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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, December 17, 2015
Volume 31 No. 49
DRIVE - Pg. 14
Blyth service groups
succeed with toy drive
HOMESTAY - Pg. 7
Local families take in
exchange students
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:
All the news that fits
As part of a special 30-minute report on the happenings in
Bethlehem one cold winter’s night many centuries ago,
students from Huron Christian School donned alter-egos
and costumes to perform ‘Mayhem in Bethlehem’. Shown is
King Herod, brought to life by Josh Guichelaar, being interviewed
about the Messiah. From left: Leigha Poortinga, Guichelaar, Josh
Goudy, Julia Waanders, Brooke Kootstra, Zoe Nyman and
Makayla Hahn (Denny Scott photo)
County introduces new accessibility guidelines
G2G
receives
Trillium
Grant
With new accessibility standards
taking effect Jan. 1, 2016, Huron
County last week approved a new
universal design and accessibility
guideline for site plan control.
Huron County Planner Claire
Dodds presented the report to Huron
County Council at its Dec. 9
committee of the whole meeting,
explaining the importance of the
new plan.
This is just one of the many steps
that will be taken in the coming
years, Dodds told council, with
Ontario aiming to be fully accessible
by the year 2025.
In her report, Dodds told
councillors that Ontario is the first
jurisdiction in the world to enact
such sweeping legislation –
establishing both a goal and a time
frame for accessibility. She added
that Ontario is also the first place in
the world to enact standards to
ensure that those with accessibility
issues can more readily participate
in activities in their communities.
The guidelines coming in 2016
specifically deal with a lot of
planning issues, Dodds said, such as
parking spaces, curb ramps and
paths, which are regulated by
municipalities through the site plan
control process.
The Huron County Accessibility
Advisory Committee, she said,
strongly believes in the standards
and felt it’s important to have
universal standards across the
province, as well as across Huron
County.
The new standards were circulated
by way of a municipal workshop that
was held at the end of October,
Dodds said, that included lower-tier
chief building officials, chief
administrative officers, planning co-
ordinators and planners. The Huron
County Accessibility Advisory
Committee’s Building and Site Plan
Review Sub-Committee was also
consulted.
In Dodds’ report, 2012 figures
from Statistics Canada reported that
15.4 per cent of Ontarians have a
disability, 37 per cent of whom are
aged 65 or older. With the rate of
disability increasing with age, and
with Ontario facing an aging
population, the report states,
accessibility is only going to become
more important in the province as
the years go on.
The process is working ahead,
however, as the 2014 Provincial
Policy Statement is further
supporting improved accessibility
by promoting barrier-free living and
planning practices.
In terms of adopting the new
guidelines, the county, as well as
lower-tier municipalities, must
officially repeal the 2008 Huron
County guidelines and adopt the
2015 document.
Council passed the motion.
Those involved with the
Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail
Trail announced on Tuesday that the
trail has received a Trillium Grant
for $150,000.
Between the grant, and the
matching funds G2G Inc. now has to
come up with, the $300,000 should
get the company to a position where
the trail, along with some pass-
arounds, is eventually accessible
and open from end to end.
Chris Lee of G2G Inc., in an
interview with The Citizen Tuesday
morning, said that boosters of the
trail were thrilled when they heard
they had been approved for the
grant, thinking it was a nice
Christmas present to receive.
“We are grateful for the generous
contribution from the Ontario
Trillium Foundation,” said Doug
Cerson, Chair of G2G Inc. in a press
release. “It’s a testament to our
vision and passion to help us reach
our bold goal of a fully connected
trail and the financial support
prepares us well for 2016’s planned
progress on the project.”
The application was made last
spring in hopes that funding would
boost work on the trail. Lee says,
Huron County has done an
extensive amount of work to identify
shovel-ready industrial land and
how to plan for its use going
forward.
At Huron County Council’s Dec. 9
committee of the whole meeting,
Scott Tousaw, Director of Planning
and Development, presented the
report, which was authored by
Watson and Associates Economists
Limited. The report contained facts
and figures pertaining to the location
of potentially developable land,
where the need for that land will be
greatest and industries that are
projected to grow that could use the
land.
Tousaw told councillors that the
report, which will now become a
living document that will change
over time as data changes, had
already been endorsed by the
county’s new Economic
Development Board at its Nov. 16
meeting.
The report graded industries based
on their presence and demand in
Huron County and their trend in
North America. Growing industries
like construction and healthcare,
which are abundant in Huron
County, are good signs for Huron
County, Tousaw said. It shows that
Huron County is on the right side of
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
New lands strategy adopted
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 23
Continued on page 19
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen