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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2016-01-28, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016. Huron East adopts new economic development plan By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East has become one of the first municipalities in the county to adopt a new economic development strategic plan ahead of the adoption of the new Huron County plan. As a member of the municipality's core team, Councillor David Blaney presented the proposed plan to the rest of council at its Jan. 19 meeting. The plan will span the years 2016 to 2019 and the document is the result of a number of meetings that featured the participation of a number of community members and business owners throughout Huron East. Three focus groups were held ahead of the preparation of the document, Blaney said, one in Brussels, one in Seaforth and one in Vanastra. Of all the residents who responded to the survey, Blaney said, 25 per cent were rural residents. That is important, he said, because so often economic development is viewed through downtown cores and businesses. In addition to agriculture, far and away Huron East's largest employer, the municipality has the largest manufacturing division in Huron County. The group hopes the strategy will help build business in Huron East, Blaney said, but direction was given to the group to be careful in staying within Huron East's current budget. The core teams were very aware of budgetary constraints and what change could actually be affected at the municipal level, Blaney said. The document also looks significantly to the future, Blaney said. For instance, in Seaforth, the thought is that demand for housing will be higher in the coming years, due to the JL Retirement development, which will increase demand because of jobs and profile within the community. That same planning isn't being necessarily made in Brussels, Blaney said, but perhaps it will be necessary someday. The process will now focus on five goals, Blaney said. They are: support for current business and industry with an emphasis on the promotion of vibrant downtowns through downtown revitalization; to develop and begin to implement a "way finding" strategy to identify Huron East attractions; to develop a tourism strategy to promote various events and attractions in Huron East with a view to also add destination businesses and attractions; to examine the possibility of a local brownfield strategy to develop unused commercial and industrial space and to support local value- added agricultural activities. Blaney said that the document will be "living" and always evolving to reflect the changing business world. He also said there will be a number of opportunities for partnerships. Whether it's focusing on a certain sector that may be shared by portions of two or three different municipalities, a branding initiative through Huron County or funding through the provincial government and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), partnerships will be key to the success of the strategic plan, at both the municipal and county levels, Blaney said. Council approved the plan and adopted it as the municipality's economic development strategic plan. It will now be forwarded to the county to be incorporated into the county's plan, which is still in the process of being developed. Local snowmobile trails closed after brief opening Just a taster Local snowmobile trails were listed as limited last week, meaning they could be used by permit holders. However, after a busy weekend for snowmobilers, most local trails were closed again due to a brief thaw at the beginning of the week. (Vicky Bremner photo) By Denny Scott The Citizen Despite the significant amount of snow dropped on Huron County over the past two weeks, most snowmobile trails in the area have closed completely. While many trails were listed as limited late last week and over the Some Grey anniversary events to be confirmed Continued from page 6 Ethel Ball Park. While the beginning and end points have been determined, a specific route has yet to be confirmed. Two meals have also been confirmed for the weekend. There will be a pork chop supper on Saturday night to be held at the Ethel Community Centre and a Grey firefighters' breakfast on Sunday morning at the fire hall. While those events have been confirmed, there are still a number of ideas that McLellan says are still in the mix, but have yet to be confirmed. With North Woods Elementary School available for use, McLellan says that historical displays from the school under its former name of Grey Central Public School, may be part of the weekend, as well as the school's annual fun fair, featuring entertainment for younger residents, although that has not yet been confirmed. There has also been discussion, McLellan says, about a potential outdoor street dance at the ball park or a fiddle jamboree, but those plans are still in the preliminary phase. After media coverage in The Citizen and a mail -out to Grey Ward residents from the Huron East Economic Development Department, McLellan says response to the event has been good, with between 35 and 40 residents attending the most recent planning meeting. For planning purposes, at the last meeting a number of committees were struck, essentially one for each event to distribute the work evenly. McLellan said that he and Diehl, as well as residents in attendance at the meetings, agreed that the weekend would be far more successful if the organizers did a good job of hosting a handful of activities, rather than hosting too many and not giving each event the appropriate amount of attention. While the event is quickly beginning to take shape, McLellan said that further resident participation is always welcome. The planning committee's next meeting is set for Thursday, Feb. 4 at the Grey fire hall. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. weekend, with many snowmobilers out enjoying the trails, all but the most easterly trails in Huron County had once again been closed as of press time. Prior to the thaw and rain that made some of the trails unusable, some of the western -most trails had still remained closed. "Some of those trails between Goderich and Clinton, and north from there, have no snow on them at all," said Adrian Salverda, president of the North Huron Trail Groomers Association that operates in and around Blyth. "Riders should check the [Interactive Trail Guide] on the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) website." The guide, which shows all the trails across Ontario, is accessible at ofsc.on.ca "We need more snowfall before everything can be opened," Salverda said. "Goderich and Clinton need what Blyth got last week and all the trails just need more snow to be opened." It was some relief for snowmobilers, according to Salverda, to have the large snow events that happened recently which gave them a weekend of activity. According to him, trails remained closed last year until mid-January as well, significantly shortening the snowmobiling season. He said that trail grooming clubs like the North Huron Trail Groomers and the Brussels and Walton Trailblazers are all working hard at getting the trails ready and reminded snowmobilers to be respectful of the landowners and others when using the trails. People in Blyth, Brussels and the surrounding communities were very aware of the fact that the trails had received the limited status over the weekend as numerous snowmobilers made their way through the communities for food, fuel and, in some cases, a place to sleep. Salverda said that snowmobilers can purchase their passes online this year, adding that next year they will only be available through the OFSC website. He added that the best way to keep up to date on what is going on is through the OFSC website or the North Huron Trail Groomers' Facebook page. Leather Coats Bainton's Old Mill Downtown Blyth 519-523-4740 #1 And We Still Try Harder Recent circulation figures show The Citizen has the highest circulation in the northern part of Huron County, #3 in the entire county. The Citizen Proudly Community -Owned Since 1985 Winter Sports Pages Coaches and parents we need your team's picture and players' names potean cKffimad 14:01 C:tttn 1. Please submit team photo A.S.A.P. 2. Please include players' and coaches' names for under the photo. Please help us get ALL the Winter Sports teams published. LL A yaaC. • Broomball 413 Queen St., Blyth The Citizen 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114