HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-03-16, Page 9Her old stomping ground
Karen Webster visited Blyth Public School on Saturday to bid the structure adieu. Karen is
shown where the library that she tended as librarian once was when she came to the school
in 1987. A couple of years after she arrived, the library was moved to the stage for a full year
while an addition was being built on the school. The move was supposed to be a temporary
one, over a few months, however the timeline on the additions ran longer. The school is being
torn down this week and will be replaced by the Grant and Mildred Sparling Centre which will
house the Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity. (Denny Scott photo)
M -T votes down Heritage Plan
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
After significant feedback from
ratepayers, Morris-Turnberry
Council has voted against the
Natural Heritage Plan in any form.
At the council's March 7 meeting,
the gallery was filled with ratepayers
concerned with the document.
Council received two pieces of
official correspondence from
ratepayer John Schwartzentruber
and from Adam Garniss on behalf of
the Huron County Federation of
Agriculture's Property and Land
Use Committee. Both letters
maligned the plan, saying it would
cause problems for the agricultural
sector.
Council had deferred the issue
from its last meeting in February
after Huron County Planner
Susannah Reid presented it with
three options to proceed.
The three options were: to include
the plan as the natural environment
plan, to include more advanced
maps and policies from the plan or
to defer the decision until Huron
County Council made a decision
with the plan which Morris-
Turnberry Council could then adopt
by bylaw.
Councillor John Smuck wasn't
interested in any of the options.
"I say we vote for none of the
above," he said. "I think we should
pass a motion that we're against it,
we want it removed from our official
plan and the Morris-Turnberry
Mayor Paul Gowing will vote
against the plan at the county."
After some debate, Smuck's
motion was amended to recommend
that Gowing vote against the plan as,
according to Administrator Clerk -
Treasurer Nancy Michie, the vote at
Huron County Council is up to
Gowing.
Smuck said the Municipality of
Bluewater had been considering
similar action, though no one had
heard of them pursuing it. Smuck
felt, however, Bluewater didn't need
to be a part of Morris-Turnberry's
decision.
"Whether they did or not, our
constituents feel this way about the
issue," he said, adding he had talked
to many ratepayers who had all
offered concerns about the Natural
Heritage Plan. "If you think [people
are dealing with] legal situations
now, wait until the plan is approved.
It's a big enough document that
interpretations could be a big
problem. I don't think our wheels
are broken, so this isn't necessary."
Smuck said the plan was "not the
best situation" for farmers.
Councillor Sharen Zinn said if
there were as few changes
happening as council was being told,
the document may not be
worthwhile while Councillor
Dorothy Kelly pointed out the
document was part of the provincial
policy statement, making it essential
for planning documents.
After some questioning, Reid said,
in a transitive way, the municipality
is beholden to the province to
implement policies based on its
actions.
"The authority for approving
Morris-Turnberry's official plan is
the county," she said. "The county's
official plan approval authority is the
province."
While Deputy -Reeve Jamie Heller
felt council's stance aligned with the
second option presented, to not deal
with the issue until Huron County
Council did, then amend Morris-
Turnberry's own official plan with a
housekeeping bylaw, other
councillors disagreed.
"Maybe we don't want to consider
a housekeeping amendment in the
future?" Kelly asked. "If we use the
second option, we're limiting
ourselves."
Smuck's motion was carried by
council and an update on the Huron
County take on the plan was
presented by Reid to Morris-
Turnberry.
BIA levy request shows
need for education: White
Continued from page 1
no control over that.
"What the BIA can do with these
businesses, and what the Wingham
BIA does do, is approach them for
an associate membership," White
said. "I highly recommend they take
that on to make more money for
sure."
The letter requested that
minimum levies paid by properties
to the BIA be increased from $75
per year to $95 and that the
maximum double from $250 to
$500.
After the discussion, White and
Knott agreed it might be best for
staff to again guide the BIA through
the budgetary process. Councillor
Trevor Seip suggested a similar
presentation could be made to the
Wingham BIA as new members and
new business owners may find the
experience worthwhile.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017. PAGE 9.
Letters to the Editor
Writer says wages
secondary to safety
THE EDITOR,
Attention Huron County
Council:
Thirty employees are on the
county's "Sunshine List" while the
county ponders public safety and
peril at the Blyth intersection of
London and Blyth Roads.
If the county can afford to pay 30
employees in senior management
positions each over $100,000 per
year in wages, there should be no
hesitation on the county's part when
it comes to something as important
as the hazardous conditions posed at
the Blyth intersection as a result of
increased traffic.
While the intersection north of the
town of Brussels, located on
Highway 86, already has in place a
flashing red light above the stop
signs on both corners of this
highway, which are visible within
half a mile, even in reduced weather
conditions such as fog, would it not
then make sense for the county to
endorse the same cost-effective
flashing lights above the stop signs
at the corner of Blyth and London
Roads.
Sincerely,
A concerned ratepayer and
former road employee,
John McClinchey.
Schwartzentruber
agrees with column
THE EDITOR,
While reading Denny Scott's piece
"Just where do those tax dollars
go?" I was struck by the profound
insights he shared. The first was his
embrace of the democratic process,
as illustrated by the poll that was
conducted among the inhabitants of
his vehicle. Many others in the same
circumstances have failed to do so.
While his interpretation of the
squeaky toy vote could be seen as
questionable, at least he based his
decision on something more
objective than silence. Which,
incidentally (and since we are
discussing county affairs), is more
than can be said for Huron County
when it is dealing with things like
official Plans and heritage Plans.
The County takes your silence as
consent — or a "YES!" And we are
aware of the legal and moral
implications of acting on lack of
consent or unresponsiveness in most
other areas of our lives.
The second insight — however
gruesome - shared by Scott was the
disconnect between shrivelling
public services performance
and the bloating "sunshine
list". His correlation is obvious —
higher taxes are not translating
into better essential services.
So, "Thank you!" to Denny Scott
for bringing this state of affairs into
the public eye. If the county would
take his observations into
advisement and follow up with the
appropriate action, the
savings/improved taxation rates
would result directly in increased
business profits and allow his salary
to move a little further out of the
dark.
John Schwartzentruber,
Brussels.
#1 And We
Ilcj A 1 Still Try
Harder!
Recent circulation figures show
The Citizen has the
highest circulation in the
northern part of Huron County,
#3 in the entire county.
The Citizen
Proudly
Community -
Owned
Since 1985
CORPORATION
OF THE
MUNICIPALITY OF
MORRIS-TURNBERRY
NOTICE OF A MEETING TO CONSIDER
AMENDMENTS TO THE COUNCIL
PROCEDURAL BY-LAW
Notice is hereby given pursuant to the `Procedure for Notice By-law'
for the Corporation of the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry, that the
Council will be considering an amendment to the Council Procedural
By -Law, with the intention to adopt and/or amend the By-law at a
Public Meeting to be held on:
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 8:30 pm
in the Council Chambers located at 41342 Morris Rd., RR 4,
Brussels, ON
A copy of the proposed By-law is available for review at the Municipal
Office and posted on the Municipal website www.morristurnberry.ca
Nancy Michie
Administrator Clerk -Treasurer
Municipality of Morris-Turnberry
Telephone 519-887-6137
Email nmichie@morristurnberry.ca