8/6/2019 Moffatt Funding

1/2

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 $1.19 plus 6 GST, $1.25 U. S.Printed in Canada Volume 115 Number 11

www.fortfrances.comemail: info@fortfrances.com ISSN 0834-6283 PAP No. 07429

ISSN 0834-6283

Over the mountains, across theplains, into the woods, and out tothe oceanall on two wheels.

This is the summer for fouruniversity students from the Ca-nadian Memorial ChiropracticCollege in Toronto.

The second-year students arebicycling across Canada on theUnleash Your Potential nation-al health awareness campaign.

InsideInside

See story on A3

A warm, ready smile and afriendly, gentle voice are what

you get when you first meetFather Reverend Alan Albao (al-

bow), the newly-appointed priestfor the west end of the RainyRiver District.

Serving the four parishes of St.Patricks in Emo, Our Lady of theWay (Pinewood), Our Lady ofGood Counsel (Rainy River), andour Lady of the Lake (Morson),Fr. Albao was first appointed as atemporary replacement in April.

DistrictDistrict

See story on B7

Wayne and Pat Howard mightwant to schedule more time offtogether from their duties atRoss Camp in Emo for futurefishing tournaments.

The married couple of 24 years rarely spend time awayfrom the camp together duringthe busy summer season, butdid so this past weekend andwon the ninth-annual Castin forCash at Lake Despair Lodge.

Talk about a wise decision.

SportsSports

See story on B1

Students bikingto promote health

District welcomesnew priest

Howards winCastin for Cash

By Elisabeth HeslopSummer reporter

Alberton council has opted to put off making a decision on theapplication for a zoning bylawamendment made by townshipresident Gayle Arpin until nextmonth.

Last Wednesdays meeting wasthe earliest at which council couldhave made a decision on the con-troversial issue, which drew rough-ly 170 residents to a public meet-ing back on June 24.

I think to make a decision now,while emotions are high and factsare low, would be an injustice tothe township, said Coun. MikeFord.

Coun. Barb Cournoyer suggest-ed they revisit the zoning bylaw,the townships official plan, and the

provincial Planning Act to ensurethe decision they make is basedsolely on facts, not emotion.

As such, a special meeting hasbeen set for July 29 at 7 p.m. soAlberton council can discuss thedocuments and seek clarificationon any issues its unclear about.

Council also said it would make

a final decision at its regular meet-ing scheduled for Aug. 12.

Also at last Wednesdays meet-ing, Alberton council expressedconcerned about the possibility thatWeechi-it-te-win Family Services,the potential buyers of the Arpin

property to re-locate its Trainingand Learning Centre (TLC) cur-

rently located in Watten Townshipshould the re-zoning be approved,might purchase land thats zonedRural Residential.

Group homes are permitted, ac-cording to the zoning bylaw, onsuch land and council would haveno say in the matter.

That was a very clear threat[by Weechi-it-te-win] at the publicmeeting [on June 24], said Alber-ton CAO Dawn Hayes.

But Clint Calder, Weechi-it-te-wins legal counsel, said his state-ment at the public meeting thatanyone could open a group homeon Rural Residential-designatedland was not intended as a threatat all.

The point was just to tell the public that anyone could start agroup home who buys a RuralResidential property at any point,

he explained. It wasnt a threat tosay that Weechi-it-te-win can turnaround and buy a house and turnit into a group home without con-sent.

People may have taken it thatway but it wasnt really the inten-tion, Calder stressed.

The intention was just to try

and get the public to understandthat the only reason we were therewas because we felt it more ap-

propriate to have the Institutionaldesignation for this facility.

Clearly some people took it as athreat.

Calder added Weechi-it-te-win isnot seriously considering purchas-ing Rural Residential land at thistime, but did acknowledge it might

become a consideration down theroad.

Alberton councillors noted thestrong response at the public meet-ing indicated a clear mandatefrom the constituents [that were

present] that a significant portionof Alberton residents do not wanta group home of any kind in theirtownship.

Council decided it needed timeto investigate the issue of whether

or not the group home use can belegally eliminated from the zoning

bylaw and whether the most ap-propriate means of resolving issueswith the group home use is toeliminate it as a permitted use orto modify and/or impose condi-tions related to the use, as well asseveral other planning and legal

issues related to the same.In order to allow time for thatstudy, council last Wednesday

passed a resolution and an interimcontrol bylaw, in accordance withSection 38 of the Planning Act,to prevent the establishment oroperation of a group home on anyland designated as Rural Residen-tial within the Township of Alber-ton for the time of one year fromthe date the bylaw was passed (July8).

According to the Planning Act,once council has by bylaw orresolution, directed that a reviewor study be undertaken in respectof land use planning policies in themunicipality or in any defined areaor areas thereof, it can pass aninterim control bylaw.

Section 38, subsection (3) statesthat no notice or hearing is re-

quired prior to the passing of a[interim control] bylaw, but noticemust be given of its passing within30 days by the clerk of the munici-

pality.Anyone notified by the clerk of

the passing of the bylaw then canmake an appeal to the Ontario Mu-nicipal Board within 60 days of the

date the bylaw was passed by filinga notice of appealcontaining theirobjections to the bylaw and thereasons for those objectionswiththe municipal clerk.

