LOOKING BACK – More rental units needed in Hillsburgh

From the Advocate – 35 years ago (1983)

More rental units needed in Hillsburgh

A draft development plan predicts Hillsburgh’s population will grow by 350 in the next 12 years. Consulting firm R.J. Burnside and Associates advises that more rental accommodation will be needed, especially to retain young people and seniors as residents. The population was 1,061 in 1981, and is expected to grow by two per cent annually.

Responding to a questionnaire, residents said they wanted improved parking, more stores, a clean-up of the village and a reduction in loitering and vandalism.

Burnside is recommending that land north of the village and along County Road 22 east of the railroad tracks be zoned for industry. Hillsburgh’s current tax base is 92 per cent residential and eight per cent commercial-industrial. The village has advantages such as low land prices and a beautiful countryside, but disadvantages such as a lack of skilled labour and no wastewater service.

From the Advocate – 25 years ago (1993)

Composting facility proposed

A public meeting will be held concerning a proposed composting business in Erin Township, after council determined that the facility would comply with the municipal zoning bylaw. The Ministry of the Environment has been asked to host a hearing for a Certificate of Approval.

The proposal is from Jon Dickey’s Grass Co. on Lot 27, Concession 4. He wants to blend grass clippings, leaves and vegetables to create a “soil additive” that could be used as a topdressing mixture suitable for turfgrass. The company would distribute and pick up bins at various waste producers such as grocery stores, feed mills and restaurants, as well as waste transfer stations.

30-hour fast by students

Forty-eight Erin District High School students experienced first-hand what many youths encounter daily when they participated in a 30-hour fast ending at 11 p.m. Friday. During the fast, students only drank water, milk and juice, but did not consume any solid foods.

The fast was organized to support World Vision, a Canadian charitable organization that helps poor people throughout the world. The money EDHS students raised in pledges will be directed to assist Brazilian and Canadian street kids.

By Friday afternoon, the kids admitted they were feeling hungry, but video games and gym activities helped ease their anxiety. The evening ended with a pizza “pig-out”, courtesy of Rainbow BBQ Grill. Steen’s, Hillsburgh IGA, Valu-Mart and Foodland supplied the liquid nourishment.

From the Advocate – 20 years ago (1998)

Reception for Dr. Bull

Last week at McMaster University, a reception was held to honour Erin family physician Dr. Duncan Bull, the first Canadian recipient of a bone marrow transplant from a donor who was not a relative. He received his transplant to cure a relapse of leukemia ten years ago, after a match was not possible from his siblings. “Dr. Bull was truly a pioneer, because the Canadian Unrelated Donor Program did not exist at the time of his transplant,” said a university press release. He offered thanks to all who cared for him and for the support of his wife Cecile and family. He had spent eight months in hospital during 12 admissions over 22 months, but since the transplant has worked full-time at his practice and not been admitted to hospital.

Senior Girls volleyball champs

Congratulations for the Erin District High School Seniors Girls Volleyball team who defeated Mount Forest to win the District 4 championship and earn a berth at CWOSSA. Coached by Ms. Brandt, the team includes Andrea Bates, Sadie Blacklock, Mel Brunskill, Vanessa Chaperlin, Sherri Fraser, Lorrie Hagyard, Laura Hamilton, Nicky Clughan, Corinna Miller, Sabrina Piercy, Jocelyn Shutt and Tara Smith.

Long distance area expands

Bell Canada has announced that the toll-free calling area for local exchanges will be expanded by this fall. Erin (833) residents will add Orangeville and Rockwood to their list of local calls, while Hillsburgh (855) will add Rockwood.

Erin Home Show cancelled for 2018

The East Wellington Chamber of Commerce (EWCC) is taking a break from staging the Erin Home Show this spring, but plans to bring it back with a renewed format in April 2019.

Notices of the cancellation went out to previous exhibitors on Feb. 22. EWCC took over the show from the town several years ago, and it has attracted good public attendance at Centre 2000.

