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Clinton News Record, 2014-12-03, Page 22 News Record • Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Former Goderich Township sends petition to Queen's Park Tara Ostner The Clinton News Record The Municipality of Central Huron was created in 2001 and replaced the Town of Clinton and Goderich and Hullett Townships. However, now residents of the former Goderich Town- ship want to separate from the Municipality of Central Huron and last Thursday they sent a Petition of Right to Queen's Park requesting that the prov- ince allow for the separation. A petition of right is an English law that was intro- duced in 1628 and regards certain liberties and breaches of law. Brian Barnim, a former Central Huron councillor who represented the West Ward, feels strongly that the former Goderich Township should separate from Cen- tral Huron. Above all, he feels that it comes down to an issue of fairness, that is, he doesn't think that resi- dents of the former Goderich Township, namely, rural tax- payers, should have to pay for urban services that they don't use. "The energy is consumed in Clinton and yet we have to pay for it," Barnim says. "We want self govern- ance and an ability to self govern our rural area:' Cindy Moyer, president of the Huron -Perth Landown- ers Association, agrees with Barnim and adds that the amalgamation back in 2001 "was not a decision made by the people of Goderich Township." Instead, she says that it was a decision made by a council that misunder- stood the law. As Moyer puts it, council mistakenly believed that Goderich Township had to amalgam- ate or it would be forced to and this simply isn't true, says Moyer. The mayor of the Munici- pality of Central Huron, Jim Ginn, thinks very differently about the issue. "Our services can be and are used by residents from Ah youth. Free to choose, free of worry, at least when it comes to the day-to-day stuff. So make your day-to-day banking free too. Libro's Go -Free Bundle combines fee -freedom on everyday banking with Coaching for big decisions - like paying for tuition or saving for a car. Explore Libro's Go -Free Bundle and enjoy your youth. We've got the rest covered. If you're age 17 - 25, talk to a Libro Coach about Go -Free banking! Call 1-800-492-9492, visit libro.ca or visit any one of our 27 Libro Branches. saving • borrowing • investing • sharing Libro CREDIT UNION all over the municipality," Ginn says, "if Goderich Township chooses not to use them that's their choice." Ginn also points out that many of the large projects in the area, such as the Clinton Fire Hall and the REACH Huron Center, were "covered by grants, not money out of taxpayers' pockets." With the new Central Huron council now in place, Ginn says that he looks for- ward to making improve- ments "in all areas of the municipality." However, he also states that, given the results of the October 27 municipal election and the fact that the vast majority of Central Huron council returned to their seats, "it doesn't sound to me that Central Huron is a munici- pality in crisis." It is not clear when a deci- sion regarding the de -amal- gamation will occur but sup- porters of it are hopeful that they will learn something in the next 30 days. cl i nton newsrecord.com Municipality of Huron East Citizen Appointments to Committees The Municipality of Huron East invites citizens who are interested in serving on municipal committees to submit a letter of interest for any of the following committees: • Brussels Community Development Trust —1 member required • Brussels, Morris & Grey Recreation Committee — 3 members required • Brussels Medical -Dental Committee — 4 members required • Seaforth Community Development Trust — 2 members required • Seaforth & District Community Centre Committee — 3 members required • Vanastra Recreation Centre Committee — 4 members required • Huron East Heritage Advisory Committee — 4 to 6 members required Committee appointments are for a two-year year term with an option to extend for an additional two years A brief description of each Committee is located on the Huron East website (www.huroneast.com). Please submit your letter of interest to the following by Friday, December 12th, 2014 at 5:00 pm. Brad Knight, CAO/Clerk PO Box 610 Seaforth ON NOK 1 WO 519-527-0160 bknight@huroneast.com