Lake Rosalind residents can expect to have their septic systems tested by the municipality in the near future, according to Mayor Charlie Bagnato.
He was told recently by a Ministry of Environment representative that there was an “inundation” of sewage in Lake Rosalind.
“So there’s a good possibility we’ll be looking into doing some septic inspection fairly soon,” Bagnato said.
He said the dangerous algal blooms may be the result of just one or two leaking septic systems.
Latest results show an increase in toxin levels that create the blue green algae (see story page 24).
He said they will be determining the general area where septic leak or leaks are occurring and GPSing them. They’ll then put dye in the toilet water and flush it. If it shows up in the lake water, they’ll know there’s a break in that system.
There has been two do-not-use advisories from the Grey Bruce Health Unit on Lake Rosalind and Marl Lake this summer, most recently on Aug. 20.

Bruce Power support

Brockton Council passed a motion Aug. 23 to support Bruce Power’s plan to ship decommissioned steam generators to Sweden to be recycled.
Coun. Chris Peabody was the only councillor to oppose the motion.
He said that was because the Nuclear Safety Commission is holding hearings on the plan, but they will be held in Ottawa.
“I?felt they should have been held more central to the Great Lakes Corridor than Ottawa, and sooner,”?Peabody said, adding, “I’m not so concerned with the shipment of the generators, just the process. (The Nuclear Safety Commission)?should have been more open with public hearings,”?he said.
Bruce Power plans to recycle 16 100-tonne steam generators that they say will be melted down and sold into the scrap metal market.
According to the Bruce Power Website, the generators are considered low-level radioactive waste and “well within regulatory limits to ship.”
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has reported that the generators don’t present a risk to the public or environment, and the Medical Officer of Health for Bruce Grey has also given the OK.

GIS?update

Utilities director Colin Saunders, along with summer students Nathan Kieffer and Craig Poechman, presented councillors with an update on the global positioning of the municipality’s infrastructure.
The students have been using a Trimble GeoXH handheld global positioning device to pinpoint everything from fire hydrants to road signs.
“We’re very pleased with the work they’ve done,”?Saunders told council. “We hoped to get the hydrants, manholes and storm manholes... but they’ve gone far and beyond what we hoped to do.”
He said in addition to what they hoped to get mapped includes bridges, street lights, and stop signs.
Kieffer and Poechman thanked council for the opportunity to work with the equipment, as it will be relevant to each in their field of study – Kieffer is taking civil engineering, and Poechman is in environmental technology.
Though the summer student positions have now ended, the GIS?mapping work isn’t slated to be over anytime soon.
Works department manager John Strader told the WHT?recently that it will take at least another year to get all of the municipality’s infrastructure mapped.
Saunders said that the project will help with planning and asset management, as well as helping to form budgets.

Miniature village

A local group of concerned citizens is taking a miniature scaled approach to solve a big problem.
Al Leach, founding director of the Saugeen Valley Children’s Safety Village committee, reported to Brockton Council that they are  going ahead with plans to build the facility, and they’re hoping to break ground at the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority headquarters near Neustadt this fall.
“This will be an innovative and interactive educational safety facility,”?Leach said.
The SVCA?staff and board of directors has approved the development in principle, and now the committee is working on raising $1.5 million.
He said they’re hitting up service groups, corporations, municipalities, and have applied for a Trillium grant.
Leach said some companies will come on board to have a scaled-down building in the village with a store-front façade.
“We want a village to look like something the kids can relate to, with actual businesses” Leach said.
But only some of the buildings will be used for the safety training, such as the town hall, police station, and a smoke filled house. Most will be for storage.
The facility will include  safety lessons in fire, farm, water, Internet, and roads.
“We have a slogan, and it’s ‘Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand,’” said Leach.
“A lot of injuries result in death and most are preventible... I?feel this is a necessity for our children,” he said.
The facility will be at no cost for children.
The committee is planning an invitation-only launch party at the SVCA?headquarters on Sept. 15.
Leach said they’re planning to finish the construction by fall 2011.

Giant Hogweed

Brockton Mayor Charlie Bagnato announced at the Aug. 23 council meeting that Huron-Bruce MPP?and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Carol Mitchell has applied to the province for noxious weed status for giant hogweed.
Bagnato said that it’s about time.
“Grey County, as well as Huron County, and many regions around the province have the designation... I have no idea (why it has taken the province so long). They should have gotten involved many years ago with blue-green algae and giant hogweed,” he said.
The provincial noxious weed designation will give the municipality more power to eradicate the plant that can burn skin with contact and can cause blindness.
Bagnato said if there’s a plant on private property, they cannot legally go onto the property remove it - that would change if the province designates it as a noxious weed.
“Right now it’s considered the same as a dandelion, it’s a weed, but not a noxious weed,”?Bagnato said. “This would help things a lot.”
Currently, the recreation and facilities department has been receiving calls from residents who have hogweed or have seen it, but according the minutes of the recreation committee’s July meeting, the municipality doesn’t have the resources to remove every plant.
“We are documenting the locations; however it is impossible to eradicate every plant. We remain focused on eliminating any plants in close proximity to trails, parks or open spaces,” the minutes said.