EWCC Vice Chair Chris Bailey said the amount of volunteer time required to put on the show was one of the factors.

In addition, EWCC is going through a reorganization with several new board members, and they are taking time to plan how the group will operate, and how the Home Show will fit into that plan.

“We will be reaching out for input from businesses and the public,” he said.

Meeting on Erin gravel pit expansion

A public meeting will be held at Town Hall on March 6, at 6:30 p.m., to provide updated information from the county planning department on the proposal to expand the Halton Crushed Stone gravel pit just south of Erin village.

Some residents of Aspen Court and the surrounding area have been urging town council to oppose the plan, or to obtain concessions from the company to reduce the impact of noise, water runoff, dust, traffic and visual appearance.

The current pit is set back 300 metres from County Road 52. The proposed 140-acre expansion of the extraction area would bring it closer (on both sides of Tenth Line), with the company offering to make the setback 60 metres instead of 30 metres.

Residents have posed a long list of questions to the company and the town. There remains uncertainty about why housing was allowed next to lands zoned for gravel extraction, and why the previous pit owners did not extract closer to the homes.

The current projection is to complete excavation in the area closest to the subdivision within five years, based on a rate of 400,000 tonnes per year, but HCS is not agreeing to any firm deadlines.

Other issues include the recycling and stockpiling of old asphalt and concrete on the site and the parking of trucks on the Tenth Line.

HCS proposes to reduce stockpile heights and increase berm heights, and to plant a mix of coniferous trees and shrubs. They will move the main processing area to 1.2 km from the subdivision and have agreed to some changes in the hours of operation. They are using strobe lights for safety instead of back-up beepers on trucks in the early morning hours.

In its application for a provincial license, HCS has included the possibility of temporarily closing the Tenth Line between the pit areas and mining the gravel in the road allowance. This would be the last phase and would require an agreement with a future town council. The town could be entitled to a large quantity of free gravel for road maintenance as part of such a deal.

Minor flooding as deluge hits Erin

A combination of melting snow and persistent rain has damaged rural roads and caused minor flooding of low-lying properties in Erin village and Hillsburgh.

The Erin millpond overflowed its banks near the Charles Street dam on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Water was flowing on both sides of a house next to the dam before cascading back into the West Credit River, but there did not appear to be erosion or damage to the dam structure.

“It was pretty scary as the water kept coming up and up,” said Tim Inkster of Porcupine’s Quill on Main Street, who has a printing press in his basement close to the pond.

This is the highest water he has seen here in 45 years. It did not reach his basement, and was receding the next day. But with heavy ice still on the pond and the water level very close to the bottom of the Charles Street bridge, he is concerned that an ice jam could cause sudden flooding.

Water from the Charles Street dam millrace gushes through
the mill ruins on the former Mundell Lumber property. More photos below.

“Dams are being watched,” said Erin Road Superintendent Greg Delfosse. The water was above the concrete reinforcements of Hull’s Dam near Church Blvd., but the earthen berm was not eroding.

A high volume of water was passing under Main Street through the millrace chute that goes from the Charles Street dam to the old mill ruins on the former Mundell Lumber property, re-entering the river downstream of the Millwood bridge.

Just south of the Hillsburgh millpond, a section of Station Street was inundated with water on Feb. 20, leaving some large pieces of ice when it receded. Delfosse said it was due to heavy runoff combined with slow drainage through a culvert under the Elora Cataract Trailway into the millpond, an area where beavers have been active.

Tailwinds Bed and Breakfast, owned by Trevor Crystal and Janet Blanchard, is located at 17 Station Street near a small pond south of the trail. As rising water moved up their lawn, Crystal put out an urgent Facebook appeal.

“Anybody close to us, please bring sandbags and muscle to help save our home,” he said.

A “small army” of community volunteers, including staff from McKinnon Timber Mart, responded. About a dozen people built two short walls of sandbags with a pump between the rows.

