The Citizen, 2015-12-10, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015.
Continued from page 1
with a request from G2G Inc.,
requested that the $16,000 be re-
directed to the organization to be
used for trail construction. Orchard
said the money has an additional
benefit that it would go towards the
$70,000 G2G Inc. needs to raise to
match the potential grant award that
was applied for late last month,
whereas staff time obviously
wouldn’t.
The $70,000 of matching funding
required by G2G Inc. is currently
sitting at approximately $45,000
($35,000 from Regional Tourism
Organization 4 and $10,000 from a
private citizen). The $16,000 from
the county would get them very
close to their goal, Orchard said.
Several councillors, however,
were uncomfortable with this
proposed change.
Howick Reeve Art Versteeg, who
had previously stated that he is in
favour of the trail but felt no funds
should be given to its development,
said he felt it was inappropriate for
things to change this late in the
game.
“That staff support has already
been given. That resource has
already been spent,” Versteeg said.
The Citizen reached out to the
county for a firm number of staff
hours, and a corresponding
monetary figure, that has been
committed to the G2G Trail already,
but Orchard said the numbers
couldn’t be crunched in time for The
Citizen’s deadline. Those
calculations, however, will be part of
a report that is scheduled to be
presented to council later this month.
The accounting aspect, however,
was just one of the problems
Versteeg had with the proposal.
He said that in his opinion, the
trail initially sounded like low
impact renovations were being made
to an existing railbed, with costs
being borne by the users. What it is
turning into, he said, is something
completely different that he felt
could evolve into a substantial
burden on Huron County taxpayers
if and when the county assumes the
trail’s lease.
He also wondered if the demand
for the trail was really there and if
usage would justify the time and
effort being spent, both by the
county and by G2G Inc. and its
volunteers.
Versteeg was also concerned that
contributing money to a recreational
asset would set a dangerous
precedent.
The county had never given
money to things like arena
improvements before, so he felt that
paying into a trail would open the
door to lower-tier municipalities
coming to Huron County Council
looking for funding the next time a
community centre needs capital
repairs done.
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan also acknowledged that
he was worried that funds being
contributed to the trail by the county
could get out of hand. He mentioned
the $20,000 handed to the trail by
the Economic Development Board
and the proposed $16,000.
After those contributions, he said,
the county should step back and re-
evaluate its position within the G2G
framework and come up with a
strategy, rather than giving small
sums of money whenever it’s
asked.
Bluewater Mayor Tyler Hessel,
who has supported the trail since it
was first proposed, added that he had
some concerns with the proposed
timeline, suggesting that perhaps the
county shouldn’t assume the lease in
2016, as proposed, and perhaps give
G2G Inc. a little more time on its
own to see how things work out.
He suggested that the G2G group
should consider a membership
model, similar to various other trails
in the area to create a dedicated
group of supporters that will also
drive usage and fundraising.
Warden Paul Gowing disagreed,
saying that the county should
continue to support G2G Inc.
“This group is creating an asset for
Huron County and I think we need
to find a way to be supportive of
that,” Gowing said.
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent
said that Perth County Council is
waiting to see how Huron County
develops a relationship with G2G
Inc. before they decide how to
proceed and that they’re very
concerned about the whole
arrangement.
Hessel felt there were too many
questions without answers and made
a motion to table the
recommendation, which was passed.
In other G2G news, Orchard said
that after consultation with county
solicitor Greg Stewart, the county
has signed an agreement with G2G
Inc. to apply for provincial funding.
The decision was made at
council’s final committee of the
whole meeting in November, but
could not be ratified by way of a
council meeting in time to meet the
deadline, so the money was held in
escrow until ratification, Orchard
said, ensuring that council was
being transparent throughout the
process.
Continued from page 19
re-crowned as well, and the track
around the field will be re-graded to
drain properly to make it better for
athletics.
Plans are also included for a field
house at the lower field so
equipment doesn’t need to be
dragged from the school.
The final piece of the plan is the
joint environmental learning
grounds.
“We worked with students and a
landscape artist to creat a naturalized
learning ground,” Becker said.
“Currently, we have an
amphitheatre, outdoor class and
sitting circle for students to enjoy
classes outdoors. We have also
planted lots of trees. More shrubs
and plants will go there before the
final piece is completed, which is
naturalizing the area to make the
wet zone between the schools a
place for classes to study instead
of one students are kept away
from.”
