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Times Advocate, 1997-09-10, Page 3IN THF NEWS Times-Aavocaie, September 10, 1997 Page 3 New sewers/water main may be added to Main St. work LUCAN - 'there could be a lot of concurrent work going on this fall during the Main Street re- construction near the OPP station. The . continuaii fl of -the water system loop and new Saintsbury Line sewers are logical projects to be done while the road there is dug out for the provincial connecting link project. • Councillors mulled over those possibilities at last week's council meeting after public works super- intendent Doug Johnston said this would be the perfect time to run the water main across, .Main Street to improve the old, smaller lines and connect the system up to Welling- ton Street. Deputy Reeve Harry Wraith 'threw new Saintsbury Line sanitary sewers into the mix shortly after he believes taxpayers would cry foul over the road being torn up again if it needs to be done after this road work is completed. The deadline to use the $120,000 provincial grant for the road work is March 31, 1998, but the work would have to be done this fall since road work is next to im- possible in the winter. The water system loop work would end the costly water main breaks at the corner and would cost $31,000439,000 to cross Main Street alone and $65,000-$70,000 to take the line as far as Wellington Street, Johnston said. About $235,000 is available in the opera- tion budget including some reserve account cash. "I feel this would be in the best interests of everyone...to complete the loop at this time. when the street is already torn up," Johnston said. The Saintsbury sewer work, on the other hand, would only benefit Stephen wetland controversy. Dave McClure would like a beaver pond on Ontario Devel- opment Corporation land to be protected -rather than drained. An -access road has been built into the wetland so that a beaver dam can be removed. Perspectives vary on Stephen wetland - STEPHEN TOWNSHIP The construction _of' an access road on . the edge !of a heaver pond has caught ' thc attention • of neighbors who aren't very. pleased with the action. - • The pond at the`Wegt side of -the -Centralia/Huron •Airpark. not far from the endue runway 10'. is the home of a heaver as well as water- fowl. turtles and other typical pond life. According to Water and Planning Manager Alec Scott of the Ausahle Bayfield Conservation Authority. it . was a matter of maintaining • the municipal . drain which • flows • through the pond. As well: the bea- ver dam was washing out the sup- ports of the fence which borders the. west side of the airport. owned, by the Ontario Development Corpora- tion. Scott. issued the permit which al- lowed ODC to build a 10 -foot wide access road that could he used to remove the heaver dam. "The airport• has to be fenced off in some way and everybody else" looks at it and say's 'They're de- stroying a heaver pond.' I looked at it and said 'We've•got a road cul- vert here and a fence. it's a real. mess and it's only • going to get worse.' People should he able -to do something to correct that problem." said Scott. An ABCA Environmentally Sig-- nificant Areas report did not in- clude anything to the cast of thc road. But according to Dave McClure, who owns land across from the'site. the wetland was larg- er in the past and the township road • curved around the wetland which two current property owners (Do- nut. Delight and Clarke's Food Mart) and Biddulph Township res- idents who can later hook up to the sewer system, meaning those prop- erty owners would be asked to "fork over the cost which Biddulph would collect to reimburse Lucan. Donut Delight's septic system over- • loading, problem is under control with the shop regularly trucking out the waste, Reeve Rob Brady said. Brady was concerned almost 120 feet of extra road would have to be dug up for the sewer work at great cost to the village but Johnston lat- port was developed. The issue seems to be a matter of : perspective. McClure likes' the hea- •ver pond and says the heaver are not hurting anyone, including the agricultural land and . the . road: Drew Robertson,' a local school . • teacher says the pond has . educa- tional value. For yearsfte has brought bus lbads of students to oh- serve the wetland. Both Robertson -and McClure .think the ABCA should he pro- tecting the pond rather than giving a permit to fill. ".When I. went out. 1 saw: a drain that wasn't flowing - properly. a .fence that was being eroded out and the edge of a road that was being eroded," explained -Scott. adding. "Somewhere in the middle there was probahly.a better way to do it." was gradually filled in as the air - er found out only about 30 feet would have to be added to the equation. - Biddulph administrator Larry Hotson was contacted by Johnston who reported the township is in fa- vor of the work being done. No cost for the work was known and Johnston wasto get pricings from the village engineer. Other notes from last week's - council meeting: Well, well • Those who are using their wells for inside home use beware — council is looking into doubling the . per capita minimum sewer charge to about $22 per month so those us ing well water that has to be treated at the sewage plant pay their way. Most homeowners that still have wells, like Wraith. only use the wa- ter for outside 'activities like gar dening, filling pools,. etc. and John- ston said they can gauge who is using well water inside by the -wa- ter -out- meters. Council is seeking :legal advice on whether its prudent to double the minimum sewage rate. • County -wide policing to be investigated By John Greig Advance -Times Stra HURON COUNTY .