Interim control bylaws are not put in place lightly. Even thoughthey can be extended by councilfor not more than a total of two

years from the time the bylaw waspassed, once the bylaw ceases tobe in effect, the council of the mu-nicipality may not, for a period ofthree years, pass a further interimcontrol bylaw that applies to anylands to which the original interimcontrol bylaw applied.

It is a drastic move but I feel itsa necessary evil right now, saidCoun. Ford.

Any questions regarding the in-terim control bylaw can be di-rected to Hayes at 274-6053.

Alberton delays re-zoning decision

By Peggy RevellStaff writer

Work on the Portage Avenueunderpass project has resumed,meaning residents will be facingroad closures over the comingweeks, explained Operations andFacilities Manager, Doug Brown atMonday evenings regular councilmeeting.

Traffic lights are up and run-ning. Theres temporary rubber

barriers where concrete barrierswill be put in on Third and Fifthat both of the east and west endof Portage like last year, Brownnoted.

This week Tuesday, Wednesdayand Thursday, Portage Avenue be-tween Third and Fifth will beclosed to the public from 9 a.m. to7 p.m., he explained, adding thatemergency vehicles will still beable to get through there. Fridaythe underpass will be closed onlyuntil 4 p.m., and it also wont beclosed on Saturday, he noted, butwill possibly be closed on Sunday.

As for the future schedule ofwhen the public will be able toutilize the underpass, Brown statedthat every Friday he will be givingan update on the upcoming weeksschedule through the media.

Just on the long term, werepretty confident that this year weregoing to be done the job, Brownadded. The big stuffs done.

Meanwhile, the biomass road project continues to move along,

Brown reported, with water mainsnow installed all along VictoriaAvenue from Front Street to Nel-son Street, as well as along NelsonStreet from Portage to Victoria,and the project is starting to moveup Portage Avenue.

The next step of the project willaffect traffic along Portage Avenueand Church Street, Brown noted,and concrete work on the firststage will start on Monday.

Basically the next stage is weregoing from just south of the fire

hall all the way up to the Voya-geur Hotel, Brown said, addingthat there will be a time when theintersection of Scott Street will beclosed, but when that time is ap-

proaching the public and BIA willbe notified in advance.

On a side note, the constructionproject on Scott Street from ReidAvenue to Colonization Road Eastis no longer a go, Brown noted,since the town learned on July 2that the Ministry of Transportationdidnt approve funding for the proj-

ect. Tower and HallettAnd with Phase II of the lo-

cal Heritage Tourism Project infull swing, Community ServicesManager, George Bell also gave averbal update to council about the

projects progress.Both the piling has been com-

pleted and all the foundationalwork poured at the new location ofthe lookout tower, Bell noted, andthe contractor has also proceededwith driving the piles for the Hal-letta process that has meant that

both the walking and bike pathin that area has been blocked offtemporarily.

Theyve also poured all theconcrete for the cradle thats goingto hold the Hallett in place on the

Plenty ofprojectson the goin town

By Peggy RevellStaff writer

A handful of programs and proj-ects were given a funding boostas the Town of Fort Frances an-nounced the recipients of this yearsMoffat Family Fund at Mondayevenings regular council meeting.

Nine community groups wereselected this year to receive part of

the $43,750 allocated to the townby the Moffat Foundation.

With the funds aim to benefitchildren, families and the less ad-vantaged, the largest cheque pre-sented Monday was one madeout to the Salvation Army for$12,650.

We were praying to have some-thing like that for our programs,said Capt. Angel Sandoval of thelocal Salvation Army. Especiallyfor our new program that weregoing to start in September.

This new program, he explained,will be one that helps provide

personal hygiene products to lessfortunate families.

What were going to do is toprovide families with personal hy-giene products for their children,Sandoval explained, noting that inthe last year the Salvation Army

helped 573 families throughoutthe year with hampers, a numberthat included close to 446 chil-dren.

Today its sad to note that many

children go without brushing theirteeth, or washing their hair be-cause the family income is goingelsewhere.

Part of this is due to the econom-ic situation which families are fac-ing right now, alongside the higher

prices of hygiene products sincethe community is located fartheraway from the big cities, Sandovalexplained.

For the family that is facingeconomic problems, it is more dif-

ficult, he noted. And we havefamilies where there is need, wherethere is extended families with alot of kids, the situation becomesmore and more difficult for them.

As well, theyve noticed thatmany children in this situation arefaced with teasing because theyarent going to school clean.

Cleanliness increases self-confi-dence and ambition for children,

Sandoval said, adding that the am-bition of this program is to increasethe self-esteem of these children, asone step towards stopping the cycleof poverty.

And program like this can meanavoiding higher expenses later on,Sandoval added, such as through

promoting dental health and avoid-ing later problems that would comefrom lack of hygiene.

With support from the MoffatFoundation, as well as Family andChildrens Services, Sandoval saidthat this program will be launchingwith the new school year.

