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Times Advocate, 1997-08-13, Page 2Pa i' 2 Titres -Advocate, August 13, 1907 Regional wrap up Molotov cocktails hurled at CP station GOI)I:RI('ll - Police arc in- vestigating'.i'Minher of Molotov cocktail attacks in the (ioderich brach .sea during. the past two eeks and another attack that oulul haw -devastated the CP station, reports the (ioderich Signal -Star. At, lt;ast'two attacks took place at the CP station rind a'third may have been prevc.►ted .hy people alhering fora reception on July 29 tn' the v'skint!. Consnunitics ,jn'Bluun► judgcs. A thirdattack took 'place a day .earlier on ..the heaelrroad. In the SiLinal-Star. - Nilicc Chief" (kut ge Lonsbary said 'the persons revonsihle are facing serious chares. People fear Huron County will become toilet of Ontario GODERICH - A story in the Godcrich Signal-StaL±statcs a growing number of. people are. concerned Huron, County inay soon become the toilet of Onta- rio. The concern comes .as the number of intcnsivc livestock operations increases -in Huron County. A `group of concerned Ash- field Township" residents are stan`ting to apply pecr.pressure to local farmers. On July 30. at a public meeting in Kingsbridge. 25() people gathered to hear a w'arntng message being sounded by a group called- PROTECT (Presenting Recommendations on Township Environmental. Concerns Together). Huron County pork Producers Association " president Henry Vtndcrhurgt was at the July 30 meeting and according to the Signal -Star said pork producers are just as aw are and concerned about the Cm ironincnt as mem- bers of the non -farming commu= nity. Pork producers.arc working hard to, work within environ- mental guidelines and if manure is spread properly and at the cor- rect times. next to none of the manure will get into the water- course. - Crop quality excellent in North Middlesex I'ARKHHIL.l. - The Parkhill G.vettc reports combines. were soaring like locusts through western t.)ritario wheat fields during the first Hick of August .sal' North tliiddleses grain cle- +.itot operators Inked what they wete tc.er.ing. Quality ut the Current crop oT winter wheat is (tetter than aver- age to evicellent and the yields are average to hcttee. In the G,vettc, Ken Wcrnham. the • manger of Cooks elevators in I'.0 khill said there are only tin11 ,ices of fusarium: the weather-tetated blight. that left ne:rrly all of the 1996 hays est unfit for the flour stills. Some producers delivering to crook; were reaping as high -as 83 bushels per acre. One year ago. the Gazette was reporting yields of 25 to 45 bushels and there was some question wheth- er the fusarium -infested product was even 'suitable for livestock feed. Bunt, a fungus causing a strong smell and ruining the wheat for milling, has not been it problem at the Middlesex eleva- tors. IN THE NEWS Village suspends taxi operator's .licence The two-week suspension will require the operator to .comply with all the provisions of the. bylaw By Heather Mir T -A Reporter (',RAND BEND - "The village .of Grand Bend will impose it two-week taxi licence. suspensitin following what the administrator_ describes as "flagrant disregard of the bylaw" by a local operator: - . . - Council passed a minion during a special meeting: held Thursday morning. to suspend the'village taxi li- cence issued to A 8c M Motors. Operating- aS Lake-. shore Taxi. as the result of a bylaw infraction over the long weekend. The suspension refers to a failure by the operator to -maintain insurance oncach.vchicle as required" as laid'iuft in section 6 1 othe village's taxi bylaw. Under section 8 of • ness, ' the bylaw. council has the au- thority to issue. renewals, sus:- pension us=pension or revocation of " li- cences. According to bylaw cntOrcc- meet officer Keith Crawford. the Lakeshore vehicle oper- ating last weekend .was not the .one licenced ui do so by the village and the driver was not one of the two drivers insured to .operate the taxi. • This is the second insurance -related infraction the operator has been suspended for and council telt action must he. taken to ensure the "integrity of the bylaw Council . discussed several ways to go about this including re-.' voking the operator's licence and laying a charge for. which the coun would determine a tine." They just as: much defied us by. going and doing what they wanted to anyway." said Councillor Barb Wheeldon adding.".He's already laughed in our faces." "All kinds of business ,people defy us." responded Deputy Mayor Phil, Maguire to the suggestion of re- voking the licence. "What makes this_different''" "The big difference here." speculated Crawford:."Is. that we have a fellow who: by soniebody...got heat up. and I'm sure that's in the hack of everyone's.mind." Noboxdy on council at Thursday's meeting wanted to talk about the allegations that flew at last Tuesday night's council meeting concilrning along weekend incident in which a driver 1 , m another taxi service was assaulted near the . Oakwood inn=- in Stephen Township. Mayor.Cam Ivey reminded council the assault is a separate issue and -has no. hearing oq the bylaw infrac- tion penalty under consideration: Council -considered charging, the operator for the by- law infraction however. as Ivey: put it., many. local businesses feel "a ticket is just a cost of doing husi- "The big difference here is that we have a fellow who, by somebody, got beat up, and I'm sure that's in the back of everyone's mind." . The two-week suspension was sug- gested as a means of getting the mes- sage • across that the village is serious about enforcing its bylaw. • Council -was also -concerned the vil- lage could he held liable if an un- insured vehicle were to he involved'in an accident and the • municipality had not shown •due diligence" in making sure the bylaw requirements are