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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-09-24, Page 19GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1986—PAGE 3A District News P;Ha:1ic utilities w BY ANNE NAREJKO CLINTON - On March 4 the Association of Municipal Electric Utilities and the Ontario Municipal Electric Association amalgamated to form the Municipal Elec- tric Association (MEA). The MEA is made up of nine districts with District Six encompassing 26 Public Utilities Commissions (PUC) from Guelph to Goderich and Listowel to St. Marys. On September 17, 148 representatives from District Six made their way to the Clin- ton Legion to attend their first annual meeting. "It was one of the better meetings and well attended. I'm glad to see people are taking an interest," said Clinton's PUC Manager, Guss Boussey. The meeting covered many topics which included a survey conducted to determine the average person's feelings on hydro and ah explanation of the Chernobyl accident. During the business portion of the meeting, the members passed a resolution which would no longer have the municipal councils setting the remuneration for com- missioners, but the PUC would be in charge of setting the rate themselves. "Some Utilities are at logger heads with their councils," said Mr. Boussey. "Guelph has never received a higher remuneration." This resolution will be presented at a pro- vincial level before it can go any further. 'Chernobyl In Canada' The question of whether a Chernobyl inci- dent could happen in Canada is one fre- quently asked, said Alan Holt, station manager at the Bruce Nuclear Plant since 1985. In his opinion, the answer is tio. "Can the same incident happen in Canada? We believe the answer is no. Could a similar incident happen in Canada? We feel it is very improbable," he said. To explain why he and his co-workers feel this way, Mr. Holt compared the Russian reactors to Canada's Candu reactor. In Mr. Holt's opinion, the design of a Can - du reactor is the key to safety. "We put the reactor in a container building which is hooked to a vaccum building. The container building is made out of concrete and is an 80 foot cube with walls three feet thick," he said. "The Russians do not have heavy concrete walls." Another key factor is the material used in the moderator. The Candu reactor uses heavy water and the Russian reactor uses graphite. "Our moderator is better. The graphite caught fire but heavy water doesn't burn very well," said Mr. Holt. Other safety features include internal con- trols as well as audits by various organizations. The station group and head office group are tested and the Atomic Energy Control Board, the Ministry of Consumerand Com- mercial Relations and the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) make unannounced visits to the plants, both dur- ing the day and night, to make sure the pro- per tests are being conducted. "So, the question is, 'Do the Russians have all of this?"' said Mr. Holt, who later answered the question with a 'ho. Six Major Problems In August, the IAEA held a meeting in Vienna with Russian representatives, and according to Mr. Holt, the meeting was very open. "Everybody there was amazed at how frank they (the Russians) were," he said. Those present learned that the Chernobyl incident occurred during a test when six ma- jor and six minor problems took place. "They were shutting down the reactor for n to set their own rates an outage and were conducting a test. While doing this, they blocked a number of safety systems and they didn't follow their pro- cedures," said Mr. Holt. "It appears they disregarded everything to get the test done." One of the major problems appeared to be the construction of the moderator. Com- pared to the Candu moderator, which uses water, their moderatos catches on fire very easily. Also, Mr. Holt pointed out that the reactor was not incased in the heavy cement. Another problem was the blocked safety systems and the reactor was on manual con- trol where as the Candu reactor has three separate controls for their safety system. For these reasons, Mr. Holt feels Canada's Candu Reactors are much safer and a similar incident happening in this country is "very improbable." Ontario Hydro Arvo Nittenberg, Executive Vice - President of Operations at Ontario Hydro, explained what his company has been doing over the past year and how Ontario Hydro and MEA can co-operate. "Collectively our industry is one that runs on new ideas and shared insights...The old saying, 'the more things change, the more things remain the same' is ture. Our tools change but the job remains the same - we provide our customers with a good source of hydro," he said. Ontario Hydro had a survey conducted earlier on the future use of hydro, the supp- ly/demand option and the role of Ontario Hydro. The survey consisted of an hour-long interview with people in northern and southern Ontario, both rural and urban dwellers and both residential and industrial customers. In all 1,600 people were Committee is established to form branch of mental health association A committee has been established to form a branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) for Huron County, on a recommendation of the Huron Perth Mental Health Task Force. Three planning meetings have been held and a strong core of interested persons has com- mitted themselves to continue to meet. This is done on a voluntary basis. . Barbara Adams, special consultant with the CMHA Ontario Division, met with the group and explained the procedures necessary for the formation of a local branch. The Huron County group would have to apply to the CMHA Ontario Divi- sion for a branch charter. Dr. Harry Cieslar, who chaired the initial meetings, explained, "We expect the whole process may take approximately two years. When we explored this possibility several years ago there was not nearly the support or in- terest that is being shown now. I think this indicates a change in attitudes towards the need for this service :" The group is ap- plying to be recognized as a formal C1lHA Steering Committee. Members of the committee agreed that Huron County lacks the number of social services that are available in other coun- ties. A Canadian Mental Health Associa- tion would not replace the medical ser- vices present now, but rather complement them by enriching existing services. The goals of the CMHA are to: *maintain mental health and prevent men- tal illness through education, life skills programs; and work adjustment training. *promote