- Huron County will investigate the pos- sihility•of it being the contracting agency forpolice. County council passed a rec- ommendation of the strategic plan- ning committee at its meeting last Thursday. . As well, the county will apply, on behalf of .municipalities, for re- imbursement under the Community Reinvestment Fund for the losses municipalities and the county will have from. provincial downloading. After some discussion a request for $6.5 million was dropped and the province will he asked to cover all the losses from the down- loading. The pros°incc will turn over fund- ing responsibility for many services including policing for rural Mu- nicipalities, child care and social housing to lower -tier municipal- ities - Jana -1, 1998. The province will, in turn, take over about half—. of the locar cost of education. The county has calculated that the swap in costs. and provincial cuts in funding over the next year will cost -county municipalities $15 mil- lion.' •• Councillor Bill Clifford of Gode rich made a motion beforeeach of the • recommendations that they be. tabled until more information is available. A tabled motion is set aside for a time, but is dealt within the future. Clifford's motion to ta- ble was successful on a third rec- onimendation that lower -tier mu- nicipalities be asked to support the county taking over all downloaded services. such as child care, social - housing, ambulances, septic in- spections and property assessment, other than policing. pending the re- sult of the investigation mentioned above.• `i supported (the resolutions at committee level) to allow for due L�cal studies provide insight to water quality problems and solutions E. coli isn't the only problem but is currently receiving attention because it is the-. in- dicator used to determine when Lake Huron is posted as unsafe for swimming • HURON COUNTY - Recently, water quality studies and statistics from around the world have been brought to the attention of Huron County residents. While it has not been determined ho* applicable these international studies areto the. Lake Huron watershed. local water quality studies arc. very applicable and provide a.good base for action. Since the 1940s, the two Huron County . conservation authorities (Maitland Valley and Ausahle Bay- field) have had the mandate of con- serving the area's surface water re- sources. Provincial, federal and local governments have funded sev- eral water quality studies and im- provement programs,particularly since the early 1980's. These in- itiatives have been recognized throughout North America and in- ternationally. These studies have traced the movement of bacteria through a watercourse and determined how far the bacteria can travel, how long it takes to travel and the life span of the bacteria in the water column and in the watercourse sed- iments. Studies to determine the source of the bacteria (human or animal) were in the initial stages before funding was eliminated. The Clean Up Rural Beaches Pro- gram (CURB) provided grants to landowners eliminate surface water pollution by repairing faulty septic systems. fencing livestock from watercourses, eliminating barn yard runoff. and improving. manure stor- ages. to eliminate the need for spreading at inappropriate times. More landowners in the Maitland Valley and Ausable Bayfield water- sheds • voluntarily participated in this program than anywhere else in • Ontario. • Unfortunately, although there was still demand for grants. this highly successful program was eliminated in 1995. For well over a decade, water- courses• throughout' the watersheds and along Lake Hu: ron have been sam- pled for E. coli bac- teria which are present in animal and human waste. According to Tom Prout. the ABCA's general manager, the local studies un- dertaken by the ABCA, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Energy as well as Environment Canada have provided the fol- lowing findings: a. Bacteria can survive in the wa- ter column and soil (sediment) col- umn of watercourses and on beach- es. b. Rainfall will flush bacteria from streams into Lake Huron. c. Wave action will stir up sedi- ment on the beaches and put bac- teria into suspension in the water . column where it is sampled. d. E. coli causes eye, ear, nose and throat infections. There is an incubation period for bacteria in'. humans and the symptoms can ap- pear days after exposure. • e. Bacteria