The water was almost three feet deep in some areas, and although it reached the house, it did not breach the sandbags. By the next day, it was all gone.

“I cannot say enough about the amazing people in our community – thank-you so very much,” said Crystal in a follow-up posting.

The high volume of surface water overwhelmed storm drains on Main Street in the south end of Erin village for a short time on Feb. 20. Wellington Road 124 traffic continued to splash through several inches of water on the roadway.

Delfosse said many gravel roads in rural areas have had washout damage. Crews have put new gravel into some of the deepest holes, but roads are still too frozen to be regraded.

As of Feb. 21, the following roads were closed: 27 Sideroad between 10th Line and Winston Churchill Blvd., 1st Line south of County Road 124, 3rd Line from County Road 124 to 17 Sideroad, 4th Line from Wellington Road 50 to 10 Sideroad and 5th Line south of 17 Sideroad.

Back yards were flooded behind the downtown business district.

Water flows against the foundation of a house east of the Charles Street dam.

The West Credit River was over its banks east of Main Street

Water was flowing on both sides of a house west of the Charles Street dam.

Yards were under water on the west side of Erin's lower pond.

Erin gets a new fire chief

After a lengthy recruitment process, Jim Sawkins has been hired as the new head of Erin Fire and Emergency Services, replacing Dan Callaghan who retired in December.

Town council confirmed the appointment in a closed session on Feb. 20, and Sawkins will start on March 12.

“I am pleased to welcome James to the town to fill this important role,” said Erin Mayor Allan Alls. “He will add value to our efforts to move the community forward and ensure that our Fire & Emergency Services are future ready.”

Erin’s new chief has broad experience, including 20 years as a military firefighter, but has been at the centre of controversy in two communities.

He recently stepped down after serving as Director of Protective Services and Fire Chief since 2011 in the Town of Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. The community of 3,200 is located on the Dempster Highway in the Mackenzie River Delta, close to the Beaufort Sea.

Sawkins was the focus of CBC coverage last fall, with some firefighters in the 40-person department complaining about his leadership. One firefighter resigned after a personal dispute. There were also complaints about firefighters’ requests for additional training being denied.

Another resigned after a house fire in October that was initially extinguished, but reignited a few hours later, destroying the structure. The Northwest Territories Fire Marshall said there wasn’t enough evidence remaining to say why the fire reignited.

Reached by phone in Inuvik, Sawkins said there were “a handful of disgruntled firefighters” who disagreed with some of his management decisions, and that it was a “complex situation”.

“I was brought in to do a job – to build up the fire department,” he said. “I’ve done everything I could do there.”

He said was leaving the town on mutually agreeable terms, and that he was interested in moving back to Ontario to be closer to family members.

Regarding the fire that reignited, he said, “the fire was out when we left”, and that it was not a factor in him leaving the job.

“I’m looking forward to being part of the Erin team and meeting the firefighters,” he said.

Sawkins previously served as fire chief in both the Township of Muskoka Lakes (175 volunteer firefighters), and the Township of Tiny (86 volunteers). He also worked in fire services with the Canadian Forces, as a fire chief and senior instructor.

After almost six years with Muskoka Lakes, he was fired by the township council in 2010, sparking protests and some resignations by volunteer firefighters. They wanted council to reinstate the fire chief and fire the chief administrative officer instead.

Councillors stuck to their original decision, saying it was a routine issue, relating to communication and a new management direction for the department.

The fire chief’s termination came just weeks after more than 20 firefighters staged a protest at the township office in Port Carling. They used municipal fire trucks to block off access to the building. Some complained of budget cuts to the fire department and a lack of respect from council.

In a letter distributed to district fire chiefs and obtained by the Huntsville Forester newspaper, Sawkins asked firefighters not to put the public at risk. He considered running for mayor of Muskoka Lakes, but did not do so.

Sawkins is a Member of the Canadian Association of Fire Chief’s National Advisory Council, Member of the National Fire Protection Association, and past President of the Northwest Territories Fire Chief’s Association.