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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, November 12, 2015
Volume 31 No. 44
AWARD - Pg. 19
Morris-Turnberry officer
presented with award
SPORTS - Pg. 8
Blyth native’s hockey team
involved in OHL protest
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:
Hanging out
What are monkey bars for? Hanging around, right?
Students at Hullett Central Public School take that to heart
every recess, including last Monday. Just as the nice,
warmer weather has done, these students just keep
hanging in there, enjoying recess without the aid of tuques, winter
coats and mittens. Shown changing their perception of the world
in the brilliant, warm Huron County sun are from left, Macey
Adams, Sophia Greydanus and Ashley Kuntz. (Denny Scott photo)
Huron East reviews its health care, recreation
G2G
meeting
Nov. 28
in Blyth
Huron East Council continued its
second service delivery review in
two years at its Nov. 3 meeting,
further examining the municipality’s
health and social services, recreation
and cultural service and planning
and development services.
The reviews of health and social
services were broken into two
categories: medical and cemetery
services, and daycare.
HEALTH CARE SERVICES
In terms of medical and cemetery
services, Huron East has the second-
highest costs in the county behind
only Goderich. However, said Chief
Administrative Officer Brad Knight,
examining only the cost side of
things can be deceiving in terms of
health care.
With the Huron East Health
Centre in Seaforth and the Brussels
Medical Dental Centre, Huron East
does have high costs, but both
buildings are now full and
completely self-sufficient, even
making money for the municipality,
as well as providing health care
services for residents.
Years ago when the Seaforth
centre was created, Knight said, the
costs were high during the
construction phase, but it was the
forward thinking of council to
recognize health care as a significant
economic driver, as well as a service
to residents. That vision has come to
fruition, he said, with the building
attracting health care professionals
and serving the community, all while
providing income for the
municipality on a monthly basis.
Mayor Bernie MacLellan agreed,
answering the review’s first question
by saying that if the municipality is
making money through providing
the service, there’s no reason for the
municipality to not be in the
business.
Despite the high cost per resident
($25.87), councillors had nothing
but good things to say about the
municipality’s health care
infrastructure.
In terms of daycare, which is
provided to Huron East residents in
Vanastra, MacLellan said that to
answer the question simply, Huron
East is not required to be in the
business at all. Several councillors,
however, defended the service,
saying that in many ways, some of
them hidden, it is smart to be in the
daycare business.
Deputy-Mayor Joe Steffler said
that the daycare, provided through
the Vanastra Recreation Centre, is
the lifeblood of that Huron East
community, which doesn’t
necessarily receive the benefits
and provision of other communities
within the municipality like
Seaforth or Brussels.
Another councillor also stated that
having a daycare within the
community is a clear benefit to the
employers within Vanastra. If the
daycare were to disappear, the
businesses then become less
attractive to young parents and it
hurts the Huron East economy.
MacLellan agreed that the daycare
is important to the Vanastra
community, but didn’t agree that the
municipality has to provide the
service.
Councillor Ray Chartrand said
that if the municipality isn’t going to
provide the service, then it should be
up to the municipality to find a
private replacement.
Chartrand also challenged
MacLellan’s claims that the daycare
is costing taxpayers over $70,000
per year. Nearly half of that amount,
he said, is rent that the municipality,
through the daycare, pays to itself.
So in reality, he said, it’s only just
over $30,000 that the municipality is
paying to subsidize the service.
MacLellan disagreed, saying
simply that paying rent is part of
providing the service. He said that
Huron East could easily cut its
public works costs if council chose
to no longer provide snow removal,
but it’s part of the expected service.
Councillor David Blaney,
however, agreed with Chartrand,
saying that the rent costs would be
something that Huron East would
have to pay anyway, so in terms of
accounting, there is only just over
$30,000 going out of the
municipality’s accounts, not over
$70,000.
Councillor Larry McGrath said
that councillors could call the money
being paid whatever they wanted,
but at the end of the day, on the
municipality’s bottom line, it’s just
The Huron County Planning and
Development Department’s long-
awaited report on the Goderich-to-
Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail will be
presented to Huron County
Council’s Nov. 12 committee of the
whole meeting.
In addition, two meetings are now
scheduled as G2G Working
Committee Open Houses. The first
is on Nov. 26 in Milverton and the
second is at the Blyth and District
Community Centre on Nov. 28 from
2-4 p.m.
The report, which will be
presented to councillors at the Nov.
12 meeting, carries with it a number
of recommendations, the most
important of which is that the
county “reconfirm its support in
principle for the signing of the lease
with the Province of Ontario.”
The report also includes a request
of G2G Inc. for a work plan, costing
and a detailed update on the trail’s
progress by November, 2016.
As part of an executive summary,
the report, which is authored by
County Tourism Co-ordinator Cindy
Fisher and Project Manager
Rebecca Rathwell, states that
council had originally supported the
trail in March, 2014 and that a
reconfirmation of support would
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 15
Continued on page 8