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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-02-25, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016. PAGE 7. Walton community shocked by Williamson passing PEOPLE AROUND WALTON By Jo -Ann McDonald Call 887-6570 Here it is and another month in 2016 has flown by. Even with the extra day in February the month has slipped by, with just a few more days to go. The groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter or maybe an early spring, but maybe forgot to tell us we would have bouts of spring throughout that six weeks. Above normal temperatures the first week of February and now the last week, more warm weather. Quite the cold snap for a few days, but really, it was short lived and not as bad as it could have been. A shock this week for Walton area folks with the sudden passing of Neil Williamson. We send out our deepest sympathies to wife Doris Williamson and family. He will be lovingly missed by sons Gary and Brian and their families. He will be missed by his mother Helen and siblings, Eileen, Wayne, Eric and What a boost! At the first of two special breakfasts to help raise funds for the Brussels Legion expansion and accessibility project, the Brussels Lions Club served well over 400 people on Sunday in what can only be described as a rousing success. Working outside to keep the food train rolling were, from left: Gord Mitchell, Merle Hoegy and Paul Mutter. The second breakfast will be held in March. (Vicky Bremner photo) Lois. Neil was a long-time employee of McGavin Farm Equipment and only retired last year. He was enjoying time with his family and spending his time doing his own projects. He was known to his friends and family as "Wimpy" and was liked by all. Our sympathies to all. Our get -well wishes go to Gerry Ryan who has suffered some broken ribs from a fall. We hope he heals quickly. Glad to report that George Cousins is home from hospital and is coming along. We hope he continues to improve. Our condolences to the family of Martin van den Heuvel on his passing. He will be missed by his wife Rikie and children Rein, Kees, Theodora and Susan and their families. Martin was a familiar face around Walton, as he was a former employee of Dauphin's and worked in the mill and delivering feed. We are glad to hear that Gerry Wheeler is home from hospital and is coming along nicely. We are also glad to hear Dave Marks is home from hospital after spending five days in Stratford. We hope he is starting to feel much better. The Cranbrook Dart Club gathered on a very cold eve, missing half of their players. They had 13 players and one visitor take to the boards on the cold night. The teams had to split up and two played as singles, but the night was still eventful and somewhat disappointing. There was no change from other weeks with Murray Houston and Ev Blake winning all six games again. Ev was also high lady hitting 99 and partner Murray was high man with a 133 shot. The group wishes Murray belated birthday greetings from them all. The visitor that night was Mark Gillis, filling in for the some lost souls and managed to get the lucky shot of the night. Our condolences to Mark and Tracey Swart on the passing of his father, Reiner "Roy" Swart of Seaforth. He will be missed by his wife Angeline and his other children Reg, Joanne, Lynn and Kim and their families. Our sympathies to the Swart family. Returning from a vacation to Jamaica are Clyde and Cathy McClure, Val Shortreed and Warren and Judy Beuerman. They enjoyed their week away and had good weather except for two days of rain. They had time to play cards and visit. The other days, they enjoyed wonderfully warm days by the pool. Some of the group took side trips and others just stayed and enjoyed the resort and its amenities. Celebrating birthdays this past week include Monica McNichol, Phil Blake, Brian Dolmage, Shawna Terpstra, Helen Brenie, Steve Blake, Kathy Clark, Tyler Williamson, Steve Knight, Kevin McNaughton, Joel Dalton, Rachel Sutcliffe, Bruce McDonald, Tamara Williamson and Chris Lee. Happy birthday to all. FROM WALTON HE nixes proposed truck, backhoe from draft budget Continued from page 1 centres where they are now?" MacLellan asked. "Other departments are suffering so we can keep the arenas and the pool open, it's just not good business." Councillor Larry McGrath, often outspoken during the budget process, said he was at a loss about how to give staff direction in the 2016 budget. Michiels told council she had cut $2.5 million from the budget before even presenting the first draft to council. With the exception of the purchase of a new backhoe and truck for the public works department, which had been eliminated from the first draft very early by council, McGrath said he couldn't see anything else he would cut. The provincial government, he said, is continuing to make it harder and harder for small municipalities to do business and in many instances the hands of local municipal councillors are tied. When Michiels first told councillors about the proposed 2016 OMPF cuts late last year, she told council that money received through OMPF had decreased in Huron East by over $1.1 million in recent years. In 2016 Huron East will receive $1.98 million from the province, while at its peak, the municipality was receiving over $3.15 million. Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight agreed with McGrath, using work on rural roads as an example. He said that the last two times Huron East has done work on rural roads, the work has been assisted by grants. He said he couldn't remember the last time Huron East had extra funds to put towards work on a rural road. With Huron East's challenges mounting, MacLellan held up the recent North Huron/Morris- Turnberry shared services announcement as a potential blueprint for the future of the municipality. MacLellan said that perhaps now is the time for Huron East to start conversations with neighbouring municipalities such as Central Huron or Bluewater about potentially sharing services and, in turn, driving down costs. With the North Huron/Morris- Turnberry model now available to the public — and with the fact that it took less than a year for the two municipalities to carve out a deal — he felt that coming to an agreement with a neighbouring municipality may not be as difficult as it sounds. Several councillors agreed that such an arrangement would be worth looking into, but said it wouldn't necessarily solve their 2016 budget problems. Council then directed Michiels to prepare a second draft of the budget in which the backhoe and truck purchases (with a combined value of approximately $153,000) were eliminated and the tax levy was increased to cover the rest of the first draft's shortfall of approximately $210,000. Michiels didn't disagree with council, but suggested that council consult with Public Works Director Barry Mills about the current condition of the department's backhoe that was slated for replacement. She said Mills, who was not present at the meeting, made it sound as though it would need at least $25,000 worth of repairs for the MEETING NOTICE Municipality of Morris-Turnberry The upcoming meetings for the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry will be held: Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. Regular Council Meeting Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Council Meeting (Public Meeting to consider 2016 Budget and Belgrave Water Rates, included in the Council Meeting on March 15, 2016 at 7:10 pm) municipality to simply get one more year out of the machine. Council proceeded with the aforementioned proposed second draft of the budget, but will discuss the state of the backhoe at the next meeting. The second draft of the budget will be presented to council at its next meeting, set for Tuesday, March 1. CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF MORRIS-TURNBERRY NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING TO CONSIDER 2016 BUDGET AND BELGRAVE WATER RATES Notice is hereby given that the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry, will be giving consideration to: 1. The `2016' Budget with the intention to adopt and/or amend the budget 2. The `2016' Water rates for the Belgrave Water System The meeting will be held: Date and Time: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 7:10 p.m. Location: The Council Chambers located at 41342 Morris Rd., Brussels, ON Everyone is welcome to attend Nancy Michie, Administrator Clerk -Treasurer Municipality of Morris-Turnberry