12 June 2, 2012 - ObserverXtra

THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012
Woolwich wary
of CETA
negotiations
Woolwich this week joined a
long list of Canadian municipalities
expressing their unease over the
Comprehensive Economic and Trade
Agreement (CETA), currently in the
negotiation stage between Canada
the European Union.
Meeting this week, councillors passed
a resolution calling on the federal and
provincial governments to stand up
for municipal interests, as critics have
seen the possibility the deal could
undermine local autonomy, including
purchasing decisions. The deal is also a
potential threat to local drinking water
systems.
Municipalities could lose some of
their ability to control who bids on
contracts for goods and services
– CETA would open the process to
international companies, disallowing
any buy-local provisions. Far more
worrying is the access-by-stealth
aspects of the deal: European designs
on Canada’s resources, including water,
an ongoing threat with existing and
proposed free trade agreements.
POLICE BLOTTER BLACKOUT LEADS TO DRIVEWAY MISHAP
Police seek suspect following
break-and-enter in Breslau
Police were contacted
at 3:40 on May 27 about a
break-and-enter at a Dolman
Street residence in
Breslau.
When officers arrived
they discovered the home’s
back door was open. Once
inside, they found the
house had been ransacked.
A safe taken from an
upstairs room was found
near train tracks near the
MAY 24
4:30 AM | Police received
a call about a dog that had been
barking for three hours on Anne
Street near Riverside Drive in
Elmira. When police arrived they
found the dog tied to a tree unable
to move and it had been sprayed
by a skunk. The animal was
transported to the Humane Society.
7:30 PM | Two people travelling
in a red Dodge pickup on Line
86 near Manser Road were attacked
by a man who threw rocks at the
their vehicle. When they stopped
the man proceeded to attack the
female passenger. The attacker is
described at wearing a white shirt
and black pants. Police could not
find any suspects in their search.
Building on the success
of their affordable
housing rental units on
Centre Street in Elmira,
MennoHomes is embarking
on an ambitious plan
to create even more affordable
housing in Elmira and
Wellesley village.
The projects involve renovating
an existing bungalow
located at 9 Ratz St. in
Elmira, building a duplex
on the adjacent vacant lot,
and building a second duplex
in Wellesley on David
Street. The five units will
bring the total to 105 for
MennoHomes in the past
decade.
Yet the new construction
projects go beyond merely
house. Owners of the house
reported a small amount of
money and some jewelry
was missing.
Police are looking for a
suspect described as 25 to
35 years old, average height
and medium build with
short brown hair, scruffy
beard, dark yellow teeth
wearing a black ball cap and
a long-sleeved t-shirt with a
silver cross wing design.
MAY 25
5:10 AM | A small to mid-size
vehicle driving along Northfield
Drive near Jigs Hollow Drive lost
control and entered a ditch. When
police arrived they found a man
and woman outside the vehicle but
were unable to determine who was
driving the vehicle at the time of
the accident. They are continuing to
investigate.
7:10 PM | Police received a
call about a green Honda driving
erratically around the Crosshill
Community Centre. When police
arrived they found two young men
in the vehicle and seized a small
about of marijuana.
MAY 26
8:30 PM | A Listowel Road
resident contacted police when they
discovered that the license plate on
their vehicle had been switched with
an expired plate. The investigation
continues.
MAY 27
9:50 AM | An 80-year-old
Elmira woman was backing out of
her driveway on Snyder Avenue
when she blacked out, causing her
black Saturn to loop around and
drive into her own house. The car had
significant damage and the woman
sustained minor injuries. No charges
were laid.
7:00 PM | A Conestogo man
driving a 2011 Nissan van hit a deer
on Sawmill Road near Bloomingdale.
The deer survived the impact and
ran into a field. The vehicle sustained
significant damage to the left side. No
injuries were reported by the driver.
MAY 28
2:00 PM | A 16-year-old Elmira
man operating a 1998 Toyota on Reid
Wood Drive near Floradale lost control
of the vehicle and rolled over, causing
significant damage. The youth was
charged with ‘careless driving’ and
not having a G1 licensed driver in the
vehicle with him at the time.
3:55 PM | An accident occurred
at Entertaining Elements on King
Street North in St. Jacobs when a
51-year-old man cut his inner thigh
moving a stove. The man was a friend
of the owner and not an employee.
He was helping the owner pack
appliances as the store is moving. He
was taken to Grand River Hospital to
be treated.
NEWS | 5
MAY 29
7:20 AM | A 66-year-old
Brampton man was charged with
an improper turn when he struck
a 2000 Safari van operated by a
49-year-old Wellesley man with
his transport truck. The truck driver
told police he was driving when
he realized he was heading in the
wrong direction and made a U-turn
before hitting the other vehicle.
