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The Citizen, 2017-04-13, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017. PAGE 9. HE passesfinal bylaws for significant development By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East Council put the final touches on one of the municipality's most ambitious developments in decades with the passing of several bylaws associated with JL Retirement Living. At council's April 4 meeting, bylaws that officially authorized and site plan control between the and JL Retirement development agreements municipality Living for its Inspired Living Seaforth project. At the meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight went through the bylaws in detail, outlining servicing to the site and the site plan for all of the units. The Kicking it off As is annual tradition, the Blyth churches and Huron Chapel in Auburn worked together to bring dozens of members of the community along on a tour of the community through Walk Through Holy Week over the weekend. The five -church tour began in Auburn at Huron Chapel where those in attendance were treated to a musical performance by Pastor Mark Royal!, left, Dawn Hastings, centre, and Shailene Norg. Huron Chapel presented the Palm Sunday portion of the program, while those along for the ride would then visit the Blyth Christian Reformed Church, Living Water Christian Fellowship, Blyth United Church and Trinity Anglican Church. (Shawn Loughlin photo) NH -MT servicing raises questions By Denny Scott The Citizen History may be repeating itself in Morris-Turnberry and North Huron by way of a proposed development just outside the latter's northern boundaries seeking servicing. North Huron Township provided its proposed cross border servicing changes for Morris-Turnberry Council to deliberate during its April 4 meeting, however council members weren't impressed with what they saw. The document called for annual donations from Morris-Turnberry to North Huron to be put in writing and Just another step in the journey As part of the annual Walk Through Holy Week celebration put on by Blyth churches and Huron Chapel in Auburn, attendees walked from church to church. Those above are walking from Blyth United Church to Trinity Anglican Church, both on Dinsley Street. (Shawn Loughlin photo) guaranteed as part of the promise and also stated that Morris- Turnberry may be requested to pay North Huron the equivalent of the increased tax dollars the development will bring. "Some of the information is a little bit vague," Councillor John Smuck said. "And I think we already discussed that asking us for taxes is illegal" Mayor Paul Gowing said legally North Huron could request an amount from Morris-Turnberry equal to the increased taxes generated from development, but could not ask for extra taxation to be paid to North Huron. Council wasn't happy with what was presented, with Smuck calling the document ridiculous and Councillor Dorothy Kelly saying, "It needs a lot of attention." Councillor Sharen Zinn questioned North Huron Council's sensibilities, saying that any kind of economic development would be beneficial to North Huron and it should provide reasonable water rates if it wants North Huron to benefit from the development. Gowing agreed, saying the capacity that North Huron has in its water systems is currently under- used and the proposed development would be more of a benefit to North Huron. "If they're going to keep doing this, who is going to want to come to Morris-Turnberry?" Zinn asked. "We're trying to promote development and they're just squashing it with this agreement." At that point, Gowing suggested council go into a closed -to -the - public -session to discuss the issue further. When council returned from the closed session, staff had been directed to proceed with the cross border servicing agreement discussions with their North Huron counterparts and include two new properties for the document. development, he said, has been several years in the making The project will provide 120 beds of retirement living in Huron East. In addition, the first floor of the centre will be unlike any other retirement home in Ontario, according to Jessica Lunshof, President and CEO of JL Retirement Living. The first floor of the building, Lunshof told at a previous council meeting, will consist of nearly 1,000 square feet of doctors' offices, labs and research facilities, as well as social workers and a fitness area. She expects the area will be used frequently, due in part to its proximity to the Seaforth Hospital. Council gave the two bylaws first and second readings and will finalize them with third and final readings at a future meeting. For more information on the project, visit the company's website at www.jlretirementliving.com. County to wait for new SWIFT report By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron County Council is mulling its next steps after a presentation from a representative of the South Western Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project last week. Geoff Hogan, executive director of SWIFT, was on hand at council's April 5 meeting, telling councillors that the county is due to pay $407,134 to be part of the project in 2017. The project, which has been on the table for several years now, aims to build on and expand current internet fibre infrastructure across southwestern Ontario thanks in part to $180 million in federal and provincial funding, which was approved last year. There is an additional $90 million in funding from the private sector and the project requires $18 million in funding from its municipal partners, one of which is Huron County. Hogan said that the documentation for the project, which has been filed with senior levels of government, contains the names of all SWIFT's municipal partners. If Huron County chose to back out, he said, the paperwork would have to be redrawn and things could stand to change with the project. He told councillors that while the first phase of the project is slated to cost $288 million, in the eyes of those with SWIFT, that constitutes a promising start to the project. He said that while it might sound crazy to think of nearly $300 million in funding as a good start, running high-speed internet to the entire region will cost substantially more. "It's a $4 billion problem to connect all of southwestern Ontario," Hogan told councillors. "It's a great start." The next step, he told councillors, is to issue the request for qualifications for the project, which is set to take place on May 12. This step pre -qualifies providers based on financial ability, as well as some other factors. During this period those behind the project will also aim to finalize their business case as well. This will be followed by the release of the request for proposals and master service agreements signed with providers and the beginning of the construction of the network, which should begin early next year. Construction will then continue through to 2022. With members of local telecommunication co-operatives presenting their Connect to Innovate funding plan to connect last -mile homes to high-speed internet capability coming just a few weeks earlier, Hogan said he saw the two plans working very much in concert with one another. Again referencing the $4 billion problem across southwestern Ontario, Hogan said that SWIFT is strongly suggesting that communities apply for Connect to Innovate funding in order to fully connect the entire region. While the first phase of the SWIFT plan will cost nearly $300 million, Connect to Innovate funding and projects will help to close the gap, he said. By 2021, he said, 90 per cent of Canadian homes and small businesses will have access to fixed broadband services that offer download speeds of 50 megabits per second and upload speeds of 10 megabits per second. The coverage will also include unlimited data allowance. Hogan told councillors that rural southwestern Ontario had been 95 per cent "served" until the recent standards were changed by the Canadian Radio -television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), meaning that now most of the region is underserved. The good news, he said, is that there is likely more funding to come. Hogan said he was hoping that council would approve the county's 2017 SWIFT funding on the spot, but Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Orchard said that council has a policy that dictates it will never approve funding on the same day as a presentation, which Hogan said he understood. A report on the funding requirement, which includes portions that are refundable and non- refundable, is forthcoming and will be presented to council at a future meeting. CANADA Huron County 4-H Leaders Association is hosting an Electronics Recycling Depot 8 Clothing Drive Saturday, April 22nd 7:30 am - 2:30 pm Depot at Londesboro Feed Mill For information about accepted items go to www.recyclemyelectronics.ca/on/