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The Huron Expositor, 1990-07-25, Page 1Serving the communities and areas of Seatorth, Brussels, Dublin. Hensall and Walton INDEX Mausolea • 7A Rec roation - 13A BirMls - 17A Graduates - 17A auesnsway - 19A arm Sakty be aware, be safe. Sce pages 4-5A. NoTi11 farmer is a pioneer in the field. See page 6A. Holmesville citizens rally against site. See page 7A. Huron xpositor Seatorth, Ontario HURON EXPOSITOR. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23. 1170 60 cents a copy UNEXPECTED TREE DROPS IN - This maple tree limb crashed an evening at home for Ralph and Betty Fryer of 74 Mill Street, Egmondville. The tree broke during the storm of July 19 about 6:30 p.m. and fell onto the veranda. The next moming an Ontario Hydro forestry crew removed the tree by cutting d into logs and is now being offered as free firewood at the Fryer home. Oxford photo. Peters seeking PC nomination NICO PETERS, Tuckersmith resident and active OFA mem- ber, announced his nomination for the Huron County PC seat. Seaforth area resident Nico Peters has confirmed his intention to seek the Huron County Progressive Conservative nomination in the upcoming provincial election. Mr. Peters, who lives in Tuck- ersmith Township, is well known in the area and ran a very active cam- paign in the 1987 provincial elec- tion. Although he finds it "somewhat ridiculous" that the Peterson government would be calling an election little more than halfway through their five-year mandate, Mr. Peters is confident that "..this time Huron voters will be more than happy to send a Conservative member to Queen's Park on their behalf." Active in a number of agricultural organizations, including the OFA, Nico Peters also represents Huron and region at the provincial level of the Heart and Stroke Foundation as chairman of the Southwestern On- tario Regional Board. He has previously served as an ordained minister, and works with the Seaforth First Presbyterian Church. He and wife Gerda have three children and farm in Tuck- ersmith, and Mr. Peters will be going into the election on a plat- form stressing family and com- munity values. The Huron Progressive Conser- vative Association is predicting a 400 -plus member turnout at their nomination meeting, slated for August 8, No answers, no taxes: Muir BY PAULA ELLIOTT A McKillop Township property owner can't understand why his tax assessment more than doubled in one year. He is also wondering why the assessment adjustor won't re- measure his property, even after a $234 error was discovered once already. And he's not paying his taxes until somebody gives him an answer. "I know numerous people who have had their houses measured up wrong, and don't say anything about it," says John Muir in the kitchen of his three-year-old raised ranch home on McKillop Conces- sion 5. John, wife Dianne, son Jason and daughter Andrea have lived in the house since July 1987, when family and friends completed construction. For nine years prior, the Muirs lived in a century -old farmhouse on the property, but decided to build in May 1986. "Not that we could really afford it," John Muir points out, but years of shivering through winter next to a woodstove in the kitchen proved too much to handle after awhile. The Muirs tried to renovate the existing house, getting as far gutting the living room, but rotted floor joists and the sheer age of the struc- ture made the family feel that the renovation costs weren't worth it. "We thought we'd build a house," John Muir shrugs, a trace of bitter- ness in his voice. "But it didn't pay." When the Muirs moved into their modest raised ranch home almost three years ago to the day, they were issued a tax assessment for the Jul to December 1987 pay period, above and beyond the S634 for the year that they had paid on the 100 -year-old farmhouse. w And $1,639 assessment for 1988 showed up in John Muir's mailbox. "We're getting charged for improving our place. They're penalizing us," says Mr. Muir. The ranch was built with the help of friends and family - the roof trus- ses were hand -built in the barn - and constructed mainly from used material. Cement blocks from buil- dings demolished to make way for London's downtown Galleria complex were shipped from Lon- don, chipped clean by hand and laid as foundation for the house. Heated by wood stove, every inch of the home - two stories, 49'x 27' with a 24 -foot garage - is utilized. The first error in the 1988 as- sessment was discovered when John Muir called the County out to re- measure his home, and found that the tax assessor's tape measure was out six inches on the 27 -foot width. 'l'he assessor, notes John Muir, claimed that his tape measure 'must have stretched'. A re -assessment was arranged after the Muirs appeared before an Assessment Review Panel in 1987 and resulted in the property taxes being adjusted. A total of $234 was knocked off the bill, bringing the tally to S1,405. At more than double the previous year's tax bill, John Muir feels that this number is still way out of line. Assessments for 1989 and 1990 have come in at the same ballpark amount, with the 1990 taxes on the Muir property assessed at S1,499. Plans to build a deck onto the rear of the house, landscape the property, pave the driveway and side the remainder of the horse barn are in the works, but John Muir is afraid of what the numbers will soar to should he carry out these improvements. "What are my taxes going to be then?", he wonders. "The more you try to get ahead, the more they rip you off." Angered by the County's lack of response to his requests for a re- assessment, John Muir has withheld his taxes for the past three years. A letter addressed to the Muirs from Huron County Treasurer William Alcock reads that "..although you may have a legitimate complaint, I would strongly advise you tc abstain your present method of protest and pay your tax arrears." Appl!ti1 to the Assessment Review Panel was the county's suggested route, but John Muir feels that his encounter there yielded less than satisfactory results. "Everybody told me I was just wasting my time to go there in the first place," he recalls. Another consideration on the