3:45 PM | Police received a
call about graffiti on the Apostolic
Church and at a nearby park on the
building near the tennis courts on
Lobsinger Line in Heidelberg. The
investigation continues.
8:25 PM | A 31-year-old
woman from Markham was
charged with ‘fail to stop at a red
light’ when she drove her 2011 Jetta
into a 2003 Kia driven by an Elmira
woman in her 30s at the intersection
of Arthur Street North and
Church Street in Elmira. No injuries
were reported. Both vehicles suffered
moderate damage.
10:45 PM | Police and
firefighters responded to a fire at a
store on Katherine Street near Line
86 in West Montrose. Fire officials
believe the fire started from a
faulty electrical system. Damage
was estimated at $10,000.
MennoHomes plan more affordable housing for townships
JAMES JACKSON
building new houses. They
actually involve the deconstruction
of an existing fourplex
in Waterloo and transporting
three of the floors to
the sites – two of those units
are headed to Elmira, and
one for Wellesley.
“For us this is a first,”
said MennoHomes president
Martin Buhr. “It’s a
whole new experience.”
The unusual opportunity
arose last year when a pair
of brothers – who wish to
remain anonymous – sold
their property on King
Street North in Waterloo.
Faced with the removal
of the four-unit building,
they could either turn the
units into rubble, or donate
them.
Luckily for Menno-
Hawkesville TV
episode June 12
Hawkesville residents will have
a chance to see their community
featured on TV with the premiere of a
new TVO show called Giver. It features
a group of six Hawkesville kids
volunteering their time to improve
the playground at the Hawkesville
Community Centre.
The Hawkesville episode of Giver
was filmed in August 2011 and will
premiere on TVO Tuesday, June 12 at
6:30 pm. Six local children ages 7 to 13
The 80-year-old driver of this car backed into with her own home on Snyder Avenue last Sunday morning after she blacked out. No charges
were laid and the driver suffered minor injuries. [JAMES JACKSON / THE OBSERVER]
Homes, they chose the latter
option.
“Its 10 years old and
they’re deconstructing it in
modular housing units so it
can be reassembled,” said
Buhr.
Not only are the brothers
donating three of the floors
(the fourth was deemed
unsalvageable), they are
covering most of the costs
themselves, including deconstruction,transportation,
storage (if necessary),
foundation work, and reassembling
the units.
The agency doesn’t take
ownership of the homes
until they pass final inspection
and are deemed
inhabitable under regional
and township building
codes. MennoHomes must
joined the Giver team to design and
build a beach-themed playground
with a sandcastle fort, a climbing
pyramid and a volleyball court. The
kids learned about civic engagement
as they got their hands dirty sawing,
nailing and painting with the help of
local volunteers. With only three days
to finish the project, they felt a great
sense of pride in all that they were
able to accomplish in that time.
Giver, co-produced by TVO and
Sinking Ship Entertainment, engages
kids across Ontario to volunteer their
time to build playgrounds in their
communities.
Dust suppression
work underway
in Woolwich
Delayed by a potential legal
challenge of its tendering process,
Woolwich this week began treating its
gravel roads with dust suppressant.
The work would normally have
been completed by now, with the
setback causing more gravel dust to
be dispersed into the air, affecting
farm fields and the quality of the air
breathed by rural residents, Coun.
Mark Bauman noted at this week’s
MennoHomes president Martin Buhr (right) and treasurer Gary Chard show off the future
design plans for a duplex to be built at 11 Ratz St. in Elmira using two donated levels of a
soon-to-be demolished fourplex from Waterloo. [JAMES JACKSON / THE OBSERVER]
council meeting.
A challenge from one of the
unsuccessful bidders put the township
behind schedule by two or three
weeks. The township, however, stuck
with its original plan, awarding the
work to Pollard Highway Products,
which will spread a 20-per-cent solution
of calcium brine on Woolwich’s
119-kilometre network of gravel
roads. Councillors weren’t swayed by
a representative of Miller Paving Ltd.,
which submitted the nominally lower
bid for the job.
With the cost of extra water factored
in, the Miller bid was deemed higher.
also complete soil tests at
the David Street site before
construction can begin to
ensure it is not contaminated.
Buhr estimates completing
the work themselves
would have cost about
$100 per square foot, and
with each unit about 1,500
square feet in size, the
savings should amount to
more than $450,000.
There are still a lot of
other costs that the company
must cover, including
site plans that need to be
drawn, work to even the
grade on the 7,300 squarefoot
vacant lot in Elmira,
and driveways and parking
lots must also be com-
MENNOHOMES | 7