The Citizen, 2015-05-07, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, May 7, 2015
Volume 31 No. 18
SPRING - Pg. 11
‘The Citizen’ focuses on
spring home and garden
EQUIPMENT - Pg. 7
Local man crafts program to
equip Mexican responders
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:
North Huron disputes G2G Trail’s readiness
Full house
Members of both stations of the Fire Department of North
Huron, alongside firefighters from Goderich, had their
hands full Sunday night with a field fire just west of Auburn.
Firefighters worked for over an hour to get the blaze under control
in what Deputy-Chief Matt Townsend says has been a very dry
spring. The cause of the fire is not yet known. (Denny Scott photo)
Garden
project
begins
While the announcement of the
July 1 opening of the Guelph to
Goderich (G2G) Rail Trail was met
with both surprise and positive
reviews, it left some people
scratching their heads.
Among the people scratching their
head was North Huron Reeve Neil
Vincent who, during North Huron’s
May 4 meeting, explained that the
trail opening was something he felt
was still further down the road.
“This is something that has been
on the books for over 25 years,”
Vincent said. “However, in talking to
Del Property Management
Solutions, who manage the former
CP Rail Trail for the provincial
government... G2G Inc. held no
leases [at the time the press release
regarding the opening was sent out].
They were in negotiations.”
Vincent’s head-scratching
continued as North Huron owns a
lease on some of the lands that are
part of the trail until 2016.
The lease, which covers land used
in the Greenway Trail as well as land
that was used by the former Blyth
Snowmobile Club to have access to
the village without using the road,
covers both sections of the trail that
are maintained by the municipality,
as well as sections that have been
left, as they are unused.
Vincent explained that the
municipality owns the lease on some
of the trail that extends into Morris-
Turnberry and that extension has
been closed for some time and not
maintained, as it isn’t part of the
trail.
“April 1 we made our last payment
on this lease,” he said. “We hold the
lease until April 1, 2016, and we’ve
had it since 1995.”
Vincent said that while he wasn’t
against the trail, the premature
opening did have some risk for
North Huron as, if anyone is injured
on that unmaintained section of the
trail, the township could be held
responsible.
Councillor Trevor Seip asked if
the group had paperwork that would
allow them the ability to advertise
use of the trail sections in question
and was told no such permission had
been given.
“If we haven’t got any
documentation and no way to
mitigate our risk, why are they even
allowed to go on the trail or declare
it open?” Seip asked.
Vincent said he was also
concerned with that as the press
Anyone travelling by the site of
the former Blyth Public School last
week could have witnessed the first
stages of a community garden being
set up in the sports field of the
former institution.
Organizers hope that the
community garden, or “Comet
Garden”, named after its shape will
bring life back to the school yard
which, until several years ago, was
busy throughout the day and after
school.
Peter Smith, Project Director of
The Blyth Arts and Culture Initiative
14/19 Inc., who has been
instrumental in the creation of the
garden, said that if everything goes
to plan, the garden, which includes
raised planters, mounds for squash
and fruit-bearing trees, will be ready
for harvest later this year.
“We’re getting ready for a summer
harvest,” he said. “The produce will
be coming in late June and July and
then we will start harvesting later
until October.”
Dave Rankine, who designed the
garden, said the site will feature
many different healthy eating
options including potatoes, herbs,
tomatoes, squash, corn and bok
choy.
“We’re going to try and get the
garden into a regular cycle and, with
the size of the area, we’re hoping it
will make for a big harvest,” Smith
said.
The garden is more than just a
The Moncrieff Road Landfill site
has officially been closed to the
public.
North Huron Township Council
has struggled with this decision for
several years and through two terms
of council, however, in the light of a
report from Director of Public
Works Kelly Church presented at
council’s Monday night meeting,
council chose to close the landfill
site to the public, but maintain it for
municipal purposes.
The report showed that having the
site open the first and third Saturday
of each month from June until
September would cost $2,300.
While the $2,300 didn’t seem like
a lot to councillors, when they were
told only 27 bags were collected in
the same period last year, it brought
the cost into a different light.
“That equates to $85 per bag of
garbage,” North Huron Chief
Administrative Officer Sharon
Chambers said. “Due to the high
cost of keeping this landfill open for
such low usage, staff is suggesting
we close it to the public and
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
Council moves to close landfill
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 30
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 9
Continued on page 23