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o O F _ 7 T E 'I, Restructuring biggest" c ange sts"""") V /F7a” t ' O f d ' B kl . Act ' Free Press Woodstock Bureau F there is no change in Oxford's status as a regional governments "to make local gov." F WOODSTOCK - The restructured Oxford . county. . (ir,','.?,""" as strong and meaningful as possr- County government system which went into He noted that restructuring wa? requested e. . . _ effect Wednesday marks the greatest change by the county rather than. being imposed. by Then, in 197.0, Warden .Stanley Gehring, in county structure since the 1849 Baldwin the province. He. also said the head of the meme of Norwich Township, urged Oxford Act established county boundaries. county was appointed by county councillors County council to. attempt to preserve its . . . T and not by the province as has occurred boundaries before implementation of re- _ But this “Waffle architects .Of the .sy.sten.t when regional governments were established gional government. Later in 1970, county were local. otiicials (working with local input in other areas of Ontario. council established a committee to prepare _ from public meetings. Under restructuring, the county is respon- a report on regional government. , Study of the need for municipal reformbe. sible for planning, land severanees, water _ That same year, Woodstock and Ingersoll _ gan in 1963 and moved several stages before and sewer services - which the county may entered into discussions on restructuring the restructuring plan was approved in contract to, municipalities - capital financ- with the county and Brian Turnbull and As- June. ing, day-care services, waste disposal and a sociates of Kitchener was hired to present a Oxford's restructuring is the first in On- police liaison committee. report on restructuring. tario. The county will also operate the library Five alternatives were outlined. These . Warden Percy Sibbick, reeve of Blenheim system, an inspection department and pro- ranged from retention of the status flu0 by I Township, described it as "one of the big- motion of the county as an agricultural, in- leaving all matters in the hands of individ- gcst decisions in the history of Oxford dustrial, business/education, residential and. ual local governments to the creation of a County," vacation centre. _ one-tier government for the entire county. As of Wednesday 18 municipalities have First steps toward government restructur- Public meetings on the proposals were . been reduced to eight, Woodstock and Inger- ing were taken in 1963 when work began on held in eight centres. soil have retained their boundaries while the Lancelot Smith report on taxation, When At one stage, it was proposed that neigh- Tillsonburg has expanded into Dereham it was released in 1867, it outlined a blue- I boring parts of" Elgin Norfolk and Perth ‘ Township. Fifteen rural municipalities have print for creation of 29 regions by juggling counties be included 'in' the restructured ‘ Iincrgied into five townships. Zorra Township boundaries. county but this never came about. ' r ins con created in the northwest, East Under that to osal, Oxford was to be ird - . . q T ‘ Zorra-Tavistock Township in the north~cen- cluded in a pigporsed Talbot region with poi}- 113(3ng “2115: "cJe,seniLt,,1,1egt1, (y {3b- 1ral area, Blandford-Blenheini Township in tions of Elgin Norfolk and Middlesex coun- V . I, C c se. o. w, SI e- thc northeast, Norwich Township in the ties a , tracked. In 1973, county counCil “31?th a _ southeast and the fifth is South-West Oxford . . . . . motion that plans for restructuring be 'l‘ou'nship. , . . Regional thinking was given a further shot scrapped. And just before the provincial " Gerald Staples county clerk-trea . m the arm m .1968 with the release ot the government approved the restructuring bill . . said the restructured government is 5:35:31. prayincles] Design for Development which last PY,. a group of county residents to regional government in some aspects but on me p ans for .each region of the pro- appealed without success to the government _ mice. Its stated aim was to help establish to reject the bill. " l bl th Oxford reeve plans to run ' f f I . I it _ ',.,,, I ' Free Press Woodstock Bureau Reeve Baigent, vicefhairmy! of county A two-year veteran of Oxford County coutr. . INGERSOLL - Reeve Hartwell Baigent of council s, finance committee, s/aid: . oil, he1 "d his eighthbyearf on 2lsr,112ifg1',t,l, North Oxford Township announced Tuesday "Durint the past four years,' I have CouncIl. e h a PTI ”,0 CO Y. tll . " he will run for mayor of the new rural mun- gained_a thorough knowledge of the pro- property and administration committee. , icipality in the northwest of Oxford. posed restructured municipal system. _ ' At the same time, North Oxford Coun. "It is my feeling that eight years as coun- James N. Muterer will seek a councillor-at- ciliorsand two as reeve in the township of large seat in the Oct. .7.elT1iom F North Oxford,' qualifies me 'with enough vi least Nissouri Township, West Zorra royn- knowledge 'and experience to help inaugu- ship, Embro and North Oxford are merging rate a strong new council, capable of provid- _ Jan. 1, 1975. .. ing better service, more efficiently to the c' t ' public, at no more increased cost than nor- _ mal inflation dictates."' . Deputy Reeve Muterer said: : t "f was against the restructuring but now ' that it is here we are going to have to make, V it work." ' [ , _ The new area, he said, will require experi- "-, " 'e'nced people to keep costs down. _ . 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