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Nov. 27, 1974 The Colborne Citizen Page 9 Deputy Reeve clarifies issues Following the candidates meeting at the Colborne Public School last Wednesday evening, it is apparent there is some confusion over several of the issues facing the electors of Colborne in the forthcoming municipal election. This article is an attempt to, hopefully, clear up some of the confusion. SEWAGE PROPOSALS The most controversial issue appears to be that of the sewer proposals now before council. In 1970 the Ministry of Environment informed council no further extension of sewer services either to existing streets or to new subdivisions could be made until sewage treatment facilities had been imporved. After which treatment facilities could be improved, council, by motion in May 1971, requested the Ministry of Environment to provide an engineering study and a financial report for a complete sewage system for the Village. The engineering study was completed within a few months and personnel of the Ministry of Environment then proceeded to prepare a financial study which was presented to Colborne Council in June 1974. COSTS Council members realized that some increase in sewer costs to the homeowner presently approximately $76 per year, would occur and would possibly be in the $120 per year range. The report when presented in June, indicated a cost of approximately $185 per year on an average lot. (For purposes of this calculation an average lot is considered to have a 60 foot frontage, thus wider lots would have slightly higher costs and narrow lots would be assessed slightly less). Council members were very concerned over this high cost and were reluctant to approve this plan if changes in the plan or alternative proposals would provide adequate facilities at less cost to the homeowner. After some study of the report Council met with Ministry of Environment personnel in September 1974 at which time, due to a lapse of almost three years since the engineering study was made certain changes in the plan were requested which hopefully will reduce the cost significantly. At the request of the Ministry of Environment this was a private meeting between council members and Ministry personnel to study the report and make any recommendations for changes. When the revisions to the plan have been completed Ministry officials will be prepared to attend a puDiic meeting to present the plan to the public prior to any acceptance by the council. This plan, as suggested by council and when completed, will provide for the extension of sewers to essentially all of the existing residential streets in the village and provide treatment facilities for a population of about 4,000. The report stated a period of three to four years would elapse before completion of the project and since council has agreed by motion, there be no subdivision development without sewers, the only development now possible is on lots fronting on existing streets and very few such lots are available. I feel that the first responsibility of council is to serve and protect the interests of the homeowners and taxpayers of the Village and it would appear to me that the provincial plan is the most logical proposal to provide the utimate goal of sewage treatment facilities for the Village of Colborne. SUBDIVISION It should be noted here that council has by motion, agreed that no subdivision development in the Village shall proceed without a proper subdivision agreement between the subdivider and the Village. Under this agreement the subdivider is required to put in all services in the subdivision, including streets, water, sewers, etc. These services in the subdivision must be provided by the developer at no cost to the present taxpayers. TRI-HOMME PROPOSAL On August 21, 1974 council received a proposal from Tri-Homme Incorporated offering to provide an increase in the capacity of the present lagoon system by the installation of an aeration cell. This increased capacity would allow some development of housing in the immediate future. According to Ministry of Environment reports the present lagoon system is overloaded and this overload will increase as housing units already approved or under construction are hooked into the system. The Tri-Homme proposal states the aeration cell would correct this overload condition and provide some increased treatment capacity over and above that required by the development of their subdivision. This extra capacity could be used by the town at their discretion to relieve problem areas on existing streets and as funds became availabe for sewer installation. The aeration cell would be installed and paid for by Tri-Homme at no cost to the taxpayer and upon completion would become the property of the Village after approval by the village engineer. Tri-Homme officials recognize that this is only a temporary measure and it would in no way interfere with the proposal by the Ministry of Environment as outlined earlier in this article. Naturally it is understood that such a proposal, if accepted by council, would allow development of Tri-Homme property over a period of years as demand for housing dictated and by subdivision agreement with the Village of Colborne. At the November meeting of Colborne Council and after lengthy debate it was resolved this proposal be forwarded to the consulting engineer for the Village of Colborne, for his comments. This motion did not, in any way, indicate approval of the proposal by council members. OIL REFINERY With respect to the proposed oil refinery to be located entirely in the Township of Cramahe, Colborne council took action to protect the interests of Colborne residents. Colborne council, by motion