HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-02-16, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
IPM 2017 - Pg. 12
IPM 2017 organizers on the
hunt for 1,000 volunteers
BOARD - Pg. 18
Avon Maitland Board
appoints new director
HALL - Pg. 19
Memorial Hall renovation
budget increases again
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Volume 33 No. 7
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, February 16, 2017
Aiming for the clouds
Whether they're five, 15 or 55, as soon as someone sits in a swing they start pumping to try
and get higher than ever before. Jillian Shortreed, left, and Shyanne Hubbard at Hullett Central
Public School were no different at recess on Monday. (DennyScottphoto)
Improvement plan
coming for Brussels
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Huron East Council has approved
the creation of a community
improvement program (CIP) for
Brussels. The plan will create
guidelines and best practices for
building design in the community, as
well as financial incentives for
businesses in the downtown core.
Economic Development Officer
Jan Hawley and Huron County
Planner Claire Dodds presented the
basics of a CIP to council at its Feb.
7 meeting and explained why one is
so necessary for downtown Brussels.
The CIP, Dodds said in her
presentation, can help place
financial incentives in order to focus
public attention on local priorities
and municipal initiatives; target
areas in transition or in need of
repair, rehabilitation and
redevelopment; facilitate and
encourage community change in a
co-ordinated manner and stimulate
private sector investment through
municipal incentive -based
programs.
Dodds also pointed out that
supporting small businesses and
industry, with a focus on vibrant
downtowns, was one of the strategic
directions listed in the
municipality's economic develop-
ment strategic plan for 2016 to 2019.
Community improvement plans,
Dodds pointed out, are not a new
planning tool. They have been in
place for decades, but have become
widespread throughout the province
in recent years.
She said that to see the best
results, the plan should be specific
and focus on a concentrated area.
For example, she presented a map of
the village and suggested a starting
point of an area including from the
block north of Orchard Lane on
Turnberry Street to one block south
of Flora Street.
A concentrated project area, she
said, provides a greater return on
investment for municipal dollars.
Hawley said that improvements to
buildings' facades are the most
common grants made by community
improvement plans.
The plan will help unite the
community of Brussels in
appearance and in its goals, she said.
The plan won't tell anyone how to
design their buildings, but there will
be suggestions and incentives to
ensure that all businesses within the
community are on the same page.
Hawley said she felt the CIP was
important with the development
ongoing in Brussels with Brian
Morton's barn project, which will
house a number of initiatives,
including a year-round home for the
Brussels Farmers' Market.
Councillors liked the idea and
were in favour of authorizing it. The
plan, however, has yet to be drafted.
The motion on the floor at the Feb. 7
meeting, Hawley said, would simply
authorize the two departments to
begin work on a plan that would then
be presented to council once it has
been completed.
With council authorization in
place, the next step will be a
community consultation meeting in
downtown Brussels next month.
After that first meeting with
community members and Brussels
stakeholders, Hawley and Dodds
will work to prepare the plan in
March and then they will circulate it
for comment.
Hawley and Dodds will then
present the final draft of the plan to
council and get direction ahead of
holding a public meeting. After that
meeting, revisions would be made
and council will adopt it, hopefully
in April or May.
Council authorized the pair to
work towards the development of a
community improvement plan for
Brussels, with public consultation
and public meetings to follow.
Huron County to produce report on Blyth intersection
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Huron County will produce a
report on a solution to ongoing
traffic concerns at the Blyth
intersection of London and Blyth
Roads.
North Huron Councillor Bill
Knott and Blyth resident Chris
Patterson spoke to council at its Feb.
8 meeting, presenting to council an
audited petition that contained over
1,000 signatures.
The intersection has been a hot
topic of conversation at North Huron
Council for a number of months.
However, calling the safety of the
intersection into question is not new,
as people have been calling for a
traffic solution there since the 1970s,
Knott told council.
Patterson spoke about his Nov. 16,
2016 collision that sparked his
interest in the safety of the
intersection. Patterson said he was T-
boned at the intersection by
someone travelling eastbound on
Blyth Road and while there were no
serious injuries, it was mentally
traumatic for all involved.
After that experience, he said, he
started a Facebook group for
concerned citizens and it garnered
plenty of support.
Around that time, independent of
Patterson's Facebook group, Knott
began a petition to the county for
traffic lights at the intersection.
Finding that they were both pulling
in the same direction, they joined
forces to bring awareness to the
danger of the intersection.
Patterson said that through his
travels he was finding many people
who had been affected by the
intersection, whether it be through
injuries or death, he was finding that
he was not alone.
"I never thought I'd be the voice of
1,000 people," Patterson said. "But
if it's something that I need to do,
I'll do it."
Knott called on council to make a
motion then and there to invest in
Continued on page 10
CH Council may abolish wards
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Central Huron Council has voted
to dissolve its ward system, meaning
that all elected officials will be voted
on through an at -large system for the
2018 election, pending a final vote.
Council made the decision at its
Feb. 6 meeting in Clinton and the
bylaw, which will officially adopt
the new wardless structure, will be
up for debate and final vote at the
Monday, March 6 meeting.
This decision comes just years
after council made a decision that
first broke the three post -
amalgamation wards into two.
Central Huron had been comprised
of Hullett Township, Goderich
Township and the Town of Clinton,
but council voted to institute a two -
ward system in the municipality, an
east ward and a west ward.
Now, citing several cross-border
candidates in the 2014 election
Continued on page 11