Stephen landfill sight is ap- proaching capacity and the Town- ship has been investigating the pos- sibility of continued use at the site, inquiring whether or not the Hen- sall municipality was interested in accepting waste. The current vol- ume of garbage is 13,500 cubic metres per year. Snowballs possible cause of car crash EXETER - Snowballs could be a factor in an accident investigation the Exeter OPP are conducting into an incident which occurred Satur- day evening. The Hensall Fire Department were called out to help extricate a 30 -year old male from his vehicle who was involved in an accident on Highway 4 at,ihe south end of Hen - sal 1. Police investigation revealed that three male youths were seen to be throwing snowballs at the man's ve- hicle just before the accident oc- curred. Police say the matter is still under investigation. The OPP investigated a total of seven accidents in the past week, and weather conditions were de- scribed as being a "prominent fac- tor". Injuries were reported in most of the incidents. Fire board gets suits at a bargain ZURICH -The Zurich and Arca Fire Board has purchased 10 bun- ker suits at what councillor Keith Semple described as a "good deal" , at $760 each. Semple said initial reports indicated the form -fitting fine suits could cost as much as $1,000 each. Municipalities with volunteer fire departments have been protesting new government legislation requir- ing all firefighters to be outfitted with the suits because it docs not take into account rural volunteer departments would be required to buy many more suits than urban de- partments with full-time personnel. "So we're well on our way to meeting the regulation that says the whole fire department has to have them by 1995," said Semple. Zurich Fire Chief Bob Merner's resignation was accepted by the fire hoard on November 21. Merner, who has served as chief since 1982, will stay on as a firefighter, but Semple said the 10 -year term *as as long as could be expected for a volunteer chief. A new fire chief will be appoint- ed at the board's next meeting on January 15, 1992. changeday*''.r -s).: j; Lucan mayfor collection of garbage LUCAN - Although an official decision has not yet been made it appears as if the regular day for garbage collection in the village of Lucan will be changed to Friday. Appearing before council Mon- day night, Larry Lewis of C.H. Lewis Limited said he could make arrangements quite quickly to change the day of pickup. Lewis said, " We have to give Lobo township one month's notice and I would be ready to switch in Lucan at the same time." He continued, " I doubt if you would save much money going to a hi -weekly pickup. It's not sensible to go bi-weekly if the amount of garbage is not reduced. Since re- cylcing, I would guess we would be lucky to reduce the amount of gar- bage by 10 percent." Council will be attempting to get a contract with the Laidlaw waste disposal site at Watford for dump- ing on a regular basis. In the past, especially during the summer months when the Laidlaw facility was filled with garbage from the provincial parks and Grand Bend, Lucan trucks were forced to go on to Blenheim and this caused costs to rise considerably. Lewis added, " With a Friday pickup, we could call ahead and if they are filled up we could wait un- til Saturday morning." The provincial government has a limit on the amount of garbage which can be handled each day at a waste disposal site. A proposal is in the works to change tO& weekly—biweekly, I know there would be limit which would probably allow Lewis vehicles to dump in Watford consistently. A change to bi-weekly collection had been suggested by deputy reeve Harry Wraith who claims re- cycling and composting would re- duce the amount of garbage to be picked up. Reeve Tom McLaughlin asked how many residents were using composters and councillor Bryan Smith replied, " Most of the 110 arc being used, but a few are slip- Wednesday, December 11, 1991 75 cents Will tax burden shift to towns under new county assessment? GODERICH - The re -assessment of Huron County may have a profound 1effect on the way in which the county collects its property taxes. There is a possibility urban -dwellers may see a larger portion of the tax burden shifted to their shoulders. The county undergoes a Market Value Assessment update every four years, and will be updated to 1988 values effective for the 1992 tax year. While it is possible the change from 1984 to 1988 property values might help to correct some small disparities in taxation within the boundaries of municipalities such as Exeter, larger changes may take effect in how the county and education levies, which make up the bulk of the property tax bill, are distributed around the county. Reeve Bill Mickle at Exeter council's last meeting said he had already heard that rural and urban taxation rates could be affected "dramatically". If reassessment finds that rural property values did not change as quickly as urban properties between 1984 and 1988, then urban property owners could end up with more of the county taxes being charged to their homes. The same situation could occur amongst Huron municipalities which have experienced different property value increases in the mid to late 1980s. Mickle