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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2015-02-12, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, February 12, 2015 Volume 31 No. 6 FARM - Pg. 11 Local family opens new maple syrup business HISTORY - Pg. 6 Museum artifact links back to Brussels/Cranbrook area Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0 INSIDE THIS WEEK: I get by... ...with a little help from my friends, is how the famous Beatles song goes, later famously performed by Joe Cocker. On Friday night, the Hiller family from Brussels tested out the theory on stage at the Blyth Christian Reformed Church as part of the evening’s Faith-In-Song concert, an annual event where local musicians celebrate their faith in a musical fashion. Here, members of the family band all lend a hand to the instrument of another making not only for an interesting picture, but for an intriguing musical experience as well. (Vicky Bremner photo) Huron East treasurer proposes 11% tax increase Building renovations approved in Brussels Facing yet another tough budget year full of provincial funding cuts and demanding department budgets, Huron East Council is beginning the 2015 budget process with a projected 11 per cent increase to the tax levy. In her first budget presentation of the year, at council’s Feb. 3 meeting, Treasurer Paula Michiels explained that the combination of clawed-back Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) money and increased OPP costs has opened up a $489,280 hole in the municipality’s budget. That figure, before any department budgets or capital projects can be considered, would require a municipal tax levy increase of 16.4 per cent to simply cover the shortfall. Michiels’ estimates for the increase in the tax levy only apply to the municipal portion of the budget. It doesn’t take into account expected increases that may come from the Huron County level, as well as the education levy. She told councillors that she has directed department heads to aim for a zero per cent increase budget, which may prove to be a difficult request. Councillor Nathan Marshall, who also sits on the Seaforth and District Recreation Committee, said that committee is planning on asking for a number of improvements to the town’s community centre in its budget. This would ignore Michiels’ request, but Marshall says it’s essential to put several issues on councillors’ radar that are necessary at the centre. Immediately, Mayor Bernie MacLellan objected, saying he didn’t like the approach. Councillor Dianne Diehl, however, who sits on the Brussels, Morris and Grey Recreation Committee, said that committee was experiencing the same problem. How, except for putting essential upgrades in the budget, she asked, would the committee communicate to council just how dire some of the community centre’s needs are? She said that the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre is facing at least $50,000 in maintenance costs, and that would be the bare minimum. Marshall said the Seaforth centre was, more or less, in the same boat. Councillor David Blaney said that what Marshall and Diehl were proposing was not so much an attempt to ensure that councillors were educated in the goings-on of the centres. “It’s more about making sure council understands the position it’s putting these facilities in by not doing these things,” Blaney said. “You have to put these things in so that everybody knows what we’re not doing and we need to make the decision of what we think is more important or less important. “I would sooner know what we’re doing and not doing than wander around with my eyes closed,” Blaney said. MacLellan said that repairs at the community centres are just one of many issues facing the municipality The Blyth Festival has started the 2015 season off on a high note with increased sales over the same period last year. General Manager Deb Sholdice said that opening day sales for play tickets to members of the Festival are up 16 per cent this year, while play passes are up 12 per cent and bookings of Memorial Hall have filled every weekend from later this month until the end of September. She added that concerts are starting to be booked throughout the week. Artistic Director Gil Garratt said that beyond the fact that the hall is booked, there is still even more interest. “It’s not just that those weekends are booked, it’s that we have a constant stream of people asking,” he said. Sholdice said the bookings and sales mark a busier year than in years past and said that, as far as the bookings are concerned, word is getting out that certain kinds of shows do well at Memorial Hall. “Tribute shows are successful,” she said. “I think that’s why we have more and more people coming in.” She also said that the hall has excellent acoustics, which is something performers are always looking for. “Enough promoters and presenters have got to know the audience here, so they choose things that will sell well,” Garratt said. “It’s the same practice the Festival uses in knowing its audience. You have to be attentive and put on performances people will enjoy.” Sholdice said that as a result, Memorial Hall is developing a reputation as a place where shows can succeed. As far as tickets for the Festival’s plays, Sholdice said the playbill is what’s drawing people in. “We have been fine-tuning our message and where we are trying to make it,” she said. “That, plus the fact that the plays are drumming up a lot of interest, has led to good sales.” For more information, or to check out this year’s playbill, visit www.blythfestival.com Despite a rocky journey to this point, Huron East Council is pushing forward with the first phase of renovations at the Brussels Medical Dental Centre. At council’s Feb. 3 meeting, council passed four motions pertaining to forthcoming renovations in an effort to immediately get the ball rolling. Mayor Bernie MacLellan said he hoped that work would begin in late February or early March and the completion date has been set for June. The work will make the centre’s ground floor accessible and more attractive to a second physician who may open a one-day-a-week practice in the village. This decision comes after members of both Huron East and Morris-Turnberry Councils met with members of the Brussels Medical Dental Centre Committee where the renovations were discussed at length. With an estimated total cost of $151,800 mechanical repairs associated with the first phase of the project, MacLellan said that it is proposed that Huron East and Morris-Turnberry Councils would cover $66,000 of the renovations, with the rest coming from the committee’s reserves. The municipal portion will be paid, MacLellan said, on the historic one-third formula on which Grey and Morris Townships and the Village of Brussels had always paid their joint expenses. Now, post-amalgamation, Huron East (Brussels and Grey Township) will pay $44,000, while Morris- Turnberry will be asked to pay the remaining $22,000. This proposal, however, was not accepted by everyone, as council had received a letter from the committee asking that the municipal portion of the costs be bumped up to $75,000 to be split three ways. Council felt the $66,000 municipal portion was sufficient and stuck with it. Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight said that the total estimate of $151,800 is “very comparable” to the original estimate of $135,000. MacLellan said council is very eager to move the project forward as soon as possible because of what having a second physician in the village could mean for Brussels’ main street, as well as the community as a whole. He said that it was widely understood at the council table that when Huron East took on the massive medical centre project in Seaforth years ago, that in order to be fair, the Brussels Medical Dental Centre would be a priority for council whenever it needed improvements. MacLellan said he didn’t want to wait any longer for the repairs, and The Citizen Celebrating 30 Years 1985~2015 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 9 By Denny Scott The Citizen Festival sales up from 2014 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 6