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The Citizen, 2017-06-15, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017. Sting of defeat The Blyth U15 Girls Soccer team welcomed Lucknow to the village late last month, but the homefiled advantage wasn't enough as the Blyth squad dropped the match 4-2. The team next takes on Clinton on June 19 in Blyth. (Denny Scott photo) BIA to get procedural training By Denny Scott The Citizen As part of a drive to have all committees of council following the municipality's procedures, North Huron staff will be walking the Blyth Business Improvement Area's (BIA) executive through a training session on its procedural bylaw. At the BIA's June 7 meeting, North Huron Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Chambers explained that, because the BIA is a committee of council, the BIA and any sub- committees need to follow the rules that govern council meetings. "The role of the ombudsman expanded a year ago to oversee all types of accountability and transparency issues," she explained. "They can investigate complaints against any level of a municipality or committee so we have to make sure all committees of council are following our procedures." Chambers explained that the responsibility of making sure the meetings are following procedures falls under the clerk's department and that a session would be set up soon with the BIA executive to talk about following procedures, likely after the BIA establishes its 2017 executive later this month. "Hearing who does what and looking at the roles of municipality staff and the people on the board will be important," she said. "We want to make sure the decisions that are being made by the BIA are being recorded in minutes that we can look back on if we have an audit." Chambers pointed to the fact that the budget wasn't yet officially A correction The dates for the Festival of Wizardry (Transfigured Town), that may be held in Blyth, were erroneously reported in the June 8 issue of The Citizen. The date of the event, according to organizer Nathan Swartz, will be Oct. 14 and 15. The Citizen apologizes for any confusion the error may have caused. approved as being a problem, saying that Financial Department head Donna White would be willing to train the group on how to plan for projects in the future through its levy. "We want to make sure we're following the same procedures with all our committees," she said. North Huron Council representative Bill Knott, who has previously spoke to Council about local BIAS following the procedures, said he wanted the committee to understand that the need for the BIA executive to follow the rules predated the ombudsman's announcement. "Even before the ombudsman's announcement, as a committee of council, you were to be following these rules," he said. "There needs to be minutes, budgets need to be presented on time, meetings need to be had and the dates of meetings for both the BIA and its sub -committees need to be published so people can attend them. "If you do something in the community that someone can object to, you're going to hear crying and whining," he said. "They can object to these things and you need to have a record of the decision being made." Chambers said meeting dates and times need to posted in advance, agendas need to be circulated and the BIA needs to be aware that to not do so is contravening provincial law. She pointed to the municipality of Brockton, which ran into a problem when several council members decided to attend a drainage meeting they weren't required to attend. The resulting increased council attendance constituted a meeting and the ombudsman ruled it was an illegal meeting. She said those kinds of problems need to be avoided. Dates for the proposed training sessions weren't set. 4Zentz7gIuron NOTICE ANNUAL COMMUNITY WIDE YARD SALE MUNICIPALITY OF CENTRAL HURON The Annual Community Wide Yard Sale will be held on Saturday, July 1, 2017. The yard sale license and fee will be waived for this day only. If you would like to be included in the listing, please register at the Municipal Office, 23 Albert St., Clinton, phone (519)482-3997 or email info@centralhuron.com, by Monday, June 26, 2017. A complete listing will be available for pickup at the Municipal Office or the Tourist Booth Thursday, June 29, 2017 and will also be available on our website: www.centralhuron.com. M -T supports AORS ask for radio rules Morris-Turnberry Council feels that public works employees should have a permanent exemption from rules regarding using communication devices while driving. In light of the temporary exemption for public works employees using communication devices while driving, The Association of Ontario Road Supervisors called for support in having the permanent exemption enjoyed by emergency services such as firefighters, police officer and paramedics extended to public works employees. A resolution supporting the request was passed by council with Councillor Jim Nelemans saying he felt it would likely be more dangerous to have public works operators stop doing their job to answer a radio call. Mayor Paul Gowing said the motion would help Morris- Turnberry employees to continue doing their job in a safe, efficient fashion. *** Morris-Turnberry Council voted to update Bylaw 9-2006, which permits the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) on municipal roadways, during its June 6 meeting. The bylaw is to be updated to allow ORVs all -terrain vehicles (ATVs) and two-up ATVs, side-by- side ORVs or utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) on municipal roadways. Mayor Paul Gowing also presented Huron County's bylaw, which was dealt with last month and prevents all off-road vehicles from using county roadways. He said he didn't vote for the prohibition, but understood the fact that the county staff didn't want off- road vehicles on hard -surfaced roads. Hospice proceeding well: O'Reilly, Penner By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Plans are coming along well and enthusiasm is in the air for the planned Huron -Perth residential hospice location just west of Clinton. Kathy O'Reilly and Lisa Penner both spoke to Huron County Council at its June 7 meeting, updating councillors on the progress of the centre and plans moving forward, as well as the centre's funding model. The process began, O'Reilly told council, with a commissioned study on the need for hospice in Huron and Perth Counties. The results came back suggesting six hospice beds in the Stratford area and four in Huron, preferably in a central location. Once the Hwy. 8 property in Central Huron was purchased, those involved in the project focused their attention to fundraising, which the group will need to do heavily in the future. O'Reilly said that the hospice is a no -charge proposition, meaning that all of the money used to run the facility will have to come from community donors. Currently, she said, there are a number of initiatives which are ongoing, one of which is asking residents to donate $1,000 to sponsor a day at the hospice ($1,000 is enough to run the centre for one day). While she acknowledged that the group has come under fire for purchasing such a large lot with acreage, she said it was important to the board of directors to find a property that provided those at the centre with the Huron County experience. That includes feeling like you're in a rural setting and enough space to hold parties or get- togethers that could be very important to those having to spend time there. To close the update, O'Reilly invited Huron County councillors to participate in the upcoming Warden's Charity Golf Tournament, from which the Huron -Perth hospice will be the charity that will benefit. r FIRST AID 8.. (PR TRAINIIJ( 014 St. John GODERICH X<)' Ambulance Training Centre St. (Rear of Building/Behind Yoga Den) CPR COURSES Downtown, 34 Newgate FIRST AID & CPR A&C available and ALL courses include AED Tues. July 4th & Wed. July 5th Sat. July 15th & Sun. July 16th Sat. Aug. 12th & Sun. Aug. 13th Thurs. Aug. 17th & Fri. Aug. 18th Renewal Course Thurs. July 20th for current St. John Standard First Aid + CPR A/C Certificate Standard First Aid & CPR HCP + AED CPR HCP Recert Available Mon. July 24 & Tues. July 25 oR Mon. Aug. 21 & Tues. Aug. 22 Recommended for anyone in the health care field Volunteer with Us! 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