told council he had already heard the shrlt of taxation from rural to utbiii areas could be as high as 20 percent in some cases. Gerald Morgan, the regional assessment commissioner, said on Monday he wanted to downplay concerns the distribution of taxes in the county may be shifting. Morgan said the full report on reassessment, along with a tax shift study, will be presented to county council on January 9. The study will include changes in taxation broken down into property type and muncipality. On February 3, Huron property owners will receive notices on how their properties have been reassessed at 1988 market rates. Included will be an insert on how to check that value, a proposed mill rate and how to calcu- late projected property taxes based on that mill rate. Old bylaw now overruled Zurich debates whether Sunday opening option should continue ZURICH - The Village of Zurich's previous bylaw allowing retailers to open their doors on Sunday's has since been struck down by the new Re- tail Business Act. - -'~ Zurich had claimed a tourism exemption under We old legislation, and last Tuesday evening, council were wondering if a new Sunday shopping bylaw was needed for the village. Councillor Barb Jeffrey said she was pleased the old bylaw was now null and void. While clerk Maureen Simmons told council it did not appear Zurich could once again claim a tourist area exemption for Sunday openings, councillor Marg Deitrich said she understood the tourism exemption pra- ed. She said Mitchell has ping back to their old habits." Smith said at his home the amount of garbage has been re- duced from six to two bags each week because of Blue Boxes and composting. Records produced by Lewis re- vealed that the amount of garbage collected has not changed much in the past year. About the same ton- nage was collected in November as it was in January. Lewis added, " If we would go to times when we wouldn't get it all on two loads on two trucks, causing extra expense. In addition we could experience problems in co- ordinating and getting the people used to it. Going 52 weeks of the year will eliminate the unknown about a third trip." Clerk Ron Reymer interjected, " From what I've heard on the street very few residents are in favour of the bi-weekly method." Young offender charged in break-in EXETER - Town police have ar- rested a young offender on charges of break and enter after he was caught red-handed inside an Exeter factory. . Police were called to an Andrew Street address in the early hours of Monday morning after a 14 -year old male youth was found to be missing. He was later found inside the Northlander Industries building on Thames Road East and was sub- sequently charged with break, enter and theft. He is to appear in the Criminal Division of Youth Court in Godc- rich on February 6. Under the Young Offender's Act, his name cannot be released. Police are also investigating a break, enter and attempted theft at the Jervis Photo Pro's Store on the Main Street of Exeter the same night. Nothing was found to be missing after this incident. On Sunday, police investigated a hit and run accident on a car deal- er's lot. Police say a vehicle en- tered the lot of Campbell's Lincoln Mercury on Main Street and collid- ed with a parked van, causing ex- tensive damages. The driver was later located and Criminal Code charges are pending. On Saturday, police responded to a shoplifting complaint at the Cana- dian Tire Store and charged a man with theft under $1,000. Gerald El- lis of Brucefield is scheduled to ap- pear in Ontario Court in Exeter on January 28 to answer to the charg- es. OPP seek help with three weekend thefts EXETER - The Exeter OPP are asking for public help in three crim- inal cases they arc currently investi- gating. Police say that during the week- end there was a theft of approxi- mately $3,800 in various kinds of cigarettes from the Petro Canada gas station located at Highway 4 and the Crediton Road. Between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Sat- urday evening a "large sum of mon- ey" was taken from the office area of the Stephen Township Arena. Also Saturday night to Sunday night, the Oleo gas station in Woodham on Highway 23 was broken into. However, nothing is believed to have been taken. Police arc urging anyone with in- formation about these crimes to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-265-1777 and possibly earn a cash reward, or to call the detachment directly at 235-1300. vision in the new act is being loosely interpret claimed an exemption because they are on the highway between Goderich and Stratford. "Well, we're on the highway between Hensall and St. Jo's," commented reeve Bob Fisher. Simmons will be checking into the new legislation to see if the tourism exemption can be applied to Zurich and its stores, and businesses will be surveyed to find out if they still want the option of opening Sunday's. While Sunday opening has been legal in Zurich for some time, Simmons said only a few businesses, three at the most, ever took advantage of the option, and even then not on a regular basis. Kathy Oaskin and daughter Eden were on board the Co- ven Presbyterian Church float In Saturday's Santa Claus parade In Exeter. More parade photos are on pages 12 and 13 i