will. die in sunlight.. However, sediment levels reduce the penetration of sunlight and therefore protects the bacteria. • .f. Sources of bacteria include pri- vate sewage treatment facilities, municipal sewage treatment facil- ities, wildlife and agricultural live- stock operations. g. .Sources of raw sewage can include private septic systems, municipal sewage sys- tems and agricultural livestock operations. h. Several sources cause the problem and the solution must come from several sources. "Local agencies and ministry of- fices met on August 21 and agree thereis a problem with water qual- ity which includes elevated levels of E. coli," said Prout. This group, which included Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy, Con- servation Authorities, Huron County Health Unit, Huron Federa- tion of Agriculture, Huron Pork Producers' Association, Environ- mental Fann Plan, Ontario Ministry "It will take time and the effort and dedication of everyone to restore it." of Agriculture, Food and Rural Af- fairs, also agreed that finger point- ing will not solve the problem. cooperation will. According to Prout, E. coli isn't the only problem but is currently receiving attention because it is the indicator used to determine when Lake Huron is posted as unsafe for swimming. Phosphates, nitrates and cryptosporidium are also of con- cern. Over the years, -Prout has seen a change in attitude among farmers, saying they are more willing to re- port their neighbors who are pol- luting the environment. Some farm- ers even indicate they would like first offenses to include a fine of $10,000.. From his knowledge of the com- munity. Prout says no one sector can financially afford to fix the problems on their own. Aging mu- nicipal lagoons require improve- ments and expansions costing hun- dreds of thousands of dollars. Manure storages cost tens of thou- sands of dollars to construct and many cottage lots do not have enough .space for new septic sys- tems.. "it has taken several years and several sources of pollution for our environment to get to this stage and j it will take time and the effort and dedication of everyone to restore it," concluded Prout. process and to let them come out for -discussion today.- But Godcrich feels that it's premature. There's a lack of information," said Clifford. Councillor Tom Cunningham of Hallett Township said the county shouldn't wait before applying for money. • "There are only so many dollars in the pot. If we fail to put an ap- plication in. we may not be happy when we get nothing," he said. • - The- vote was very close on all the motions and the motion to table for the ' . first recommendation on policing died when Warden Murray • Keys threw in his vote to make it a tic. A motion dies when the vote,is a tie. • Toonies for Terry Exeter resident Vera Mountenay kicks off, the local Toon- ies for Terry fundraising drive at the Triangle Discount store on Monday. All donations are welcome and will go towards the Terry Fox cancer research fund. The local Terry Fox Run will be held this Sunday from 10 a.m. ,until2 p.m. starting at the Recreation Centre. The toonies initiative was the con- cept of Margaret Medd, who has been an active Terry Fox participant for many years. POLICE BRIEFS Ilderton man injured in rollover NORTH LAMBTON - An ilderton man was treated for minor injuries following a single car rollover that occurred Sept. 4 on Highway 402, near the Ministry of Transportation Weight Scales. . According to police, Timothy Hatt , 23, was driving -westbound on Hwy. 402, attempting to pass a tanker truck. The truck changed lanes forcing the driver into the ditch, causing thenar to roll over. The tanker truck did not stop and continued westbound on Hwy, 402. The Wyoming-Fire_Department attentjcd.thc scene.to offer . assistance Hatt was transported'by Petrolia.Ambulance to Petrolia Hospital and treated for minor injuries. • Police nab phony money GRAND BEND - North Lambton OPP recovered counterfeit money from the Bank of Montreal in the Village of Grand Bend on Sept. 5. Police were called to the bank in the afternoon and seized a counterfeit $20 bill with serial number ESL1483557. This bill is described as lighter in color with thicker paper and a bluish tinge to the whole bill. . Police arc investigating the incident. The public is advised to inspect all money carefully to look for these identifying features and call police immediately if they suspect phony money. • Jeep stolen in Grand Bend GRAND BEND - Police are investigating thc.theft of a Jeep from the Village of Grand Bend between Sept. 5 at 10 p.m. and Sept. 6 at 3 • p.m. The victim left the 1995 brown Jeep YJ with Ontariolicense plate 878-YZV in a parking lot on Friday night and upon returning to get the vehicle Saturday morning, round it was gone. 40 T 11 1 1 1 NO LtONI v DOWN 0 A C Nom 11180 owl immi $1 OOOFFWITH THIS INSTALLATION ' COUPON iI 18" SAT LLITE DISHES sr..erno.r;299 W. carry ECHO STAR, SONY, RCA, HUGHES, HITACHI i UNIDEN 7ss 4 Vfeme DuaenaOr4Uar CALL Al - ENTERPRISES L1-800-293-2378 GRAND RIND =IMMO •