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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-01-28, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: CHURCH - Pg. 6 Walton's Duff's church building to be sold BRUSSELS DAM - Pg. 16 Huron East to contribute to MVCA dam project BAKING - Pg. 19 Blyth native to appear in Food Network competition Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 4Citiz n Volume 32 No. 4 $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 28, 2016 A month's wait Hullett Central Public School students Jade Bissett, left, and Keira Hoekmeijer had to wait until the snow was deep enough to pose for this picture of them making snow angels. The same pair asked a photographer from The Citizen to take their photo a month ago doing the same thing, but there wasn't enough snow. They may be waiting again, as mild temperatures took over Huron County, culminating with some rain Tuesday morning that melted lots of snow. (Denny Scott photo) 14/19 extension request still unresolved By Denny Scott The Citizen North Huron councillors deferred a request from Blyth Arts and Cultural Initiative 14/19 Inc. to extend an already -past deadline for them to provide the $3 million for the renovations scheduled for Memorial Hall this coming fall. The deadline for the funding to be delivered was Dec. 31 so tenders for the construction could be sent out this month. The new deadline dictates that funding be in place by March 31 with the contractor pre - qualification process starting Feb. 22 with the bidding process for the project running April 1-21. The construction schedule would remain the same, starting on Sept. 19, as soon as the Blyth Festival season is concluded and finishing by May 20, 2017. In a report by Director of Recreation and Facilities Pat Newson, it was explained that a nearly $1 million grant had been applied for and that 14/19 would cover the shortfall if it didn't receive the funding. The problem with the grant, however, is that the guarantee was that eight months after submitting interest in the grant (or as late as this July), applicants would know if they were successful. Newson explained it could be known sooner, but it could also be known much later than the funding deadline of March 31. While council was not adamantly against granting the extension, many council members voiced concerns regarding the extension for various reasons. "The problem I have with this is that we're not scheduling rentals at the theatre," Councillor Trevor Seip said. "We want to keep [this renovation opportunity] open, but we can't keep losing revenue." The Blyth Festival handles rentals for the municipality as part of the agreement the theatre company has for use of Memorial Hall. Blyth Festival General Manager Deb Sholdice said that a full season of rentals brings in $13,000 to $15,000 for the municipality. Seip also said that he didn't think 14/19's staff could raise the remaining $2.7 million of the total $3.5 million project within the next three months. The municipality pledged $500,000 to the campaign while approximately $300,000 has been provided by 14/19 already. In an e-mail to The Citizen, however, 14/19 Project Director Peter Smith explained that 14/19 has raised $1.25 million in pledges meaning that approximately $1.45 million is still outstanding and would need to be raised by March 31 for the new deadline. If the grant application is successful, that would mean that approximately $500,000 would need to be raised by March 31. Without the grant, however, approximately $1.5 million would still need to be raised. Councillor Bill Knott said he appreciated the effort being put forward by the 14/19 committee, but did point out this was the second time this project had been deferred as construction was originally scheduled for the fall of 20015. He also had a problem with the status of the grant not being known until long after the deadline proposed in Newson's schedule. Knott said he was also concerned with the impact of turning away potential renters and whether or not they come back in future years. "I respect how great this idea is, but we can't keep putting this off," he said. In response, Newson said the last direction council gave her was to start tendering this month, something that could not be done without the funding in place. The request wasn't just for 14/19 to have time to raise the funds but also for staff to be allowed to postpone the tendering process. "If [14/19] meets the fundraising target, we will proceed this fall with construction," she said. "The clear picture is that, if that target isn't met, we will be back here discussing the next step and schedule and invite 14/19 to report at that time. At this stage, I'm updating council and saying we're not tendering today. We didn't receive the cheque on Dec. 31." Councillor Brock Vodden said he was glad there were no contracts or Continued on page 10 County to fund rail trail By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron County Council has authorized just over $70,000 in funding to support the Goderich-to- Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail. At council's Jan. 20 committee of the whole meeting, council voted to "top up" the county's contribution to G2G Inc. as part of the trail's application for funding under the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program (OMCIP). This decision comes after the OMCIP team contacted the county in regards to the funding application, saying that the agreement would require the applicant (the county, on behalf of G2G Inc.) to provide at least 20 per cent of the total funding amount. In the case of this funding, with a total cost of $351,000, 20 per cent would exactly $70,200. The application originally stated that G2G Inc. would be paying all project costs, with the exception of costs being covered by the province. This is at odds with the application's requirements, resulting in correspondence from the OMCIP team requesting that the county fund at least 20 per cent of the project. At council's Jan. 13 committee of the whole meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Orchard said that the province was essentially asking the county "eyeball -to -eyeball" whether or not the county is willing to provide dollars to the G2G project. At the Jan. 20 meeting, Huron County G2G Inc. representative Paul VanderMolen said he never wanted to ask the county for funding, but the funding application structure made it necessary. "This was the last place I wanted to be," he told councillors. VanderMolen then proposed the "top up" funding structure to cover $70,200 of the project as the county's portion. He said G2G Inc. could use the $20,000 already given to the organization by the Huron County Economic Development Board and the $16,000 of "funds" allocated in the 2015 budget for Planning Department staff time and put it towards the amount, leaving the county to contribute another $34,200 to reach $70,200. The $16,000 is currently still in limbo, as council has yet to make a decision on the G2G Inc. request that the county re -allocate those funds in the 2015 budget. Originally placed in the budget to Continued on page 15