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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-02-18, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: MISSION - Pg. 9 Local to head to Zimbabwe for mission trip SCOUTS - Pg. 10 The Citizen' honours local scouts and guides JINos - Pg. 19 Local nominated for third Juno Award Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 4Citiz Volume 32 No. 7 n ESTABLISHED 1877 $1 .25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, February 18, 2016 w A cold outdoor journey Family Day weekend is always one to mark on the calendar for North Huron residents. The weekend often means Snowarama for snowmobilers, a get-together at the Courtney house for children and adults alike and, of course, North Huron's Family Day program. On Sunday, dozens of residents both young and old were treated to old- fashioned sleigh rides thanks to this team of horses. A tractor picked people up at the Belgrave Community Centre, and brought them to this property in the north end of the community for a tour of the winter wonderland. The event also included hockey, broomball, breakfasts and a snow volleyball tournament. (Shawn Loughlin photo) Ec. Dev. projects advance By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen With a new strategic plan in the works and realignment of the economic development department already underway, those at the top of the initiative are beginning to further focus their efforts. Vicki Lass, agricultural and rural economic development advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, spoke to Huron County Council at its Feb. 10 committee of the whole meeting, saying that Huron has become the envy of many in Ontario for its approach to county -wide economic development. In fact, Lass said, the issue will be one of the many topics being discussed at next week's Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) conference, which is set for Toronto. Thus far, Lass and Huron Economic Development Manager Natasha Fritzley have met with six of Huron's nine lower -tier municipalities in regards to their strategic plans, with plans to meet with the final three very soon. The conversations have gone well, Lass told councillors, and they're now looking ahead to some of the common themes identified as a Continued on page 19 Shared services agreement marks new beginning By Denny Scott The Citizen As reported in The Citizen last week, North Huron and Morris- Turnberry Township Councils announced on Feb. 9 that several services provided by the municipalities would be merged in an attempt to find efficiencies and make the two municipalities more attractive for economic development projects. In a special announcement on Tuesday afternoon in the Knights of Columbus Hall at the North Huron Wescast Community Centre, staff and council members from both municipalities were present to discuss the issue and look to the future together. Prior to the public announcement of the shared services plan, staff from both municipalities, along with council members, were brought together. It was explained to staff that the joining was in response to increasing costs for both municipalities. Specifically, Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) funding decreases and increasing Ontario Provincial Police costs were leading to large demands in the two municipalities' budgets. It was explained that in September Huron County Council held a workshop in Blyth on sharing municipal services. Following that workshop, Morris-Turnberry and North Huron staff started looking to working together to reduce costs and eliminate overages. Both Morris-Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing and North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent would later pinpoint the meeting as the genesis of the idea. "The big impetus at the meeting was sharing recreational services," Vincent said. "The whole thing started growing from there and we felt it was reasonable to look at sharing costs." Gowing felt the meeting had more of a broad aspect to it, looking at all services that could be shared. "We need to look at sharing these kinds of costs across all municipalities and trying to reduce costs," Gowing said. "What we got from the meeting was that costs and services needed to be shared for the municipalities to continue to work." All the discussions after the shared services meeting were handled in - camera, meaning the public was not privy to the decision-making process. One month after that meeting, a joint committee was struck to discuss options for merging service delivery for the two municipalities. According to documentation presented at the announcement, the committee included Gowing, Deputy -Mayor Jamie Heffer, Councillor John Smuck and Administrator Clerk -Treasurer Nancy Michie from Morris- Turnberry and Vincent, Deputy - Reeve James Campbell, Councillor Trevor Seip and Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Chambers from North Huron. The committee decided that change was necessary and that status quo was not an option. As a result of the in -camera discussions and decision, no one outside of council and key senior staff members knew about the project until the announcement was made on Feb. 9. The committee gave direction to Chambers and Michie to prepare a Continued on page 7 `Citizen' nominated provincially On Friday, the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) announced that The Citizen has been nominated in two of the highest categories in its circulation class. The Citizen is one of three nominees in the category of general excellence in the circulation class of 1,999 and under. Also nominated in the category are The Valley Gazette from Barry's Bay and The Minden Times. The Citizen, by way of its parent company North Huron Publishing, has also been named in the top three for best community website with a circulation under 9,999. The Citizen's website is also home to sister publications The Rural Voice and Stops Along The Way, as well as an extensive history archive. In this category, The Citizen is joined by The Huntsville Forester and The Manitoulin Expositor. The winners and ranking of the nominees will be announced at the OCNA's Better Newspapers Competition on Friday, April 22 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Vaughan. This comes after The Citizen was honoured with three Canadian Community Newspaper Awards early last year for its work in 2014 in three categories, including general excellence for its circulation class.