Huron County’s CAO Larry Adams has been acclaimed to the County Caucus of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario board of directors.
Adams noted the county will be well represented at AMO – Larry McCabe, clerk-CAO of the Town of Goderich, holds a position on the Small Urban Caucus while South Huron’s CAO is on the Rural Caucus.
The County Caucus also includes Kevin Eccles (West Grey), chair of the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus; David Burton, chair of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus; John Green of Wellington County; Carolyn Jamieson of Lambton, and Doug Reycraft of Middlesex.
Adams was congratulated by Huron County Warden Bert Dykstra during the meeting of county council on July 7.
In his report to council, Dykstra also commented on the recent successful emergency training exercise involving an avian flu scenario. “It was quite realistic,” Dykstra said.
And he said congratulations were in order for the blue flag being raised in Bayfield. The blue flag program is an international eco-label awarded to beaches and marinas that meet strict criteria covering everything from water quality to environmental programs.

Septic inspection discussed
During the presentation of the board of health report, there was discussion on the septic tank inspection program.
Ben Van Diepenbeek of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh told county council representatives from his municipality were going to Tiny Township to learn more about their inspection program, and invited representatives from the county to come along. “They’re doing it for $80, while we’re looking at $300-plus,” he said. “We’re seeing how they can do it.”
The board of health has discussed at length the Mandatory Septic Inspection Program, according to the written report to council.


Currently, there are member municipalities in Huron that have agreed to sign up for the program. Board member Bernie MacLellan suggested a revision to the program that would see septic tanks pumped every five years and would eliminate the need to have inspectors from the health unit present when the tanks were pumped out. There was some concern that it might not be fair to septic pumping services if the county contracted with only one  company.

New elevator equipment approved
County council has voted to repair the elevator at the Health and Library building in Clinton, accepting the recommendation of the third option presented in a report.
The elevator is presently out of service. Facilities manager Dave Breznik told Huron County council the elevator is unsafe for public use as there can be up to 10 inches difference between the floor of the building and the floor of the elevator cab when the doors open.
A fault in the hydraulic system has caused the problem, but the repair is complicated by a number of factors – the age of the elevator means parts are not available, the life span of controllers is 35-40 years and the present controller is 44 years old, and new regulations for the hydraulic cylinder are coming in within a year.
His report to council offered four options, two of which take into consideration new regulations.
The cheapest options, replacing the valve ($10,000); or replacing the controller and valve, and installing a piston over brake speed ($70,000) do not. Replacing the elevator would cost upwards of $150,000 and isn’t necessary, Breznik said. The third option was the one he recommended – replacing the controller, valve and hydraulic cylinder at a cost of about $110,000. This would address all concerns including the change to regulations.