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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-03-04, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, March 4, 2015 Huron East Centenaires eliminated from WOAA playoffs Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor After a strong post -season push, the Huron East Centenaires quest for the WOAA 'A' championship crown has come to an end follow- ing a heartbreaking 8-7 defeat at the hands of the Lucknow Lancers last weekend. The Feb. 28 game, the last for the Centenaires in the round robin stage, was set to determine the final team that would advance to the second round. "We have a great group of guys who love and respect this town," read a tweet from the Centenaires' Twitter account following the game. "We have built a family. We will be back" Ripley, Shallow Lake and Milver- ton had already clinched the three other second round spots. Huron East came into the decid- ing game with four points after wins against Shelburne and Ripley and defeats to Milverton and Shal- low Lake. Lucknow came in two points behind but with one game in hand. They concluded the round robin stage with a game against the group leading Ripley Wolves on Mar. 1. Under the league's playoff for- mat, the Centenaires played five other teams once each in-group play. The four teams with the most points advance to the next round. The recently introduced format allows all league teams to compete in the post -season for one of two different championships. The league, which has six teams in the South Division and eight in the North Division, is essentially split into two different conferences for the playoffs based on overall regular season records. The top four teams from the North and the top four teams from the South compete in the `AA' play- offs, while the Centennaires and other lower ranked opponents compete in the 'A' playoffs. Scoreboard Seaforth Shuffleboard Feb. 25 Men's high: Jack Ryan, Charles Ladd, two wins. Women's High: Agnie Ramsey, Marie Thomas, two wins. Marian Pullman, three wins Grace Corbett, four wins. File photo Seaforth and District Community Centre and Arena. Huron East council talks arena funding Council seeks ways to trim costs in advance of budget Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor Huron East council is once again mulling the future of the municipali- ty's three recreation centres, as rising maintenance costs and declining use place the facilities under greater scrutiny in advance what is expected to be a trim municipal budget. Coun. David Blaney joined sev- eral of his counterparts in warning that the cost of maintaining the ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! DEADLINES Our Weekly Deadlines are as follows: ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL Friday @ 2:00 pm Huron Expositor 8 Main St., Seaforth PH: 519-527-0240 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com OFFICE HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 9am - 5pm CLOSED TUESDAYS ea orth uronex . ositor.co aging facilities would continue to rise in the future, with wear and tear necessitating more extensive repairs. "The reality is they are just going keep costing more and more money," he said at council's Feb. 17 meeting. The debate over how to pay to maintain the centres has taken an extra sense of urgency in recent weeks, following comments from treasurer Paula Michiels earlier this month that ratepayers could expect to see a 11 per cent property tax hike proposed in the municipality's draft budget for 2015. She said the prospective hike would "cover" a funding cut from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and try to absorb an increase in the amount charged by the OPP for policing services. Blaney's comments echo con- cerns voiced during council's previ- ous meeting on Feb. 3, where Mayor Bernie MacLellan questioned whether the municipality needed three facilities with demand for ice time, in particular, falling significantly. It's a trend that shows no signs of reversing, as the municipality's greying demographics suggest a lessening need for youth recrea- tional facilities. MacLellan cautioned, however, that deciding which centre to cut off remained difficult as all communi- ties had built and operated their facilities long before amalgamation in 2001. "We got recreational facilities in communities that want the facilities but aren't using the facilities as much as they used to," he said at the Feb. 3 meeting. "But who can prop- erly make the decision to say 'guess what yours is the one that has to leave?"" The challenge of maintaining municipal infrastructure - such as arenas and recreation centres - that primarily serves younger users while boasting an increasingly aging population is hardly unique to Huron East. It's an issue faced by many other small and medium-sized munici- palities across southwestern Ontario, most of whom saw a net population loss between 2006 and 2011. Cutting funding for these sorts of facilities could ease financial pres- sures facing the municipalities, but might also threaten their ability to attract young families in the future. Further complicating matters for Huron East, is the difficulty in attracting users for its arenas during non -peak hours. Despite falling usage of the facili- ties, most councillors say the arenas are almost completely booked dur- ing the peak hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Attracting users during other periods of the day, they insist, could go a long way towards recouping costs and placing the facilities on firmer financial footing. Blaney says the municipality should also work towards attracting users, such as lacrosse teams, dur- ing the summer months, where the arenas are mostly empty.