Clinton News-Record, 1986-05-28, Page 1Cam Proctor and council
By Anne Narejko
CLINTON - Speculation and rumor con-
cerning the cierlt-treasurer's position have
been in> abundance since mid-March. The
situation has finally been settled and
Mayor John Balfour and former clerk -
treasurer Cann Proctor went public with
the information on May 20.
The final settlement entitles Mr. Proctor
to 17 months full salary, including a raise
for 1986, plus full pay for any unused sick
time. Mr. Proctor will not receive this
money m one lump sum, but will be paid on
the regular pay schedule as if he were still
a town employee.
There are conflicting stories as to how
the incident originated, with Mr. Proctor
claiming he was forced into early retire-
ment and Mayor Balfour claiming Mr.
Proctor resigned.
The controversy started at the regular
council meeting on March 17 when Coun-
cillor Case Buffinga introduced a resolu-
tion which stated that all outgoing cor-
respondence must be read by either the
mayor or the chairman of general govern-
ment, Mr. Proctor asked if there had been
a problem with cerrespondenee previously
sent out and was told there was.
Before discussing the subject any fur-
ther, the meeting was closed to the public
and council went into a committee of the
whole, from which there are no minutes.
During the committee of the whole, Mr.
Proctor claims that he was "severely
criticized" for a letter sent out to other
municipalities concerning the increases
county department heads received. Accor-
ding to Mr. Proctor, council felt the letter
did not accurately reflect their comments
and had caused them considerable
embarrassment.
. Mr. Proctor replied to the criticism by
saying Mayor Balfour bad approved the
letter before it was sent out. Mr. Proctor
also says the mayor did not initially recall
seeing .the letter but later said he may
have.
Mayor Balfour told the News -Record
that during the meeting he did not recall
seeing the letter because there "was so
much going on" but he may have seen it.
Council then questioned Mr. Procter's
holiday dates because he had booked them
during the time when the budget was to be
set. Mr. Proctor claims that he had plann-
ed his vacation late last year and could not
art an
foresee any problem. lie also said he
would work evenings es well as the follow-
ing weekend to make up the time.
According to Mayor Balfour, council
was opposed to Mr. Proctor taking his
holidays at that particular time because he
was "in contravention with the bylaw" as
they would be interfering with the setting
of the budget.
Although Mr. Proctor says the letter and
the holiday issue were the cause for the en-
tire situation, Mayor Balfour said, '`The
letter has nothing to do with it but it may
have contributed to his (Mr. Proctor's)
temper."
"It was after a long day, (at approx-
imately 11:15 p.m) he got frustrated and
asked council to consider his resignation.
It was a shot right out of the blue, council
n -o
INCORPORATING -THE BLYTH STANDARD -THE BAYFIELD
BUGLE
NO.22 121 `YEARS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28,1986
50 CENTS
bad no inkling ...it stunned everyone," said
-Mayor Balfour.
The surprise went both ways.
"Until about 11:20 p.m. on March 17, I
thought everything was going exceptional-
ly well with this council," noted Mr. Pro-
ctor who has been working with this par- •
titular council since early December.
Special Meeting
The following evening, on March 18, a
special meeting was held in the committee
rooms at town hall. All council members
were present as well as deputy clerk -
treasurer Marie Jefferson, Mr. Proctor
and his wife Marie.
The minutes of the meeting state the
purpose of the special meeting as, "deter -
Turn to page 2 .
vs
Funcling is
provided for
sinking road
BAYFIELD - The sinking road may sink
no more. After more than a year of work
Bayfield Council has secured government
funding to repair Long Hill Road.
Long Hill Road, which travels along the
southerly shore of the Bayfield River to the
lakefront, collapsed last spring.
It has taken a year of work, engineering
studies and planning but at last Reeve Dave
Johnston- reported the "good news."
The Ministry of Natural Resources will
fund up to $300,000 to have the engineering
work done and the Ministry of Transporta-
tion and Communication will , pay up to
$100,000 towards the reconstruction of the
roadway. As well, the Ministry of Municipal
Affairs is willing to receive an application
from Bayfield towards further costs.
The success in receiving the funding
brought forth smiles from Bayfield coun-
cillors and a round of bouquets for the peo-
ple involved in the project. Reeve Johnston
thanked Tom Prout of the Ausable Bayfield
Conservation Authority and MPP Jack Rid-
dell and his staff for their help in obtaining
the funding. Clerk Pat Graham also made
note of Reeve Johnston's contributions and
the "countless time" spent on the project.
