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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-02-21, Page 14NOW BOOKING FOR 2013 – TWO- bedroom cottage with bunkhouse at Point Clark, includes fully-equipped kitchen, gas barbecue, fire pit, horseshoe pit and much more, close to lighthouse and beach. To find out more or to book your holiday call 519-523-4799 after 6:00 p.m. tfn -------------------------------------------- PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013. Classified Advertisements All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at www.northhuron.on.ca Notices Notices Public Notice Please note a time and venue change for the next Regular meeting of the Council of the Municipality of Central Huron. Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. My United Community Hall, Central Huron Community Complex, 239 Bill Fleming Drive, Clinton, ON The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) will be attending Council to present the initial screening report for the community for a deep geological repository. Once this report is received by Council, the next step will be for the NWMO to schedule a public information session for a later date. The Council Agenda will be posted to the municipal website Friday, February 15, 2013 www.centralhuron.com Brenda MacIsaac, Clerk Municipality of Central Huron Tenders Tenders FARM FOR SALE BY TENDER Denise Clara Smith invites tenders for the purchase of her farmlands comprised of Lot 28, Concession 2, Geographic Township of Hibbert, Municipality of West Perth, County of Perth, being 90 systematically tiled workable acres more or less. • For tender forms and other particulars contact: Devereaux Murray Professional Corporation Phone: 519-527-0850 Email: aodonnell@devereauxmurray.ca • Tender to be submitted by 12 noon on Monday, February 25, 2013 • Highest or any tender not necessarily accepted. acation propertiesV Here Comes the Guide! Then you won’t want to miss our upcoming on-line Brides In Huron. Your comprehensive guide to everything bridal. Brides In Huron marries advice and inspiration to cover all aspects of getting married. www.northhuron.on.ca (click on Brides In Huron) Getting married? In a wedding? Mother of the bride? By Joy Pizzati and Jaden Shortreed We are reporting on the third meeting of our 4-H project. On Feb. 16 the whole 4-H group came to leader Monique Baan’s house for the meeting. We made smoothies and parfait. In the parfait there were mixed berries, homemade yogurt that leader Ingrid Backx showed members how to make and granola. The smoothie was called Strawberry Banana, but we also added some extra ingredients like mangos, peaches, blueberries, pineapples, orange juice and yogurt. After everything was ready members all enjoyed the things they had made, and we can’t wait until the next meeting when we are going to learn about eggs. North Huron resident Terry Brake and his business partner Laurie MacPherson have decided against bringing what they claim to be approximately 268 jobs and $2.3 million in building costs as a new business venture due to complications with the Huron County Planning department and North Huron Township. The two say they had planned on building a greenhouse business on their Moncrieff Road property near Blyth, however problems in dealing with governing bodies has led him to decide to take the business elsewhere, Brake claims. After months of working to have the business built, issues came to a head on Jan. 14 when Brake decided to cancel his plans and begin looking elsewhere. “Right now, we’re looking at another location outside of this area,” Brake explained. “Nobody’s going to drive to where we’re going so those jobs are going to be outside the area.” Aside from issues with the condition of road to his house, he also said he had problems with grading on his property and tree lines, some of which North Huron acted on with and others, which Chief Administrative Officer Gary Long said, they couldn’t deal with. “We’ve looked at some of the requests that Mr. Brake has made,” Long said during an interview with The Citizen. “We’ll do what we can to help the residents of our community, but we can’t give businesses benefits to draw them to the community.” Long explained that he was talking about Brake’s request to have the road to his property improved and paved so that trucks could more easily get to and from the location and so that it would be safer for his children getting on and off the bus. The problems with North Huron, however, weren’t the final issues. Brake said that his request to have a different planner assigned to the project instead of Huron County Planner Sally McMullen, who handles all North Huron planning, was denied and he felt that was a sure indication that the county’s planning department wasn’t looking to work with him. He felt that McMullen had divulged information about his project and his legal representation to individuals she should not have and formally requested that Huron County Planning Department head Scott Tousaw assign