on June 24, 1974, advised the Township of Cramahe prior to the rezoning of the land that it opposed installation of an oil refinery immediately west of the Village of Colborne unless an agreement was signed between Petront Refineries Ltd. and the Village of Colborne in which the company agreed to certain conditions. Among others, these conditions included the proposed plant will comply will all emission controls specified by the Ministry of Environment; that an access road from 401 to the plant will not be through any part of the Village of Colborne; that such an access road be built before plant construction starts; and that assistance be provided by the company to the Village of Colborne toward the proposed sewer extension program in the amount equal to 25 percent of the extension cost as a sum no less that $250,000. By this action council ensured that maximum pollution control as required by Ministry of Environment would apply; that residents of Percy Street and adjoining residential areas would not be subject to excessive traffic; and that the burden of providing services to residential areas in the village created by the installation of the refinery would be covered by the financial assistance from the company. These conditions, and others, were agreed to by the company and shall be binding on the company, its officers and all successive owners, officers or directors. Council members have been concerned over recent suggestions that not all affairs of council have been open to the public. All council meetings have been and are open to the public and all residents of the village are invited to attend. The only The Ontario Pork Producers' Marketing Board grade statistics released earlier this year indicates some of the changes which have taken place within the pork industry during the last few years. Not so long ago it was unusual to find a farmer who did not produce a few hogs sometime during the year. As the grading statistics indicate, there are still quite a few farmers who maintain small swine herds but their total production is, relatively low compared to the smaller percentage who have much larger herds. The '73 - '74 grading statistics indicate that there were a total of 20,886 producers registered. Of these 7.3 percent or 1,526 producers actually produced 46 percent of the marketable hogs or 818,400 hogs out of a total of approximately 1,768,000. These 1,516 pork producers all shipped over 350 hogs per year. The remaining 19,360 producers registered shipped from one to 350 pigs with over. 7,000 reporting shipment of one to 10 hogs during the year. The 145 pork producers who shipped between 1,000 and 1,500 head during the year had the highest average index of 102.2. One producer shipped over 7,500 hogs during the year. Northumblerland County's percentage of provincial production is low and continues to decline as does all of Eastern Ontario. The report indicates that there were a total of 308 producers who marketed over 13,800 hogs during the year. Of these producers approximately half shipped less than 10 pigs. 11 producers or approximately 3.5 percent marketed over 6,270 hogs or approximately 45.5 percent of the total. Management icourse As announced earlier, two courses will be offered again this year under the heading of 'Management of the Farm Business'. The courses will emphasize exception was the private meeting requested by the Ministry of Environment as explained earlier in this article to examine the provincial proposal for sewage treatment. A public meeting will be held at the earliest convenience to explain this program. The minutes of all meetings including motions, resolutions, by-laws and accounts are available at the clerks office during normal working hours for examination by any citizen of the community. Council members have been and are concerned about the affairs of the Village; about improvements to roads and sidewalks; and about taxes, services, public safety, property protection, recreation and community programs and about the many other things that make the Village a wonderful place to live. Prepared by, Walter Rutherford, Deputy-Reeve, Village of Colborne crop production and management. They are aimed at younger farmers who are already operating their own farm - or who are in a father-son partnership, either established or beginning, with a viable farm unit. The two identical five-week courses are planned for Belleville starting Jan. 6 and Campbellford Feb. 10. The courses are sponsored by the Canada Manpower and as such, successful applicants will receive the normal retraining allowance. The deadline for application is November 30. Application forms are available through the County offices, Ministry of Agriculture and Food. VOTE KELLY DEPUTY REEVE HARNDEN FOR Councillor -- 9 Years on council -- VOTE FOR EXPERIENCE VOTE FOR HARNDEN For transportation call 355-2438 Wm. Bigford Aluminum RR 3, Brighton 2 mi. S. of Hwy. 2 on Barcovan Beach Rd. -- Flexalum Dealer-- Save 20% on your heating costs by investigating the installation of "Climatic 25" Aluminum Siding, 2Vi times better insulation than conventional siding MAKE YOUR HOME A NEW HOME WITH "CLIMATIC 25" ALUMINUM SIDING Easy to Clean Aluminum Windows & Screens Vertical-Horizontal Expertly Installed Flexalum Climatic combines high quality aluminum with polyure-thane, the most efficient building insulation available on the market. FREE ESTIMATES We do Soffit and Fascia Aluminum Eavetroughing, 20 year guarantee on Aluminum Siding. WM. BIGFORD ALUMINUM 475-0521 Deal direct with contractor - no commission salesmen Pork production For Progress in Colborne on Dec. 2,1974 FOR DEPUTY REEVE ____VOTE_ XNicholas (Nick) NYKYFORUK Merchant--Tina's Food Market