The funding goals for each project
include an additional $170,000 for
the playground, an additional
$50,000 to complete the
environmental learning grounds and
$500,000 for the improvements to
the Madill sports fields.
So far $70,000 has been invested
in the MRES playground and
$30,000 in trees and shrubs are
installed in the learning grounds.
The expenditures include accessible
swings and sandboxes.
Cameron noted that the majority
of that work was accomplished in
the last six months when she and
Becker took over the organization as
co-chairs.
They mentioned that the
organization tries to have several
events a month to continue
fundraising throughout the year,
pointing to the MRES Christmas
Market hosted at the end of
November and a “toll booth”
they held in Wingham at the same
time.
“We’re trying to get a lot of the
community involved,” she said.
“The next event we have planned is
photos with Santa with the
[Wingham Branch of the Royal
Canadian Legion] during their
Christmas breakfast. We’re trying to
get community groups working
together to help with funding.
“Along with that, we’re also
approaching councils like
yourselves,” she said. “We’re
looking at all municipalities that
feed into both of the schools.”
Becker joked that “no one is safe”
from their fundraising efforts.
Mayor Paul Gowing said that the
program looks great.
“This is an ambitious initiative
you’ve started into,” he said. “I want
to congratulate the two of you for
being involved.”
Gowing asked how the school
boards were going to be involved
and Cameron and Becker said that
much of the Avon Maitland District
School Board’s budget had been
funnelled into projects at Howick
Central Public School to restore the
school.
They did say that the board had
contributed and would be involved
with maintenance of the changes the
campaign hopes to affect.
“We’re not letting them off the
hook,” Becker said. “Right now,
however, all their funds are going to
old school restorations for heating
and ventilation systems.”
Becker explained that they
couldn’t rely on the school board,
however, as playgrounds are not part
of their mandate anymore.
“If we sit back and wait for the
school board to get involved, our
kids will go without,” she said.
Becker and Cameron then
presented their $40,000 request,
which Gowing called timely, as the
municipality started their budget
process earlier this week.
Councillor Jim Nelemans,
however, reminded everyone that the
money wasn’t council’s to direct to a
project like that.
“This is not our money to spend,”
he said. “These are tax dollars.
Sometimes people think that money
should go towards roads and
services and not projects like this.”
While neither agreeing or
disagreeing, Gowing followed up
Nelemans’ comment by asking
whether or not the provice would
help fund the project.
“We’re having schools rebuilt here
and playgrounds are missing,” he
said. “It’s not our job to do this. Why
aren’t they helping out?”
Becker and Cameron said that,
aside from the funds requested, if
council heard of any grant
opportunities to pass them along to
the group.
Councillors question G2G model after funding request
Dashing through the snow
The Kindergarten A class put on their own rendition of “Jingle Bells” as part of a matinée of
“An Olde-Fashioned Christmas”, North Woods Elementary School’s annual Christmas
concert. The matinée was held on Dec. 7. Shown above is Alisha Burchill-Beitz helping Katie
Bernard to keep time with the tune. (Denny Scott photo)
Gowing congratulates Bridges group
You are entering
the Independent
Republic of
Elm Tree Valley
IN THE ROAD
By Keith Roulston
Enjoy a comic look at the
rural/urban divide
in the novel
When a forgotten village finds itself in
the path of a new super-highway it tries
to attract attention to its plight by
declaring itself an independent country.
But things get out of hand when the
town drunk organizes an army and
those who have most to gain by the
highway’s completion fight back.
Enjoy In the Road
FREE
in 15 installments on our website
www.northhuron.on.ca
REPRINTS
OF PHOTOS
taken by Citizen
photographers are
available to purchase.
ALL ARE IN COLOUR
4x6 - $4.00
5x7 - $5.00
8x10 - $8.00
Phone to order ~
519-523-4792
or 519-887-9114
Doll Clothes
398 Queen St.,
Blyth
519-523-4276
#1 And We
Still Try Harder
Recent circulation figures
show The Citizen has the
highest circulation in the
northern part of
Huron County,
#3 in the entire county.
The Citizen
Proudly Community-Owned
Since 1985