B.M. Ross and Associates of Goderich
have been hired to do the work on the road-
way. Plans call for the completion of the
project this year.
In August of 1985 a report released by the
village's engineering firm, Golder and
Associates of London, outlined the costs of
reconstruction. Their report recommended
two methods of construction with rip -rap
construction costing an estimated $200,000
while sheet -piling would cost an estimated
$530,000.
The road has been classified as
"marginally stable" since more than 100
et of asphalt :and4,slill; down! the bank
rrifb :�tl►e ayfie�Cd" and.
E4,4,0
ast" spring. Since
then the roadway has been limited to one
lane traffic.
The Long Hill Road provides the only
route to some 10 private residences and is
the sole roadway to the river which supplies
the fire department with water.
Objections to prop
CLINTON - Residents who missed an op-
portunity to express their views on the pro-
posed Christian Reformed Retirement
Home were given a second chance on May
22.
Approximately 12 people turned out to the
information meeting held at the town hall.
This second meeting was held by the Clinton
Planning and Industrial Committee so those
who missed the public meeting on April 24
could make their concerns known. a few
As a result of this second meeting,
changes will be made to the proposed zoning
bylaw.
The property in question is owned by Cecil
Elliott and located off Charles Street at the
north end of town. It is presently zoned
future development but must be rezoned in
order for the retirement home to be built.
The land was orginally to be rezoned as
residential high density, but protests from
residents whose land surrounds the site,
have persuaded the committee to change
that to residential high density permitting
only a retirement home.
• BLYTH RECREATION PROGRAM
. e means extrasupervision
.pervision
High attendant
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•
osed home heard during meeting
the proposal con-
sists of Mr. Valkenburg, Jack Roorda, Leida
Gerrits, John Kassies and Caas Dykstra.
The committee members were opposed to
being limited in both the size of the lot they
can develop, and the type of development
allowed.
They told Mr: Tousaw they would like to
know that in the future they could build a
nursing home and a home for the aged.
With his reply that the nursing home is
five years down the road,. and the planning
and industrial coniunittee is looking at the
immediate concerns, the retirement home
committee pointed out that if they did
decide to build the nursing home in the
future, they would have to go through more
meetings, and they might be turned down.
Groves. He then questioned the home com-
The
mittee on why they chose that end of town.
The amount of land which can be rezoned The committee "We looked all over
has also been limited.
"They originally wanted to rezone ap-
proximately 6.5 acres but now only enough
land to support the building will be rezon-
ed," said Scott Tousaw of the Huron County
Planning Department. He did not know the
exact amount of land but said it would be
"significantly smaller."
Another change that will be made to the
zoning bylaw as a result of the May 22
meeting effects the parking.
'They wanted parking at the front for the
residents and parking for the public at the
side, but the law says only visitors can park
at the front and residents must park at the
rear," explained planning and industrial
committee secretary Faye Fear.
She also said eight parking spaces will be
provided for visitors.
making
Proposal
According to Albert Valkenburg, of the
retirement home committee, the proposed
building will house 25 residents and five
semi -care residents.
r town,at 10 places,
and we feel this is the best property," was
their reply.
"No one is going to want to build in that
area if the home is there," Mr. Groves said.
"We built there thinkingit would be a
residential area. We would not have built
there if we knew."
At this point Mr. Tousaw interceded and
told Mr. Groves there would be a mix of one
and two storey buildings, set well back on
the property, with an ,unpierced hedgerow
or evergreen planting separating the home
from other's property.
"There have been manythings built into.
the bylaw so as not to lower other.'s property
value," Mr. Tousaw said. "It is quite likely
uu wouldn't see a one or two storey
Opposition y
Much opposition" was raised to the propos- building over the hedge, and as far as I
ed development; primarily from Clayton know, senior citizens don't make a lot of
Groves, whose property borders on some of noise."
Mr. Elliott's land. The zoning bylaw will be presented to
"It will drop the value of our land and ob-
town council.
viously it is going to get bigger," said Mr.
BLYTH - The popular summer recrea-
tion program for children ,will be covered
by additional counsellor supervision this
year.
At their May meeting, Blyth Council
agreed to hire three youths to co-ordinate
• the recreation program.
Last year More than 130 youngsters took
part in the summer activities, under the
supervision of two counsellors, and while
parents reported that the staff managed
the program well, they voiced concerns
that additional workers should have been
available to look after such a large number
of children. •
This year Myth Council applied for
financial assistance to pay wages for four
-staff members. They received, verbal cony
`fir'matfett that money will be available
under the SEED Recreation Program to
pay the wages for two youth. The program
will pay $4 per hour, for an eight week
term, from. June 30 to August 26.
