HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-03-02, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
SPORTS - Pg. 8
Local firefighters lace up
their skates for charity
BRIDAL - Pg. 11
The Citizen' presents its
annual guide to nuptuals
HAL - Pg. 27
Memorial Hall renovations
continue on interior
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0
4Citiz
Volume 33 No. 9
n
WELCOME TO
BLYTH
ESTABLISHED 1877
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, March 2, 2017
Not quite the woods
Kiley Nicholson, left, and Camryn Logan both played the part of Little Red Riding Hood last
week as the Brussels Skating Club held its annual showcase at the Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre. A number of figure skaters and power skaters were also honoured for their
achievements that night as well, but the real action was on the ice as Batmen, princesses and
many other characters dazzled the audience. (Denny Scott photo)
HE budget includes
small levy increase
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
The first draft of Huron East's
budget includes a five per cent
increase to the general municipal
levy, but still leaves the municipality
in a deficit position of nearly
$700,000.
With the large shift in assessment
from urban to farmland, however,
that average may be spread wide
from resident to resident, with those
in Seaforth or Brussels potentially
experiencing a decrease, while
farmland properties may see sharp
increases.
Treasurer Paula Michiels
presented the first draft of the budget
to council at its Feb. 21 meeting,
saying that before the budget made
its way to council the starting
position of the budget included a
shortfall of $2.5 million.
However, Michiels cut
approximately $1.35 million from
the budget before first presenting it
to council. These cuts include two
road reconstruction projects, two
capital purchases by the Public
Works Department and two planned
repairs to the Seaforth and District
Community Centre.
Michiels told council that the
municipality expects to end 2016
with a surplus of over $450,000,
which has already been factored into
the budget.
The proposed five per cent tax
levy increase, Michiels told
councillors, essentially covers the
municipality's losses from the
Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund
(OMPF) and the Ontario
Community Infrastructure Fund
(OCIF).
Michiels also said that the
municipality's department heads
have been advised that council may
not want to raise the tax increase
beyond five per cent. Therefore, she
said, the heads have been advised
that if they wish to raise their
department's requirements beyond
2016 levels, council may have to
make cuts to other departments in
order to compensate.
One exception, she said, is the
municipality's three recreation
centres, which face continued budget
challenges.
Under the proposed budget, each
recreation centre will receive a levy,
a special capital levy and a special
deficit-reduction levy. The Brussels,
Morris and Grey Community
Centre, for example, in the 2017
budget will receive a levy of
$148,527, a special capital levy of
$72,000 and a special deficit-
reduction levy of $23,071 from
Huron East. Additional funds for
each category will also be
contributed by Morris-Turnberry for
the Brussels centre.
Mayor Bernie MacLellan,
however, felt that the capital levy for
all three centres didn't necessarily
make sense. Spending money on all
the centres because one or two need
additional funding, he said, is just
bad business.
Michiels said that with the
proposed Huron County tax levy
increase currently sitting at below
Continued on page 7
KPMG report outlines missed ESTC opportunities
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
After months of sitting in draft
form with North Huron staff, a
review of the Emergency Services
Training Centre by KPMG has
unveiled some missed opportunities
for the North Huron facility.
John Rockx of KPMG presented
the document during council's Feb.
21 meeting and said council likely
wouldn't find many surprises in the
document.
The document, which was
originally given to the township on
Sept. 26 of last year, explains there
were several missed opportunities
for the centre in its years due to
delays in finalizing programs and
changing directions in provincial
government.
The 50 -page document looks at
the history of the ESTC, the
opportunities the centre has had and
what it can afford as far as the
existing debt that follows the
building. It also outlines the existing
funding structure of the site.
The ESTC program is responsible
for 55 per cent of the building -
related expenditures and principal
and interest payments on the original
$1.2 million loan for the structure.
The remaining 45 per cent is taken
on by the Fire Department of North
Huron.
"We tried to carve out the training
of the ESTC, when they do provide
courses, and tried to split that out,"
Rockx said.
He pointed out that, without the
cost of the building, the training
centre was operating at an average
deficit of $2,200 per year since the
new building was opened. He also
said the structure was built larger
than it needed to be.
"For the size of operations, the
ESTC is larger than what's
required," he said. "I don't think
that's a surprise to anyone, I'm just
stating the facts"
Rockx said the fundamental
purpose of the report was to give
council and staff the information to
decide the future of the training
centre.
"The ESTC is sort of run on behalf
of the township by the fire
department and fire chief," he said.
"One thing that came up in the
discussions is that you might want a
board of directors"
Rockx said such a board would
allow the ESTC to have its
operational and financial factors
maintained without every decision
having to come from council.
"You can design it how you wish,"
he said. "The fire chief could still be
involved and representation from
council could be involved as well."
In summation, Rockx said there is
competition for the centre out there,
and there are no easy answers to how
council should proceed, but the
report did outline three options of
how to run the centre.
The suggested options include
maintaining the existing client and
program base; continue without
change; or look at growing the
centre into a financially solvent
entity, which KPMG believes would
require a general manager at
approximately $82,000 per year.
Councillor Brock Vodden said that
the report had not presented any new
information and, while he wasn't
blaming anyone for the lack of
revelation, he was hoping for some
solutions to be presented.
Rockx said that while North
Huron's centre struggles to attract
programming weren't unique, the
Continued on page 22
Warm weather affects production
While last week's warmer -than -
normal February weather means
relief from snow shovelling for most
area residents, it can have greater
consequences for those whose
livelihood depends on nature.
Maple syrup production, the first
crop from area farms, normally takes
place in March but got an early start
for producers with the unusually
warm weather in late February. Ray
and Barb Storey, who have a small
300 -tap maple syrup operation near
Winthrop, started tapping trees Feb.
18. It's not the earliest they've
tapped, Barb says, remembering that
one year in the 1980s they tapped on
Feb. 14.
The good news for 2017 has been
that the early run of sap has had a
much higher sugar content than is
normal at the start of the season.
With temperatures last week
hitting into the teens and not
dropping below zero some nights,
the length of the season is hard to
predict. That year they tapped early
in the 1980s, Storey says, saw a two-
week season followed by a snow
storm, then another two-week
season.
Maple syrup producers learn to
Continued on page 26