The Citizen, 2013-04-25, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013. PAGE 13. Brussels Build group honoured with OBIAA award
At last week’s Ontario Business
Improvement Area Association
(OBIAA) national conference in
Toronto, a small group of Brussels
volunteers was honoured for its
work on the town’s recent business
retention and expansion survey.
Going up against some of
Ontario’s largest cities, with million-
dollar budgets, Huron East
Economic Development Officer Jan
Hawley says she’s proud to see that a
small project in Brussels worked on
by mostly volunteers came out on
top.
The announcement was made at
Huron East Council’s April 16
meeting.
She says the award gives Brussels
“bragging rights” and that it’s
validation for all of the hard work
she and the volunteer members of
the Brussels Build group have been
doing.
Hawley says the recognition is
especially important now with
Brussels recently taking an
economic hit with the closure of
MDL Doors, one of Huron East’s
largest employers.
“Brussels was really hit hard in
2010 when this project began with
the closure of Brussels Public
School and now with the closure of
MDL Doors,” Hawley said in an
interview with The Citizen on
Monday. “But this community is
resilient. They will overcome this
adversity. There is just so much
potential in Brussels.”While the award focuses on therecent business retention and
expansion survey, Hawley says it
was really her work with the window
murals and walking trail maps that
caught the attention of the OBIAA.
Hawley, in a move that came to her
in a dream, created murals depicting
iconic Brussels scenes in a “then and
now” format featuring historical
photographs beside recent ones in
the windows of buildings that have
been sitting vacant for years.
In addition, with the help of a
group of students from the
University of Guelph, two new
walking trails were designed to help
showcase all that Brussels has to
offer.
The walking trails are showcased
on the side of the current location of
Brussels Foodland and were featured
in a previous issue of The Citizen.
“It was extremely rewarding to
win this award,” Hawley said. “But
we weren’t looking for a reward; the
reward is the positive change in the
community.”
Hawley did say, however, that it
was nice to be recognized not just by
residents, but by her peers in the
economic development field.
She says that when she’s being
complimented by economic
development officers with budgets in
excess of $1 million, she knows
she’s doing a good job with the
resources she has available to her.
While Hawley says the award is a
success story, she says she has the
community of Brussels to thank for
that with hundreds of people coming
out to a barbecue they held to help
attract people to join the Brussels
Build organization. She said the
barbecue was a huge success and
that the momentum just kept
gathering from there.
Positives abound in the
community in the last year, Hawleysays the Brussels Business andCultural Centre (the former Brussels
Public School) hosting the annual
Walk, Hike and Wheel Symposium
last fall, which highlighted one of
the village’s two new walking trails,
as well as the creation of the
Brussels Farmers’ Market.
In addition, Hawley says that a
real feather in Brussels’ cap will
come in May when the village is
featured on Rediscovering Canada
Television as part of a film series on
rural gem communities across
Canada. The segment will be
premiered at a screening event at the
Brussels Business and Cultural
Centre.
This is Hawley’s second win in as
many years as her work in the bricks
and mortar category in Seaforth was
honoured by the OBIAA last year.
More information on the OBIAA
can be found at the association’s
website at www.obiaa.com
Central Huron is moving ahead
with its Harlock Bridge replacement
project in Hullett Township at a cost
of $459,000.
While council approved the
expenditure and awarded it to AJN
Builders Inc. at its April 16 session,
Councillor Brian Barnim expressed
concern with the potential costs of
engineering associated with it.
As councillors discussed putting a
$600,000 cap on the project, Barnim
said: “I don’t like that a bit. We need
to know what that number is to
approve this.”
While Councillor Alex
Westerhout suggested a possible
tender for engineering, Chief
Administrative Officer Peggy Van
Mierlo-West noted continuity in
engineering is important.
Councillor Burkhard Metzger
understood that need, but said by
leaving it open, there appears to be a
“carte blanche” to engineering.
Mayor Jim Ginn has heard Central
Huron has saved about $100,000 by
tendering the project when it did,
and that it could keep an eye on
engineering costs by following the
county protocol of reviewing
Looking for local heroes
There are so many people out there who do
so much to improve their community.
Now you have a chance to say thanks.
Nominate that special person for the 28th
Annual Citizen Citizenship Awards.
Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of the Blyth and area
and Brussels and area communities to receive an award for contribution to the
community. If you know someone you think should be honoured, please fill in the ballot
and send it in. You may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee
should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and he or she didn't win,
please feel free to try again.
I nominate
as Citizen of the year for
I feel she/he deserves this award because
Nomination Deadline May 31, 2013.
Name and phone number of nominator
❑Blyth
& area ❑Brussels
& area
Deadline
extended to
MAY 31
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
A lot of hard work
Members of the Brussels Build group were honoured last week at the Ontario Business
Improvement Area Association’s annual gala night and awards ceremony in Toronto. The
group was recognized for its work with its business retention and expansion survey, but what
really caught the association’s eye were murals placed on the village’s main street depicting
areas of Brussels then and now. The group was in Toronto to receive the award, they are, from
left: Jo-Anne Workman, Tammy King, Jim Lee, Huron East Economic Development Officer Jan
Hawley, Kathy Nichol, Lois Lee, Tom Burke and Brian Workman. (Photo submitted)
Council
approves
bridge
project
#3 And We
Try Harder
Recent circulation figures
for the 8 paid circulation
newspapers serving
Huron County show
The Citizen has the 3rd
highest circulation.
The Citizen
Proudly Community-Owned
Since 1985
By Cheryl Heath
Special to The Citizen
Continued on page 22