met. in addition to invoking a'. two-week suspension. the operator will -be re- quired to meet all the terms of the hs law before the li- cence is reinstated. . • Council -also passed a motion to amend the bylaw eliminating sectiod 8.2 and any references to the ad- ministrator requiring instruction from council .to en- force the bylaw. The penalty section of the bylaw was revamped to no longer make reference to a dollar fig- ure as, the court will establish, any fine. As well. the bylaw will require the taxi licence and driver's` photo identification to be placed in a visible location within the cab: The .new draft bylaw will be presented at the next regular council•meeting. • ▪ 'EXETER WANTS ANSWERS FROM QUEEN'S PARK Exeter is tired:of waiting for information on the local financialimpacts of decisions made by, the provincial government. This is year -.two of a ttbv-year reduction in provincial transfer payments -to the people of Exeter totalling_ $250,000. For..1998. the province_ _will eliminate the remaining '$ 307;870' in provincial funding with • the cancellation of the Municipal Support Grant._ Provincial financial support for roads'and other municipalities is.:a thing of.the-past. Adding to our burden is the fact that. as of 1998; the County of Huron will have eliminated its Urban Road•Rebate.support at a cost -to the town of $72.000. This rebate was created to.recognize that Exeter has no. county roads. The real problem. however. goes' much •farther than lost provincial • transfers. As a result of the province's Who Does What" plans announced • during "Mega -Week" in January, municipalities across Ontario -are facing growing uncertainty about the costs and revenues .that they will he managing.come January:1, 1998.. In Mas. the province announced.it would not go ahead with its plans to • download long term health care and half of -the costs- of welfare onto municipalities. but just- about everything else •municipalities deal with is changing. . One of the key concerns -is assessment and propertytax reform: The change is two -fold. The assessment:system is.heing overhauled with the Whole new method of property assessment. This'impact on Exeter should be minimal as the present assessment system is already based on recent market values. The provincial policy that municipalities use to set local tax rates is changing as well. These changes are estimated. to cost Exeter another $162.000. The first stage of new assessment legislation stias passed in May and the -second stage. Bill 149. is still before the legislature. But even once the new legislation is in place. municipalities williiot be in any position to project ne\t year's revenues as the revised assessment information Won't he read} until some time in the spring of 1998. As the. reader will appreciate. these problems both complicate and,delay the 1998 budgeting:process,- - --- Concern is is not only on the revenue side of the, equation. Municipalities still have not been given any information on what their new "Who Does \khat" responsibilities will cost. For certain. there will he new costs. The list of new municipal cost is a long one. Among the most serious concerns for the Exeter area.arc the costs through the elimination of the Connecting Link agreements 0%htch provided. for. the cost -sharing of Provincial highways through the town). new police contract. the full cost of sewage treatlnent,property assessment sewer and water inspections..and possibly ambulances. Although the province has refused to provide actual figures. the preliminary estimated additional cosi, for Exeter property taxpayers of these issued are $213.000. The addition of responsibilities to the County of Huron will also affect our tax rates. To explain. highways, social housing, long -terns care, social assistance: libraries and tae Farm Tax Rebate are a • few of•the:services/programs downloaded or affected by provincial funding cuts. Exeter's share in these increased costs would be seven per cent. In he event of amalgamation. the province's withdrawal from the Rural Farm Fax Rebate Program would further cost Exeter taxpayers in. excess of S100,000 annually. It is very.difficult to summarize the overall financial impacts on Exeter of a new provincial -municipal relationship. Indeed, the impacts on Ontario municipalities, as a whole. is not even known as yet. Exeter Council has said that without additional information from the province on the financial impacts of the government's decisions and without further discussion on how some of these changes will take place, there is no way that council can provide any assurances that property taxes won't go up in 1998. We are definitely going to have to do more with less, but until we can start planning based on real numbers. there is little we can do to mitigate against higher costs and lower revenues. Council will continue to keep the town's ratepayers informed. LAdopted by council Aug. 5 1997 .2 All ears Cobbing around. Grand Bend's Andrew Oke, 9; looks after this fresh com stand outside Dashwood's Hayter's Turkey Products last week while his cousin, Adam Hayter, -10, is out in the field rounding up more cobs. Stephen to pay its share STEPHEN TOWNSHIP - Council passed a motion at its Aug. 5 meet- ing to advise the Exeter and Area Fire Department the township "will plan to be in a position to pay for our share- of the proposed new fire vehicle in 1998." The new truck is expected to cost approximately $330,000 with Ste- phen's• share totalling $16,500, Ex- , eter paying $204.000, Osborne pay- ing $93,000 aying,:$93,000 and Hay paying $16,500: Lucan looking into backyard burning By Craig Bradford T -A Reporter LUCAN - Complaints about big backyard bonfires.have fixed Lucan council's microscope on the issue. Administrator Ron Reymer has asked -a complainant to write a let- ter to