understanding of life stresses and mental illness. *encourage improved treatment and com- munity services for those concerned about their mental health needs and those of others. The activities that a local branch might undertake could include: *community education through special programs, workshop and self-help groups *information and speakers on mental health issues *counselling referral *special displays *community friends (volunteers for nurs- ing home residents) *activity centre programs (ex -psychiatric patients) Those involved in the initial planning meetings have represented a broad spec- trum of community services including representatives from County Council, Community Psychiatric Services, Huron - Perth Centre for Children and Youth, Huron County Health Unit, Women Today, Huron County Board of Education and 'the Community Services Council. Several in- dividuals not associated with any services are• also members of the commit- tee. Community response and involve-' ment is vital for the establishment of a branch as the whole organization is depen- dent on the involvement of non -mental health professionals:'.Ahy agency, service or individual that would like to join efforts to get a Canadian Mental' Health Associa- tion branch established in Huron County are invited to contact one of the following members, Karen Day-Rondeau, Valerie Bolton, Dr. W. Croker, Maureen Thomas and Dr. H. Cieslar. New PC strategy would, increase price supports for Ontario farmers In a speech to the Canadian Agri- Marketing Association, Opposition Leader' Larry Grossman called for a Family Farm Security Act to protect the incomes of hard pressed farmers. "High borrowing costs, European sub- sidies and the U.S. Farm Bill have demonstrated the need for immediate ac- tion", said Grossman. The proposals increase the price supports Ontario farmers receive for certain com- modities and at the same time encourage property owners to retain marginal agricultural land as wetlands, or use it for 1st WEDDING ANNIVERSARY Mr. & Mrs. Greg Ferris Greg & Janice were married Sat., Sept. 21, 1985. Greg is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Gordon Ferris, Goderich, Ont. Janice is the daughter of Dr. & Mrs. John Simmons, London, Ont. and the granddaughter of Mr. & Mrs. Bill Townshend, R.R. No. 2 Bayfield. Love & Best Wishes For Many Veers To Come reforestation or soil improvement. "The proposals would allow agricultural land to remain in reserve until a time when increased demand would allow a return to production without government interven- tion", said Grossman. "Ontario farmers must have this new sup- port program until the 1992794 period, when then, some sanity could be restored to inter- national trade in food." Grossman also called for the province's small and medium business programs to en- courage start-ups in rural communities noting that most farmers require income from off -farm sources. "At a time when the, farm industry is in crisis, the Liberal government has not only failed to develop new agricultural in- itiatives, but has not kept up with agricultural budget increases in com- petitive provinces", said Grossman. "The fact Ontario's last budget included only a 10.5 percent increase while other pro- vinces such as Saskatchewan (75 percent) and Alberta (100 percent) had substantial increases, clearly indicates the low priority the Liberals have placed on agricultural issues". Sale of Land By Public Auction Municipal Tax Sales Act, 1984 The TOWNSHIP OF COLBORNE (Name of Mynicipatity or Board Take Notice that the land(s) described below will be offered for sale by public auction at 10:00 o'clock in the fore noon on the 7th day of OCTOBER 1986 at COUNCIL CHAMBERS, COURT HOUSE, GODERICH, ONTARIO Description of Land(s) TOWNSHIP OF COLBORNE PART OF LOT 13, MAITLAND CONCESSION more particularly described as Part 23, Plan 22R38 together with a right-of-way over Part 1, Plan 22R38 as described in Instrument 179783 All amounts payable by the successful purchaser shall be payable in full at the time of thesale by cash or money order or by a bank draft or cheque certified by a bank, trust company or Province of Ontario Savings Office. The municipality makes no representation regarding the title to gLany other matters relating to the land to be sold. Responsibility for ascertaining these matters rest with the potential purchasers. This sale is governed by the Municipal Tax Sales Act, 1984, and the'Municipal Tax Sales Rules. The successful purchaser will be required to pay the amount bid plus accumulated taxes and relevant land transfer tax. For further Infatuation regarding thls sale, contact Minimum Bid $ (Set out the cancellation price as of the first day of advertising) $345.22 Title B. Straughan Treasurer Address of Municipality or Board R.R. 5 Goderich, Ontario N7A 3V2 Name of Municipality or Board Township of Colborne interviewed. "It revealed that people feel very secure about hydro in Ontario," said Mr. Nit- tenberg. "Ahnost everybody felt their needs would grow. Mr. Nittenberg also said the survey in- cluded a question on conservation of hydro and it revealed that people agree waste should be avoided, however, they rejected the suggestion that limits be placed on their use of hydro. The survey also indicated what the public's priorities were. Number one on the list was reliability. This came above reasonable rates, which was second, and responsible use of the environment, which was third. "The survey also showed they feel elec- tricity is superior to gas, except for the price," he said, adding, "Seventy per cent also felt special rates should be offered to at- tract industry to the province." As for the financial situation of Ontario Hydro, Mr. Nittenberg said, "Money.will be very tight over the next few years." In conclusion, he said, "Both our customers and our own expectations can be met." We're Open Longer Hours for our Biggest Sale in Horne Furniture . History. Thursday September 25 to Monday October 6 CANADA'S FIRST ANNUAL Except Saturday Sept. 27 and Oct. 4 :closing at 5:30 NATIONAL FURNITURE SALE SEPT 25 - OCT 6, 1986 FINE FURNITURE 71 Albert St. Clinton 482-9505 II ;III11111111ilijlll IIIIII11j1!ii iii ijpr JUNI ... r """"tea Sf r ;/ '%1'9. 5� 'p h11 - -, swm�in�o:c "mrra�. .•Nr ee?:xswu %6: e,„4162244i1W Use Your VISA, MASTER CARD or AMERICAN EXPRESS Quality, More Selection and Value for most every budget! A DIVISION OF OAMANDY'S INC. ILLERY OOTLET 386 BAYFIELD RD,, GODERICH 524.2924 twtwssp Hoang Nadler' sod Musp 'ra Landing OPEN: Mon. - Set. 9 am - 6 pm l E'ri. till 9 pm