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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 24, 2013
Volume 29 No. 4
OSPCA - Pg. 10 Landowners Associationholds OSPCA meeting PLAN - Pg. 19 North Huron approvesnew strategic planSPORTS- Pg. 8Ironmen beat MountForest, move into thirdPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Streetscape Master Plan presented in Blyth
County
backs
IPM bid
They’re all smiles
Despite the cutting wind, sub-zero temperatures and blast of January snow last week, students at Hullett Central Public School
were all smiles during recess. Shown enjoying the cool weather and abundance of the white stuff are, from left, Morgan Howson,
Jenna McDonald, Drew Van Wyk, Reid Button, Lucas Townsend, Samantha Kerr and Tanner Boven. (Denny Scott photo)
North Huron Township Chief
Administrative Officer Gary Long
welcomed more than a dozen people
to the Bainton Art Gallery on Jan. 16
to discuss the future of downtown
Blyth and where major construction
would fit into it.
The meeting was held to review
the Blyth Streetscape Master plan:
four major projects designed to
revitalize Blyth including revamping
the downtown, reworking the
municipal parking spaces behind the
Blyth Inn and in front of
Scrimgeour’s Food Market,
revitalizing King Street to invite
traffic to and from the campground
and proposed reworking of the
Greenway Trail.
Long invited Rick Elliott and
Stephen Sparling, two key members
of the Blyth Idea Group, to discuss
the project with the assembled
stakeholders, many of whom were
tied to the Blyth Festival.
Sparling explained that the village
of Blyth welcomes 100,000 people
through the community on a nearly
annual basis and said it is a safe and
comfortable village to live in, but
also said that the village needs to
repurpose itself.
He explained how the main idea of
the project was to refresh Blyth’s
image as well as connect the
commercial core of Queen Street
with the Blyth and District
Community Centre, the campground
and the ball parks. He also discussed
the idea of bump outs, stating that,
while they had become a popular
target for people to disparage, the
fact existed that they would be
worthwhile to have in the
community as they provided a
means to slow down traffic visually
and lessen the amount of space that
people need to travel when crossing
the street.
“If we go ahead and invite 10,000
people to downtown Blyth, but then
make no provisions whatsoever for
their safety, it isn’t going to work,”
he said. “We have no traffic
management, no stop lights, no
speed monitoring and no risk of
enforcement but we still say, ‘Come
on Down to Blyth’. The fact is,
people won’t go where they feel
their safety is in question.”
The floor was opened to
comments from the assembled
stakeholders and, with the exception
of some debate about the order of
implementation of the plans, most of
the comments were positive.
North Huron Councillor Brock
Vodden of said council was behind
the project because it is an important
issue. He said this project was one
more example of a long line of
reinventions the village has gone
through since being settled in the
1850s.
“There must be something in the
drinking water that allows people to
rise to the surface and help them re-
adapt,” he said.
Peter Smith, the recently
appointed Interim Artistic Director
at the Blyth Festival, said that while
he is fairly new to modern Blyth, he
was here 20 years ago and he said he
has noticed a lot of changes in that
time.
“I think the village has taken great
strides already,” he said. “The
continuation of that is very
exciting.”
Dave Kelly, the Vice President of
the Blyth Lions Club, said that the
club was behind any idea that
bettered Blyth. He also said the
group was looking for some way to
be involved.
“The direction the Lions would
like to take is a project, something
visible, that Lions will be able to say
they did,” he said. “It’s so easy to
hand money over and five to 10
years down the road, it’s forgotten
who handed over the cheques, but
with a visible project, it will help us
with recruitment.”
He said that, since the group is
young, he is 27 and the president of
the club is 29, they will likely be
around for awhile and that they were
looking forward to helping with the
project.
Pat Newson, Director of
Recreation and Facilities, suggested
that accessibility be added as a
primary focus for the project. She
said that, while aiming for the
minimum of accessibility is
necessary, she felt that they should
aim higher.
“We want people to think they
Huron County Council has
thrown its moral and financial
support behind the Huron County
Plowmen’s Association’s bid to host
the 2017 International Plowing
Match.
At the Jan. 16 Committee of the
Whole meeting, council pledged
$100,000 over the next four years to
the organization’s bid. Brian
McGavin, president of the Huron
County Plowmen’s Association,
assured councillors that the money
would be paid back after the event.
McGavin explained the loan
would consist of $10,000 this year
and $30,000 a year for 2014, 2015
and 2016.
He also asked that council allow
for donations of in-kind services
from the county, including from the
roads department, the public works
department and the planning
department. Council was also
agreeable to that suggestion.
Alongside McGavin was former
Huron County and Ontario Queen of
the Furrow Melissa Sparling and
Seven Huron County-owned
vehicles will have their fate decided
as soon as Brenda Orchard, the
county’s new chief administrative
officer takes office later this month.
The vehicles had been discussed
late last year after several members
of the Huron County senior
management team were relieved of
their duties with the county. Four
vehicles, assigned to departed Chief
Administrative Officer Larry
Adams, Treasurer David Carey and
Director of Human Resources Darcy
Michaud and Clerk Barb Wilson,
who resigned from her position, had
been at the heart of the discussion.
However, three other vehicles were
brought in off the road in order for
the county to take a new approach to
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 9
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
County delays
vehicle decision
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 6
Continued on page 19