Alongside the Salvation Army,Monday nights announcement bythe town saw eight other organi-zations presented with chequesincluding the Rainy Lake Ringers.

Youth will have new musical op-portunities with $3,000 in fundinggoing towards a new project withthe Rainy Lake Ringers.

Were very very excited amdIm very excited, said choir direc-tor, Diane Maxey.

This new project, she explained,will see her taking hand chimesinto J.W. Walker School from thefall until Christmas, where shewill be working with students inMonica Armours Grade 4/5 classto teach them how to play.

Were very thrilled to have beengiven this opportunity, she said,adding that its her hope that someof these students will eventuallylearn and grow so that they can

Moffat fundsgo to rangeof programs

Jessica Mitchell mixed ingredients together tomake some pizza sauce yesterday during theCulinary for Youth cooking program at Con-federation College. Fort High teacher KellyConnor is instructing the week-long class for

youth aged 11-16. Students will show theirparents what they learned when treat them tolunch this Friday. The course will run againAug. 10-14. Call the college at 274-5395 formore information. Duane Hicks photo

Learning to cook

Please see Plenty, A3

Please see Moffat, A5

July 15, A1.indd 1July 15, A1.indd 1 7/15/09 10:45:46 AM7/15/09 10:45:46 AM

8/6/2019 Moffatt Funding

2/2

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 FORT FRANCES TIMES A5

More from A1 join the Rainy Lake Ringers, oreven form a childrens group toperform publicly.

I think the arts are extremelyimportant and weve got so manykids that are just so talented inso many ways, vocally and musi-cally and instrumentally, Maxeysaid. This is just another opportu-nity for them to participate and trysomething a little different.

Im very excited. Going intothe classroom is just going to be ablast, she added But alongside giving youth an op-

portunity with music, youth sportswas also given a boost with $4,000 presented for Kitchen Creek GolfClubs Junior program.

The clubs junior program ismeant to encourage young golfers,explained Faye Flatt who acceptedthe cheque on behalf of KitchenCreek.

Were certainly thankful forcouncils recommendation on sup- porting our request as well asgrateful for the Moffat Foundation,because now we can expand that junior program and incorporatemore kids, and even some who

may not have had the opportunity before, she said. Because golfcan be, depending on how deepyou get into it, it can be a ratherexpensive activity.

Coordinating with schools in thethe district, the junior programgives youth the opportunity tolearn about and play the game ofgolf, she explained, and encouragethe game as an outdoor activity.

While there is a minimum price per person to cover the costs ofsuch things as green fees, instruc-tors and equipment, Flatt explainedthat the goal of the funding from

the Moffat Foundation would meanthey could offset these costs.

The youth are the future of thegolf course, she added, noting thatthe youth who get involved withthe sport now will one day becomemembers of the club.

Meanwhile, funding to the tuneof $6,500 will be going towardsthe Fort Frances Public Library,for a discovery station for childrenthat has preloaded games, lotsof fun activities and educationalactivities on a colourful computer,explained head librarian MargaretSedgwick, adding they also will

buy early literacy interactive pan-els.

Were always pleased to getmore funding to enhance our ser-vices, and the Moffat Foundation being geared towards childrensserviceswe thought it would bea great opportunity to enhancewhat we offer for children, sheexplained, adding that theyre veryappreciative of the Moffat Founda-tion for the support given to thecommunity.

Other organizations who re-ceived funding included the RainyRiver District Social Services Ad-

ministration Board, who was pre-sented a cheque for $9,000, theRainy River District Family andChildrens Services who were giv-en $3,000, and the Fort FrancesMuseum, which received $2,600.

On behalf of the Fort Fran-ces Highlander Pipes and Drums, Jordan Manty and Ryan Woodwere presented with a cheque for$1,000. Meanwhile, representingthe 908 Rainy Lake Air CadetSquadron, Lisa Strom was pre-sented a cheque for $2,000.

Moffat funds given out to wide range of local programs

The Colour Party and members of the Rainy River Legion, including Harry Arnould and Ken Mason, lead the parade Satur-day for this years Railroad Daze celebrations in Rainy River. Peggy Revell photos

Celebrating Railroad Daze

Daryl Scott of FUBAR got ready to take a swing during theslo-pitch tourney. The Renegades finished first in the Aevent.

Members of the Rainy River Figure Skating Club waved tothose who lined the streets during Saturdays Railroad Dazeparade.

Ayla Holmes said goodbye to her hair, as Meaghan Jaspershaved it off for Cuts for Cancer. Seven people shaved theirheads this year, raising over $2,500.

Deanie Lunyk, alongside the other riders from Naughty PineRiding Ranch, waved from her mount during the parade.

Kip Sharp, left, and Harvey Manaigre took a look under the hood of Sharps 1974 Dodge Charger that was one of the cars inSaturdays classic car show during Railroad Daze celebrations in Rainy River.

Kiam McEvoy, 5, of Fort Frances smiled after having his facepainted under the big tent where childrens activities tookplace.

July 15, A5.indd 1July 15, A5.indd 1 7/15/09 11:47:51 AM7/15/09 11:47:51 AM