HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-07-12, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018. PAGE 11.
Al's resignation leads to outsourcing municipal IT
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
North Huron Clerk and Manager
of Information Technology (IT)
Services Richard Al has resigned his
post at North Huron to pursue a
future with the Canadian Mental
Health Association.
Al, who was was named to the
clerk position following the
departure of Kathy Adams just under
a year ago, told The Citizen on
Monday night that he was pursuing
the new opportunity.
As a result of his departure, North
Huron has temporarily split his clerk
duties between current Chief
Administrative Officer Dwayne
Evans and Administrative Assistant
Barb Black who will take on his
signing responsibilities.
Al's information technology role
has been outsourced to ContinulT, a
local service provider based in
Goderich.
As Evans explained during the
meeting, the likelihood of finding
someone with both Al's background
in IT and a desire and education to
be involved in municipal
administration wasn't likely, so
spreading his responsibilities out
was the best bet.
Council passed several motions on
Monday night instituting the
changes. Al will be brought in when
needed to help with the transition,
provided his schedule at his new
position allows it.
While council accepted the new
reality, both Reeve Neil Vincent and
Councillor Trevor Seip said they
hope that making the move didn't
take opportunities away from North
Huron.
Vincent pointed to recent changes
at Huron County that have made
finding bylaws much easier, saying
he hopes that kind of forward
thinking comes from ContinulT and
that council wasn't simply hiring
them to troubleshoot computer
problems.
Seip echoed those concerns,
saying the municipality and its
council need those kind of changes
to stay competitive.
Addressing Vincent's concerns,
Evans said that the program the
county is using had been included in
the initial 2018 budget, but was cut
Pedestrian traffic
solutions debated
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Last week, members of the Blyth
Business Improvement Area (BIA)
debated different methods of making
the village downtown more
pedestrian friendly.
What began as a discussion about
crosswalks similar to those found in
Clinton branched out to other ideas
to make walking in Blyth's
downtown core more accessible.
David Sparling suggested that, if
crosswalks similar to those in
Clinton were installed, he would
hope the devices, which flash yellow
lights to tell drivers to yield to
pedestrians, would be spaced out as
to not limit walkability downtown to
a small area.
Les Cook of the Queens Bakery
said that the intersection of Dinsley
and Queen Streets is especially
hazardous due to how difficult it is
for pedestrians and traffic to see
each other.
"It's really hard to see," he said.
"You can have people stepping out
from behind parked cars or traffic
that you can't see because of parked
cars."
Gary van Leeuwen, representing
the Blyth ministerial, asked if there
was a way to drop the speed limit in
town to 40 kilometres per hour, an
idea that Pick a Posie owner Jennifer
Triemstra-Johnston said was a good
one.
"Sitting on our deck, we can see,
that by the time people are hitting
Wellington Street [heading south],
they are going 80 kilometres an
hour," she said, talking about her
home at the corner of Wellington
and Queen Streets. "There are kids
there."
Cat O'Donnell of the Wonky Frog,
located at the north end of the
commercial district, said she sees
similar travel patterns.
Sparling suggested putting video
cameras out for some time to record
the fast -travelling vehicles, then
splice them together to definitively
show the problem.
"It's fine to say to the OPP we
have an issue, but if we can't
validate it, that's different," he said.
"If we have a video of a fast truck or
fast car, it can help."
BIA Chair Karen Stewart said that
North Huron could be contacted
regarding pedestrian concerns.
Community meal
The Winthrop Community Ball Park hosted its annual pork
chop barbecue on July 5. The fundraising event included
dinner, social opportunities and musical entertainment.
Above, Maja and Don Dodds are served their meal by, from
left, Danika and Veronika Klaver, Olivia Beuermann and
Sofie Klaver. (Denny Scott photo)
during the lengthy budget process
council had undertaken.
Council regretfully accepted his
resignation, the last in a long line of
departures that have seen much of
the municipality's senior staff leave
or be replaced in the past several
years, including Director of
Recreation and Facilities Pat
Newson, Chief Administrative
Officer Sharon Chambers, numerous
public works directors and Adams.
