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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2015-06-25, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015. Stay Connected The Citizen wherever you are in the world with an Electronic Subscription • Easy access • Read on your phone, tablet or computer • Perfect for travellers, students or snowbirds • Timely reading (no waiting for mail delivery) $3600 per year Go to our website and pay by Pay Pal or come into the office and pay by cheque or cash The Citizen www.northhuron.on.ca 413 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 to NH Policy set to control donations, waiving rental fees North Huron Township Council has approved its donation and waiving fees policy which will provide a framework for council’s discussion around giving of funds or resources to individuals and groups. During council’s June 15 meeting the document was presented. Its absence had seen many requests deferred until it was crafted so council could use it to determine which groups or individuals they could donate to or waive fees for and which they shouldn’t. Director of Recreation and Facilities Pat Newson explained that the policy represented a lot of work. “We spent a lot of time on this, working back and forth,” she said, referring to work by herself, Director of Finance Donna White and Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Chambers. “The challenge was to create a policy that could meet any potential situation, so that is what we’ve tried to provide here.” Newson explained that for donations there is a procedure to follow, but council can decide to donate as much or as little as it likes. “What we would like to see is that anyone seeking a donation would provide a submission prior to the budget [for the year the donation will be required] and then they can be reviewed all at once. Council can then decide what they want to approve and have it in the budget.” The annual deadline, according to the policy that was adopted by bylaw, is Nov. 1 for donation requests. Newson explained that the waiving of rental fees for buildings, however, would likely see some changes. “We already have a community fee in the rates and fee bylaw,” she said. “When a community group is renting a facility, they are already doing so at a discount. That would be the donation council is making to that event.” Newson said that committees of council looking to use facilities would also be different, stating that the terms of reference the group would set with council would dictate what they would need. Deputy-Reeve James Campbell asked how staff planned on getting the groups to have their submissions in the year prior to the funds being necessary. “As Donna, Sharon and I have discussed, anyone who receives a donation on a regular basis will receive a letter telling them this is the new requirement,” Newson said. “If something comes in after the fact, we will regretfully decline the request and tell them to get their request in before the next deadline.” Councillor Trevor Seip asked what kind of advertising would be done to make sure that groups who don’t normally make requests would be aware of the change. “We can try and do some extra communication for that,” Chambers said. “We can send letters to service clubs and that will catch a lot of local volunteers and organizations. We’ll also try to talk to the [Business Improvement Areas] and get the word out as much as we can. We’ll get it on the website and get the word out, but it will be a learning process, I’m sure.” Reeve Neil Vincent said he felt that a small discretionary budget should be set up in case of circumstances that could not have been known a year in advance. “If you’re going to make exceptions, you might as well take the deadline away,” Seip said. “If you make exceptions, there are always going to be people using the term ‘special circumstances’ because their lack of organization is our emergency. I understand what you’re saying but if you do that you might as well do away with [the Nov. 1 deadline] all together. Everyone has to be under the same blanket, the same process.” Vincent said he was thinking about events such as fundraisers for families stricken by misfortune, but Seip pointed out the deadline was for cash donations only. “Waiving rental fees doesn’t have a deadline,” he said. Newson also re-iterated that there already is a difference between a community rate and that for private renters when it comes to facilities. Seip asked if the community at large was aware of that. “That information might help people realize they are already getting a break,” he said. “Yeah, you’re going to have to pay, but we have to run a business. Things have to change when it comes to the services... we have to cover our costs.” Campbell asked what those costs would be. “Do we know how much it costs to have staff work for a weekend?” he asked. “Do they get paid extra if the events are on the long weekend? These are costs we don’t count on, but, as a taxpayer, I am paying for it. These people need to know these cost more than what we would donate as far as the rental spaces go. We’re expecting staff to be a part of these events and we have to pay them.” The policy was approved by bylaw. Council also dealt with several requests that had been deferred until the document was ready including donations to local schools for graduation. Other requests that were deferred, however, included items such as rentals by Hullett Central Public School’s requests for rental reduction for its graduation which will have occurred before council’s next meeting. Several other requests with specific dates on them will have passed or occur almost immediately after council’s next meeting, however they were deferred as well. By dad’s side The Brussels station of the Huron East Fire Department, as it does every year, hosted breakfast on Father’s Day at its station in the north end of the village. Besides all the bonding between fathers and their sons and daughters happening at the breakfast, the firefighters were able to fit in a little father/child bonding of their own. Here, firefighter Don Hastings and his daughter Rachel help to prepare the meal for the hundreds in attendance. (Vicky Bremner photo) Continued from page 1 about $220 per hour for ice time. If Huron East were to do that, however, they might as well bring a ‘closed’ sign with them, because nobody would rent the ice. Chartrand then returned to an issue he has spoken about before, saying that perhaps Huron East can’t justify two recreation centres. Deputy-Mayor Joe Steffler, among other councillors, defended the municipality’s two community centres, saying that they’re just that, centres of the community, meaning far more than a place for kids to play hockey. MacLellan’s motion asked for a service delivery and viability analysis of the Public Works Department, the Vanastra Day Care and the hours of operation for the municipality’s recreation centres. However, in light of the costing report, many councillors felt that if a consultant was going to be brought in, the work should encompass nearly all of the municipality’s activities. McGrath supported the hiring of a consultant, but said that council needed the will to follow through on the consultant’s recommendations for it to have any impact. He said that the last thing council needs to do right now is spend $50,000 on a document that’s going to be put on a shelf. If council would be willing to implement recommendations, he said, he would support it. Council supported the motion. Staff will then report back with further recommendations and bring back cost estimates for the engaging a consultant for the municipal-wide report. Council debates service review