property assessment, says Mr. Muir, should be his location in the township. With the McKilloV gravel pit down the road, the Mures con- tend daily with gravel trucks and heavy dust in the summers, and mud with the rains. He feels that property on the highways and paved roads should be taxed over gravel road property owners, but the tax assessor has informed him that this has no bearing on the adjustments. John Muir's period of grace with the County expires in October 1991. If his back taxes are not paid by that time, the property will be put up for auction. John Muir has one response to that eventuality. "When I leave here, I'll be leaving in a pine box." Post shutdown sparks frustration BY PAULA ELLIOTT Emotions ran high at a com- munity meeting in Walton on July 10 when three Canada Post representatives hosted an open forum, discussing the August 4 closing of the Walton Post Office The Canada Post officials, Gary Bowler, Pat O'Grady and Jim Craig, met with local residents to discuss the future of postal service in the hamlet. Although assured that postal service will continue in Walton, most likely in the form of a Retail Postal Outlet (RPO) set-up for townspeople, the residents are far from pleased with the situation. "It just didn't seem as if it was going anywhere," Walton citizen Jeanne Kirkby noted of the meeting. "There was nothing accomplished." Although many present at the meeting voiced their concerns and quizzed the officials over the future of their mail service, no concrete answers were given. The structure of the meeting, with no definite starting time and the group broken down into three round -table discus- sion panels, did not lend itself well to organized protest. Rural route residents will have their mail sorted in Seaforth starting this Monday, July 30, with the rural route drivers making a daily return trip to Seaforth. In the event that no RPO can be found in Walton, a community mail box system would be set up with lock boxes and a letter slot. In this scenario, any customers with mail requiring payment or Pick-up such as parcels and C.O.D.'s would have to travel to Winthrop. "We're fully confident that you will be receiving lock box service in a Retail Postal Outlet the day after the closure," Mr. Bowler assured the group. To date, one written application for the RPO has been received by Canada Post and officials are negotiating with other businesses. Walton residents, however, are still dubious about the fate of their postal service and the manner in which Canada Post is going about the closure. Canada Post officials are sticking with their story that the retirement of Mrs. Marjorie Humphries, Walton's postmistress since 1983, provided a "natural opportunity" to switch to an RPO set-up. "They offered me an early retirement incentive package," commented Mrs. Humphries, adding that she has two weeks to make up her mind on the issue. While Mr. Bowler suggested to residents that there were no plans afoot to close the Walton outlet if Mrs. Humphries had not wished to retire, Mr. Craig told the group at another table that the postmistress is getting an incentive to retire now, that gives her a better financial settlement than would be available if she had waited for anther two years. Mrs. Humphries, who attended the meeting, said that any further discussion between herself and Canada Post is confidential for the time being. "I'm not going to tell you what she's (Mrs. Humphries) not telling you is not the truth," Mr. Bowler told residents at one point. A number of onlookers expressed frustration with the format of the meeting, and the situation in general. The overall feeling from Walton area residents is that they are being given no say in the situation, and that the 'closed' nature of the July 10 forum is representative of the treatment that Canada Post is giving the hamlet. One resident noted that no survey has been conducted concerning alternative mail services, although Canada Post assured one at one point in time, and that it is now a matter of wait and see for Walton. "We're up in the air...we don't know," said Mrs. Humphries. "They're going to close this post office, and that's it." "It's a done thing," added Mrs. Kirkby. "They're closing 1000 post . offices across Ontario, and they're doing it very quietly." Vanastra relieved as plant rejected BY PAULA ELLIOTT A proposal by a London-based waste management company to locate a PCB processing plant, among other business enterprises, in Vanastra has been turned down by Tuckersmith Council. Robert Gibbons - not Gibbings, as was previously reported - of O'Bailey's Waste Management Ltd. appeared before Tuckersmith Coun- cil in June with his proposal to convert a 30,000 square foot Vanastra warehouse. The building, known to residents as the Oud building or the old Archer property, was being eyed by O'Bailey's as the potential site for either a chemical transport transfer station, a low-level PCB processing plant or a tire recycling facility. Also sug- gested were a non -pathological medical incinerator or a chemical drum recycling depot. Twelve Vanastra residents ap- peared before Tuckersmith Council at the July 17 meeting, expressing great concern over the proposed PCB plant and articles which ap- peared in area newspapers reporting the development. Council assured the delegation that a resolution against the O'Bailey's site had been passed at council's July 3 regular meeting, and that council did not support the establishment of this industry in the park. Barry Harney, a Vanastra citizen, was one of many relieved residents on hearing this news. "I, as one, will tell you that," Mr. Harney remarked. He added that "very large numbers" of Vanastra citizens had been signing petitions against the O'Bailey's proposal. and that residents had been notably concerned over the reports. Ratepayers present at the Tuck- ersmith meeting assured Council that, had the matter gone any further, there were numerous citizens who would have been only too happy to attend and voice their objections on the issue. WIMMING BLIND, ,lard Gowan of the Seatorth Swim Team competes in the Girls 9 and 10 stroke event dint • Satunia 's swim meet at lion's Park ...1 Elliott • • o.