HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-03-30, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
SPORTS - Pg. 8
Brussels Curling Club
hands out annual awards
FIRE - Pg. 10
Sparling, Marshall present
their final M -T report
STUDENTS - Pg. 19
Local students excel at
speaking, writing comp.
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Volume 33 No. 13
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, March 30, 2017
Spring is here... and so are worms
While local weather has been flipping and flopping between warm and cold, which has
essentially been the story of winter 2016/2017, according to the calendar spring arrived last
week. One of the most time-honoured traditions of spring is the collection of worms on school
playgrounds across North America on wet days. Aubrie Kerr, left, and her friend Natalie
McClinchey were willing to get their hands dirty to find some slithery friends in the dirt on
Monday morning. (Denny Scott photo)
Tax rate to decrease
in 2017 M -T budget
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Morris-Tumbeny's draft budget,
including a 10.04 per cent municipal
levy increase and a 1.3 per cent tax
rate decrease, is up for adoption at
its April 4 meeting.
The final draft budget was
presented at council's March 21
meeting by Administrator Clerk/
Treasurer Nancy Michie who said
the township's taxable assessment
was increasing 16.738 per cent from
$634,706,20 in 2016 to
$741,834,866.
The total proposed budget is
$11,273,356 which includes
$9,485,615 or 77 per cent for
municipal spending, $1,912,657 or
15 per cent for Huron County and
$1,023,302 or eight per cent for
education spending.
On an individual tax bill, the
municipal share is down in 2017
from 57 per cent to 53.3, the county
is down from 32 per cent to 30.4 per
cent and the education share is up to
16.3 per cent from 11 per cent.
Mayor Paul Gowing said that,
while the education portion of the
bill is supposed to be decreasing to
ease "municipal burdens,"
increasing assessment has actually
caused it to increase.
Councillor Jim Nelemans
suggested sending a letter to the
province outlining the situation.
Gowing wasn't against the idea, but
felt it wouldn't accomplish
anything.
The proposed residential
municipal tax rate for 2017 is down
1.38 per cent from 2016, the county
rate is up 0.26 per cent and the
education rate is estimated to be
down 5.32 per cent for a total
reduction of 1.3 per cent in tax rate.
On an average $100,000 assessed
residential property, a taxpayer
would see a decrease of $20.94 over
2016.
While the increased assessment
does result in more funding for the
municipality, Michie's presentation
outlined some financial difficulties
the municipality was facing,
including a 13.84 per cent decrease
in Ontario Municipal Partnership
Funding from $895,700 in 2016 to
$771,700. The Ontario Provincial
Police (OPP) costs will also increase
17.6 per cent from 2016 to
$460,016.
The municipality is decreasing
reserves as part of the budget by
22.8 per cent from $1,439,877 at the
end of 2016 to $1,111,393.
Road construction makes up a
significant portion of the budget, up
280.9 per cent from 2016 from
$483,053 to $1,357,00 due to work
that was scheduled for 2016 but not
completed including the St.
Michaels Road reconstruction for
$565,000 and the Industrial Land
Strategy water and sewer project in
Lower Town Wingham for
$160,000.
Other projects in the road
construction including tar and chip
work for $187,000 and work on
Huron Bruce Road near Belmore
Hill for $185,000.
The Belgrave water rate will
increase 12.9 per cent from $76.94
per month ($923.18 annually) in
2016 to $86.93 per month
($1,043.14 annually) in 2017.
Councillor Sharen Zinn addressed
the OPP costs after Michie's
Continued on page 11
Local co-ops develop multi-million dollar fibre project
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Local telecommunication com-
panies have come in with their best
estimates for a project to extend
fibre optic internet capability to
nearly all Huron County homes with
a price tag of over $7 million to the
county.
The total project is estimated to
cost nearly $32 million between
2018 and 2024, but local providers
hope to finance the project through
contributions of their own and
money from the federal government
through Connect To Innovate (CTI)
in addition to the county money.
From survey data, local providers
have identified 109 defined sectors
in Huron that could qualify for the
proposed initiative. Local providers
felt that infrastructure for these areas
could be built by the local co-ops
between now and the end of March,
2021.
Hurontel General Manager Glenn
Grubb spoke to council regarding
the project, saying that work would
be done in three phases.
The first phase would take place in
2018 and would focus on areas
around South Huron, Clinton and
communities both north and south of
Goderich. The first year of the
project would cost a total of $9
million. Half of the costs, $4.5
million, would come from the
government, while $2.5 million
would come from the co-ops and $2
million would come from the
county.
The second phase, 2019, would
also cost $9 million and follow the
same costing breakdown. Areas
around Seaforth, Auburn and
southeast of Wingham would be
serviced in this phase of the project,
bringing the county to 93.35 per cent
serviced as a result.
The project would aim to hit 98.35
per cent of homes in Huron County
by the end of 2020 when the third
phase would focus on communities
surrounding Brussels, Blyth and
homes west of Wingham and south
of Lucknow.
The third phase of the program
would cost $13.5 million — $6.8
million of which would be provided
in government funding, while the co-
ops would pay $3.8 million and the
county would pay $2.9 million.
The first phase of the project
would service 1,500 homes, while
the second phase would encapsulate
a further 1,150 homes and the final
stage would service 1,210 homes.
By the projected end of the
project, Grubb said, 98.35 per cent
of homes in Huron County would be
serviced. He said that getting to 100
per cent would involve work in
Howick.
While many councillors said they
Continued on page 12
County considers REACH grant
Huron County Council is
considering a five-year funding
commitment to the Regional Equine
and Agricultural Centre of Huron
(REACH) for a total of $300,000,
plus an additional $75,000 for more
stalls.
REACH General Manager Matt
Lee spoke to council at its March 22
committee of the whole meeting and
explained the centre's direction,
vision and partnerships, as well as
the breakdown of funding.
For the next five years, Lee said
the centre will be focusing on
delivering the University of Guelph
Ridgetown Campus equine diploma
program and equine tourism. The
diploma program is currently broken
down so the first year of the program
will be in Clinton, while the second
year will be at the Ridgetown
campus near London. Work is
ongoing, however, to try and bring
both years of the program to Clinton,
Lee said.
In order to continue the expansion
of the centre's scholastic sector, Lee
told councillors, REACH needs to
raise the quality standards of
facilities and equipment and
increase promotion and advertising
to spread the word about the
program. In order to expand the
equine sports sector of the business,
more stalls are required.
This plan, he said, will require the
reallocation of funds that had been
previously set aside for the
expansion of the farrier program.
Lee told councillors that he
Continued on page 9