HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-01-24, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013. PAGE 19.
NH strategic plan approved
Council to decideon vehicles in Feb.
A pause in the action
Normal soccer fields don’t typically have walls and this could be why: it’s far too easy for
players like, from left, Joey Scrimgeour, Kaden Huether and Braeden McDonald to have the
action stuck on the sidelines. (Denny Scott photo)
North Huron Township Council
approved its strategic plan during its
council meeting on Monday night.
The document, which is a result of
two years of work by staff and
council, surveys, suggestions from
residents and town hall meetings,
took longer than expected according
to Chief Administrative Officer
Gary Long, but the draft was
approved during the meeting.
“I feel we have a plan that all of
us, including the community, can be
proud of,” Long said. “I’m pleased
to recommend council adopt the
plan for 2013-2018.”
The plan was presented with a
draft implementation plan that will
focus on the highest priority action
items, however that plan will be
subject to change.
“Over the next couple of months,
staff will meet and discuss our role
in implementing the plan,” Long
said. “We have to do some fine-
tuning. From that, we’ll create an
annual work plan that will outline
things that need to be worked on in
this calender year.”
Long said that, while thanks were
deserved by everyone who worked
on the input, the efforts of
Community Development
Coordinator Connie Goodall and
consultant Wayne Caldwell from the
University of Guelph deserved
special mention. Caldwell was
retained last fall for
recommendations and comments on
the plan as well as to help guide the
development process.
Long said to council that he felt
the best way to show what the plan
was about was to quote Brantford-
native and National Hockey League
legend Wayne Gretzky who, when
asked why he was so successful,
said he went where the puck was
going to be, not where it was.
“North Huron is repositioned for
the future to attract economic
activity and investment,” he said.
“We have lots of opportunities and
we need to go where the puck is
going, not where it’s been.”
While Long had said that the
implementation plan would be
available in the official release of the
strategic plan, Councillor Brock
Vodden suggested making them
separate documents as the
implementation plan may see
changes over time while the
Strategic Plan should remain
somewhat static for the forseeable
future.
Copies of the plan will be
available at the municipal office at
the North Huron Town Hall in
Wingham and on their website.
Continued from page 2
Branch. There were over 50 hoping
to be winners of the matches they
played. Helping out at the Branch
for lunch were Greta Zehr and
Jo-Ann McDonald with
Nanci Ducharme helping at the
bar.
The Branch is still hoping to hear
from folks interested in joining the
Branch. The Royal Canadian Legion
is the largest service organization in
Canada. To keep the organization
strong, those wishing to join must be
Canadian citizens and have a
commitment to assist veterans,
promote the importance of
Remembrance Day, serve their
community and support their
Branch. The Branch supports itself,
veteran projects, hospitals, student
bursaries and various projects in the
community, other organizations,
sports teams as well as many
charitable causes. The promotion of
Remembrance Day is a two-fold
task involving the encouragement of
school children to participate in the
poster, essay and poem competition
and to organize the Poppy
Campaign and Remembrance Day
services. We encourage anyone who
has an ancestor who served his
country to commemorate their
service and memory by joining the
Royal Canadian Legion.
Continued from page 1
travel for its senior management
team.
Acting Chief Administrative
Officer Heather Adams prepared a
report for councillors suggesting
that the fate of the vehicles be
discussed once Orchard began her
time with the county. She said it
would be helpful to have Orchard’s
insight on the matter.
Adams said that while many
councillors had suggested selling the
vehicles, there were other options
that could be considered. She wasn’t
in favour of making them employee
vehicles once again, but she said that
some of the vehicles could be
allocated to the facilities
department.
If the vehicles were to be sold,
however, the proceeds from the sale
would go to the fleet reserve, she
said, as it is still owed one year’s
worth of payments on the seven
vehicles.
Huron East’s Joe Steffler said the
county should move on the vehicles
as soon as possible. With the
vehicles already being five years old
and getting older as they sit waiting
for council to make a decision, they
are losing value every day they sit
dormant, Steffler told council.
North Huron’s Neil Vincent said
he had stopped in earlier this month
to see the vehicles and that they all
seem to be in good shape. He
estimated that the county would net
approximately $100,000 for the sale
of all seven vehicles.
Central Huron’s Dave Jewitt said
that all of the conversation seemed
to be steering towards selling the
vehicles and he was comfortable
with selling the vehicles as Adams
had suggested, not seeing any reason
to wait for Orchard to start and have
her say on the motion.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh’s
Ben Van Diepenbeek agreed that the
vehicles should be sold sooner,
rather than later. He said they were
depreciating and all the county was
doing was costing itself more money
by waiting.
Bluewater’s Tyler Hessel,
however, said that there is nothing
wrong with the cars and that nobody
is doing any damage to them by
allowing them to sit for another
month or so. Hessel said he worked
with cars for years and they
routinely sit for up to six months
with minimal activity and no
damage is done.
An amendment was then made to
the motion that the vehicles be sold
immediately and that amendment
was defeated. The original motion to
re-address the issue when Orchard
comes on was then passed by
council.
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BLYTH MEMORIAL HALL
Tickets at the Blyth Festival Box Office or call 1-877-862-5984. Online www.blythfestival.com
SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2013 – 7 PM
Happy 1st
Birthday
Callie
Love Daddy & Mommy
(Jordan & Jenna Gibbings)
BUY? SELL?
TRY CLASSIFIED
Branch hosts 50
By Denny Scott
The Citizen