another planner to the issue. Tousaw said that planners are assigned to municipalities and not to individal projects. He also said that McMullen is an accomplished planner who does good work. “Sally is known for her consistent and helpful approach to planning files, and I am confident that, should you require a planning application for your proposal, you will receive the same treatment,” Tousaw said in his response to Brake. Tousaw said, in a phone interview with The Citizen, that he couldn’t discuss any existing planning projects and couldn’t comment on Brake’s statements. He indicated that the planning department was ‘not prepared’ to assign another planner and that both he and senior planner Sandra Weber would be kept up to date on his planning projects. For Brake, this was the last straw. “When you have someone spending $2.3 million in greenhouses plus stock and employees, it’s really disgusting what’s going on out here and what developers have to put up with,” he said. Brake had other issues, however, that have caused problems throughout his progress, from problems with the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority holding up his site plan to what he felt was a form of nepotism. Brake feels that, due to some sour experiences with Huron County Forest Conservation Officer Dave Pullen his brother, Senior Economic Development Officer Mike Pullen, was not being as helpful as he should have been. Up until the decision not to assign another planner, however, Brake said that he persevered and would try to work with the county and North Huron because he wanted to be here. “I live here, we moved here because of the area, because of the proximity to the lake, the heating degree units and everything, but these people are really being snobs here,” he said. “I really do want the greenhouses here. I live here, I don’t want to travel to another area to work, but I feel I can’t work with the administrations here more than I’ve tried to.” Brake went on to say that the area needs the jobs that he would have brought, but that he just can’t see it working with the existing governments. “I’d like to have these jobs here, the salt mine is laying off people, Volvo closed their doors and the fire at MDL Doors has more people out of a job,” he said. “The jobs could really be used, and it’s really upsetting, but we’re looking somewhere else.” Continued from page 1 responsibility to both councils, communication responsibilities, oversight of public education and responsibility for equipment and training. Where the two councils differed, however, was primarily with the specifics of a contract, mostly within the terms of Morris-Turnberry investing in North Huron. While some council members, like Bernie Bailey of North Huron, felt that a 50 per cent split of the fire department was the best bet, others like Vodden felt that the service should remain centred in North Huron. “Whatever comes of the discussion, I think the FDNH [Fire Department of North Huron] should remain under North Huron in terms of guidance and ownership,” he said. “If another entity wants to make an investment and have a say, that’s fine, but we worked hard to create this fire department. Having an even split board will take us right back to the problems with the fire board. “An emergency service has to have clear direction,” he continued to say. “Direction from two sides might make it uncertain for them. I don’t think NH should surrender its responsibility to that kind of uncertainty.” Morris-Turnberry representatives felt that the fire department should remain under primary ownership of North Huron since they have the infrastructure in place to handle the day-to-day operations of the department but that they should have equal ownership and equal say in the fire department. Deputy-Mayor Jason Breckenridge of Morris-Turnberry said that, as a member of Vodden’s working group, he felt that the group was at odds. “We were clearly divided,” he said. “I think it is unfortunate that North Huron is again looking back instead of to the future. They don’t have the trust or the teamwork attitude. I don’t see why it can’t work like any other committee of council, like the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. There are many municipalities involved there working towards a common goal, not fighting with each other.” Mayor Paul Gowing stated that he believed that a 50 per cent split was the only way to handle an investment option. “It’s shared ownership, it’s shared decision making,” he said. “Neither municipality has power over the other in the decision making process. The board makes the decision with equal representation. We’re quite agreeable with having the administration stay with one of the municipalities and it is quite evident that would be best with North Huron as they’ve already got it set up.” Bailey reminded his contemporaries from Morris- Councils remain far apart after second fire meeting Man pulls application after planning complications Continued on page 16 By Denny Scott The Citizen Servers meet