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The Citizen, 2015-12-10, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, December 10, 2015 Volume 31 No. 48 CONCERT - Pg. 22 Blyth singer to blend Christmas, jazz for show AWARD - Pg. 14 Citizen of the Year named for the Blyth community 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: Search underway for new Central Huron CAO When you’re not looking... What if, when they aren’t being observed, toys came alive? North Woods Elementary School’s Grade 1 students answered just that question during the school’s Christmas concert matinée on Monday. The students dressed the parts of toys in a toy shop and performed “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” for the show. From left: Vanessa Albrecht, Payton Illman and Abi McNaught. The show also featured performances by “The Treblemakers”, and plenty of other holiday classics like “Jingle Bells”, “Frosty the Snowman” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. (Denny Scott photo) Grey anniversary goes ahead in 2016 County awaits report as G2G funding held Central Huron has again found itself without a chief administrative officer, as Peggy Van Mierlo-West, who was hired in 2012, has accepted the same position with the City of Dryden in northern Ontario. The city’s CAO position had been vacant since last year. Van Mierlo- West will officially fill the position in the city, about four hours northwest of Thunder Bay, on Dec. 14 after officially resigning late last month. Central Huron Council officially accepted Van Mierlo-West’s resignation after a closed-to-the- public session held as part of a special session on Monday, Nov. 23. “Upon reconvening into open session, the mayor [Jim Ginn] advised that Peggy Van Mierlo-West has tendered her resignation as chief administrative officer of the municipality effective Dec. 11, 2015,” read the minutes from the Nov. 23 meeting. A motion moved by Councillor Alison Lobb and seconded by Councillor Burkhard Metzger accepted Van Mierlo-West’s letter of resignation. This continues an era of comparative instability at the Central Huron CAO position. After years of working with Central Huron, Richard Harding resigned from the position to work full-time with the Regional Equine and Agricultural Centre of Huron (REACH) in 2010, giving way to Kevin McIlwain, who didn’t last long in the position. Retired Huron East CAO Jack McLachlan then filled the position on an interim basis before Van Mierlo-West was hired in July, 2012. In an interview with The Citizen, Mayor Jim Ginn said that council decided how it would like to proceed immediately, at that same Nov. 23 meeting, although he couldn’t elaborate further, as it’s a personnel issue. “At that meeting, we decided how we wanted to proceed and that process is underway now,” Ginn said. His hope is that council will be able to make an announcement very soon. Ginn did say, however, that council was sad to see Van Mierlo- West go. “I want to thank Peggy for her work over the years and we certainly wish her the best going forward,” Ginn said. Huron County Council has pressed the pause button on the suggested reallocation of funds originally budgetted for staff time related to the Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail. The issue was up for discussion at Huron County Council’s committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 2. Originally, $16,000 had been placed in the 2015 budget to account for staff time that would be allocated to the trail through the Huron County Planningb Department. However, according to a report by Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Orchard, “planning staff were able to absorb this work within their existing schedules in 2015 and volunteers from G2G were able to provide time to this endeavour as well, therefore an individual was not hired for this purpose.” Orchard’s report, in accordance After a successful first planning meeting, a Grey Township 160th anniversary celebration in 2016 is beginning to take shape. Huron East Councillors Alvin McLellan and Dianne Diehl hosted the first planning meeting last Thursday night – an informal gathering of residents intended to gauge the community’s interest in potentially hosting a special anniversary event. McLellan, in an interview with The Citizen, said the response was overwhelming, with approximately 25 residents coming out to the Grey Fire Hall for the meeting, more than either he or Diehl had expected. All in attendance, McLellan said, were in favour of hosting an anniversary event, but there are still many questions that need to be answered, whether it be from the Municipality of Huron East or from the Avon Maitland District School Board over potential use of North Woods Elementary School. While nothing has been finalized yet, some in attendance thought it would be nice to roll the anniversary celebration into the school’s annual children’s fun fair. If the celebration is held outside of the school year, McLellan said, the building won’t then be available for use. The group is tentatively looking at the last weekend in June, 2016 for the homecoming weekend, but nothing is set in stone. He said that the weekend may include a historical display from Grey Central Public School (the previous incarnation of North Woods Elementary School) that will provide a bit of a school reunion feel with plenty of historical photographs for people to see and discuss. Those in attendance felt that for a 160th anniversary, a ball tournament may draw too many volunteers and players away from other events, McLellan said, so the consensus was that perhaps a mini old-timers ball tournament could be part of the weekend, which would leave people plenty of time for other activities. Other events that are being considered as part of the weekend are a beef barbecue dinner and a parade through Ethel. There was also discussion surrounding a potential street dance in Ethel, while others suggested that if a street dance isn’t possible, perhaps a fiddle jamboree could be held instead. Members of the Grey Station of the Huron East Fire Department are planning on hosting a firefighters’ breakfast that weekend as well, McLellan said. The next planning meeting has been set for Thursday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m., at the Grey Fire Hall in Ethel. The Citizen Celebrating 30 Years 1985~2015 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 20