Majestic
The Clinton Raceway was the place to be for many on the weekend as the town's annual
PIucKIN'Fest wrapped up with a special day at the races to benefit the Huron Heat girls
hockey organization. This comes after last week's fundraising barbecue at the raceway for the
Huron Residential Hospice. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Et/kjo Eke i'asEe of Sunver
300 best
potato
recipes
4..„
14.-,itil,
.,...,,.
„ .,..,..,
A Complete Cook's Guide
Kathleen Sloan -McIntosh
300 BEST POTATO RECIPES
Our most common vegetable can also
be the most versatile. Information on
potato history and varieties and recipes
for everything from appetizers, snacks,
salads, soups, main courses, breads
and desserts. $27.95
200 EASY HOMEMADE CHEESE
RECIPES
Experience the joy of creating
wonderful food from a simple
ingredient: fresh milk. 400 pages of
recipes and easy -to -follow, step-
by-step instructions. Recipes for
soft, hard, fresh and ethnic
cheeses as well as yogurt. $27.95
ili101 NO -FURS RECIPES
Casual oet-rogatsers
MOM'S BEST
Crowd-Pleasers
ANDRES CHEVRON
best
Indoor Grill
recipes
ILANA SIMON
125 BEST INDOOR GRILL
RECIPES
With an indoor electric grill you
can continue to cook interesting
grilled meals year long. These
recipes include everything from
chicken and seafood to burgers,
steaks and chops. Enjoy a whole
new way of cooking. $19.95
413 Queen St., Blyth
519-523-4792
From Cheddar& Brien Botha. &Y
150 best
grilled cheese
150 BEST GRILLED CHEESE
SANDWICHES
Make grilled cheese sandwiches into
an exciting meal with combinations of
different cheeses and additional
ingredients, both meats and meatless.
Recipes for breakfasts and brunches,
appetizers, even desserts. $24.95
FIX, FREEZE, FEAST
You don't have to sacrifice nutritious, home-
made meals because of a busy schedule.
This book features 125 recipes for buying
food in bulk, preparing meals ahead of time
and storing them in your freezer so you'll
have a quick supper solution. $22.95
MOM'S BEST CROWD-
PLEASERS
From a few extra mouths to feed at
the Sunday dinner table to a
wedding reception for 100 friends
and relatives, here are 101 no -fuss
recipes for family gatherings,
casual get-togethers and surprise
company. $16.95
THE FRESH EGG COOKBOOK
Farm -fresh chicken eggs are
nutritious and delicious and
versatile in so many dishes. This
cookbook provides recipes for
breakfast, lunch and dinner and
desserts to top off the meals.
Lots of information about eggs.
$22.95
best
ocomfort
food recipes
1�L
THE CLUELESS VEGETARIAN
Often young people are
attracted to become vegetarians
but know little about how to
make this a healthy lifestyle
choice. The book leads the
novice through the sometimes
baffling territory of meatless
cuisine. $14.95
IlJohanna Burkhard
ltit.
TUE DELICIOUS. MONEY SAVING WAYTO RED YOUR FAMILY
FIX, •
FREEZE,
BEAST
LMFOASNOPPEASYMOGOYINGUIK it,
1,TOCO COMB SIPNGNI(GOMTHf FUER
est
CASSEROLE_
& ONE -POT
MEALS
500 BEST COMFORT FOOD
RECIPES
Comfort food makes you feel
good and tastes great too. These
soul -satisfying recipes, easy and
depend -able, will inspire you to
head to the kitchen. Every -thing
from breakfast and brunch, to
main dishes to tempting
desserts. $27.95
See these and other great books at...
125 BEST CASSEROLE &
ONE -POT MEALS
Tips and recipes for hearty
and tasty one -pot meals —
everything from pot pies to
casseroles. Beef, pork, Iamb,
chicken, seafood, there are
recipes for whatever your
taste, even vegetarian.
$19.95
Tu
The Citizen 541 rn519-887-9114berrySt.,Brussels