council detailing the incidents and their concerns such as blowing ash and smoke. Reeve Rob Brady said- at last week's council meeting he has no objection to backyard bonfires but he is against burning garbage that can be -picked up at the curb.. Council directed Reymer to look at other municipalities' bylaws gov- erning backyard fires, the first -step in drafting Lucan's own by-law. Ex- eter has a total ban on backyard fires "1 wouldn't want to go that far unless absolutely necessary." Brady' said. Several complaints since fall '93 about a dog barking, _loud par- ties and obscenities coming' from a Harold "If we're going to fine them we don't want to go to court and lose." he said. "No one wins then." If convicted, noise byldw offend- ers face up to a $1,000 fine, though, most cases involved a much .lesser., fine, A .Lucan bylaw enforcement officer has never issued an ob. sessive noise ticket. • • Council also received complaints abouthorse manure on Kent Street (no action taken) and weeds at the -former Grand Central lot. Council directed village staff to contact the Grand Centrallot owner about the weeds so either they can trim them or the "village can be given per- -mission to do the job. Brady said no weed inspection is .necessary since the weeds aren't "noxious.'' Other Lucan council notes: . Main Street work - The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has approved the $,120,000 , worth of work on Main Street council will ten- der. The provincial money, an annual grant called the connecting • link allocation, is much "These people are pretty upset that no Street home have action has less than the- $500;000 thefo council to give go ahead for bylaw -been taken.„ he d oadt. Then work t enforcement officer should begin by mid - Stan Flood to issue an obsessive ,September and be finished by the noise ticket •for the next offence. end of October. there. Waste week Councillor Rosemary Gahlinger- Nov. 3-9 will .be declared0as Beaune said neighbors are tired of "Waste Reduction Week in Lucan the racket and have even called in but council wilt not dole out $500 the OPP at times, • www.bra.org. • Let it snow' Council accepted MTO's $4,800 quote for winter maintenance on Main Street from Oct. 1 to March 30.' Public Works superintendent Doug Johnston said the village -couldn't do a similar level of ser- vice cheaper. The maintenance in- cludes sanding, salting and snow plowing. Reymer said the village . does winter maintenance on the rest of Lucan's streets at a cost of about $14,000 for calender year '97. The taxman cometh Lucan ratepayers can expect re- ceiving their '97 municipal tax bills sometime this week after they were • mailed on Friday. Wanted - Those interested in sitting on a Neighborhood Watch committee can call organizer Norm Steeper. Council endorsed Steeper forming a small committee and.will suggest some possible members to him. "Once a Neighborhood Watch program is up and running it mush- rooms." councillor Rosemary Gah- linger-Beaune said, since block captains can be appointed and add- ed to thecommittee from "various streets until the entire community. including interested neighborhoods in Biddulph Township. is protected by the community policing pro- gram. . Brady said he�wants the" com- mittee to be operational by Sep- tember with representation "from different Lucan neighborhoods. You light up my night A r�iiident near Elm Street Park who has complained about minor .vandalism on their ,street will be filled in by village staff about .a cheap deterrent — installing secur- ity sensor lights. to $1.000 the Recycling Council-of--- "These ouncil-of- "These people arc pretty upset Ontario wants each municipality to that no action has been taken." she kick in to support its activities. said. Not web waste Reymer said handing out a fine Bluewater Recycling has a new hinges on whether someone will web site. Those interested in find - testify in court to make the charge ing out more about recycling and stick. Bluewater's programs can log on at Exeter supports bid to name highway The Dashwood Road EXETER Exeter Council recently joined Stephen and Hay townships in supporting Dashwood resident Jim Hoffman's efforts to have what is known at High- way 83, west of Exeter's town limits. named The Dashwood Road. . He attended Monday night's council meeting to voice his support for keeping the Dashwood. name alive during the current 911 road naming process. in view that police villages arc likely to become ob- solete. Hoffman, who operates the Dashwood ambulance service, sited other situations where the road name is not continuous. such as along Highway 4. In Middlesex County. the road is known as Rich- mond Street. then changes to London Road in Huron County and. is known within Exeter municipal limits as Main Street. Under the re -naming for 911 emergency services, Highway 83 is called Thames Road until it reaches the Perth County boundary. Hoffman said this name is appropriate within Exeter and east of the town limits where the Thames river tributary Tuns and the Thames historical arca has been established. However, west of Exeter to Lake Hurop has been known for many years as The Dashwood Road. ' "I don't think we were properly named," said Hoff- man adding, "The (road) names change quite often." • Hoffman said although he may be late in starting dis- cussion about the naming but only recently noticed other instances where the road name was not continu- ous. Council was not in complete agreement with Hoff- man's suggestion. • . "I can see a reason to have a consistent name." said Councillor Tom Hughes. Other councillors did support the initiative and a mo- tion was carried to support Jim Hoffman's attempt to have the road named The Dashwood Road. "It does seem to make sense to name it the Dash- wood Road," said Cgltncillor Robert Drummond.