Along with hiring two workers under the
SEED program, council approved a mo-
tion to hire a third youth, to be paid by the
village.
In 1985 government funding covered the
salary for one employee and the Village
paid for a second youth worker. Total
salary arid benefits in 1985 cost $2,508.78.
Of that amount, $1,227 was covered by a
grant, leaving the village with a payment
of $1,281.78..
Costs to the village should average the
same this year„ fel* the additional
employee, and as Councillor Lloyd Sippel.
pointed out, "we can hire ogle mpr'e"w or, er
this year and it won't cost the village any
more than it did last year.”
This year council will also give some
consideration to raising the registration
fee. In 1905 the fee was set at $5 per child
and Clerk Larry Walsh explained the
money was basically used to purchase
craft supplies,
It has been suggested that higher fees
could help pay for additional staffing,
however some councillors have voiced
toners that setting the rates at too high a
level may prevent some children from tak-
ing part in the program, li of set-
ting
may look atthe possibility
a family rate fee. .
Councillors Sippel and 13i11 Howson were
asked to consider four applications receiv-
ed for the three counsellor positions.
•
Lvo changes
to the
flood plain
BAYFIELD - The flood plain along the
Bayfield River will not be lowered despite a
request from Hibbert Townshii which is
asking for the alteration.
Bayfield Council, on a recommendation
ommendation
from Tom Prout of the Ausable Bayfield
Conservation n Authority (ABCA) agreed not
to support a request from Hibbert asking for
the changeflood plain protection
inthe
levels.
Hibbert Township is asking for
municipalities in the Bayfield River water-
shed to support the change in the levels. The
current flood plain was established in 1954
based on Hurricane Hazel. In Hibbert
Township, council has determined that
because of the flat topography of the land
and the high flood plain levels, potential
land for development cannot be used.
Mr. Prout told Bayfield council, "Dropp-
ing the level of protection would allow for
greater development in Hibbert, but in
Bayfield's case the sharp bank topography
wouldn't allow much more development."
He noted that while Bayfield Council could
in theory support a lower flood plain level, in
fact the municipality must stay at the
higher,level, based on the spring flooding
that occurred three years ago. The ice jams
and flooding equalled the levels set by Hur-
ricane Hazel.
"If in Bayfield you want to stay at the cur-
rent levels, you may," Mr. Prout said, "In
fact, you don't have any other choice
because of the. historical flooding. You don't
have a lot of land that would open up for
development anyway."
Taxes up 8.6 per cent
By Shelley McPhee -Hoist
BAYFIELD - Taxpayers here will have to
dig a little deeper into their pockets this
year to help cover the costs of the new
budget which has risen 8.63 per cent over
last year. Council passed t1986 budet e 19 off
$454,240 at its May meeting. Th
budget was $405,917.
This year the budget breakdown, with 1985
figures in brackets, is: general purposes -
$159,707 ($139,168); county purposes - $68,226
($56,693); public school -$121,832 ($112,225);
secondary school - $97,326 ($91,644);
separate school - $7,149 ($6,187).
Par the 'average taxpayer, a residential
public school supporter, based on a $4,000
ssessment, taxes wilt amount to $1,582.52,
marking an increase of $126 from last year's
$1,456.74 figure. The Mill rate itselfis
estimated it 395.632in 1986, compared to
364.186.
For cohiinereial public school supporters,
the Bayfield budget will increase taxes -
again based on a $4,000 assessment - by $148,
from $1713.82 in 1985 to $1861.80 this year.
The mill rate increase went from 428.454 to
465.450.
Residential separate school supporters
will see their mill rate figures rise from
358.777 in 1985 to 402.833 this year. In dollars
and cents it means a $176 jump, from
$1435.11 paid in taxes in 1985 to $1611.33 this
year.
Commercial separate school supporters
will also face an increase in taxes this year,
with the mill rate going up from 426.477 in
1985 to 462.160 this year. Based on a $4,000
assessment it will mean a rise in taxes from
$1;705.90 to $1,848.64:
Bayfield Reeve Dave Johnston reported
that he will be presenting a complete ex-
planation of the 1986 budget and the alloca-
tion of monies at the Hayfield ratepayers'
annual meeting. The public meeting will be
held on Saturday, June 7, starting at 9:30