The Citizen, 2013-06-20, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, June 20, 2013
Volume 29 No. 25
FESTIVAL - Pg. 19‘Dear Johnny Deere’remount opens Festival GALLERY - Pg. 20 New exhibit to open atFestival Art GallerySPORTS- Pg. 8Huron County FastballLeague action heats upPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
ESTC assists with blood clinic
Central Huron eyes
NWMO’s third step
Brussels consultants
chosen by county
Sprucing the place up
New dugouts were on the work slate on Friday as the Township of North Huron, the Blyth
Legion and the Blyth Lions came together to fund new dugouts for the diamonds at the Blyth
ballpark. Jimmy Johnston, top, was busy representing the Blyth Lions Club, while Ric
McBurney, lower left, was there on behalf of the Legion and Michael Bromley, lower right, was
holding on for dear life as a representative of the Blyth Barons fastball team. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Despite some controversy, Huron
County Council approved the
proposal submitted for preliminary
design, detailed design, approvals,
construction review and
administration for the reconstruction
of Turnberry Street through
Brussels.
Council approved the
recommendation of the Public
Works Department at council’s
Committee of the Whole meeting on
June 12. However, with one proposal
coming in over $40,000 less than the
one that was finally chosen, there
were some councillors who felt
cheaper is better.
Director of Public Works Dave
Laurie said the proposal from MTE
Consultants for $121,249 came
without a schedule, which was one
of the requirements laid out by the
county. The second-cheapest
proposal came from Gamsby &
Mannerow at $162,950.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh’s
Ben Van Diepenbeek said he was
willing to consider a proposal
without a schedule for a discount of
$40,000.
Laurie, however, said that MTE,
which is out of Kitchener, is a fine
company that would no doubt do a
good job. In fact, he used to work for
The Blyth and District
Community Centre will once again
host a blood drive for Canadian
Blood Services, however, this
year, there will be some special
guests.
The event, which will be held on
June 25 at the Blyth and District
Community Centre from 3 p.m. to 7
p.m., will feature local emergency
service workers as part of the Sirens
for Life program which is being
launched locally in cooperation with
the Emergency Services Training
Centre (ESTC) in Blyth.
ESTC Program Coordinator
Stephanie Currie said that the
program is a fantastic coupling for
the two organizations.
“The event is meant to encourage
people to come out and help by
giving blood and meeting with the
emergency service workers who
help every day,” she said. “It will
show support for the emergency
response people.”
Canadian Blood Services
Community Development Co-
ordinator Marisa Gatfield stated that
Blyth will be the kickoff point for
the Sirens for Life campaign and the
summer blood drive for Blood
Services in Huron County with
clinics to be held in Exeter,
Wingham, Goderich and other
locations through the summer. She
added that the Sirens for Life
campaign is really a dual-purpose
project.
“Sirens for Life helps local heroes
save more lives and gives people the
opportunity to see these emergency
services workers out and helping in
the community,” she said. “We hope
that the emergency workers will
come out and donate blood because
we want to show them saving lives
both on and off the job.”
Gatfield went on to say the Sirens
for Life campaign has a theme of
Someone Still Needs Your Help and
that she hopes that message gets
through to both the emergency
services workers and the community
at large.
“We’re looking to have the
members of the public come out and
take part in the Sirens for Life
campaign launch by donating blood
to support their emergency services
workers,” she said.
As part of the launch, there will be
an opening ceremony at 3 p.m. at the
community centre that will feature a
fire truck, Fire Department of North
Huron firefighters and other
volunteers as well, Currie hopes.
“I’ve sent invites to [Wingham
Police Chief] Tim Poole as well as
the Huron County Emergency
Medical Services Coordinator David
Lew,” she said. “We hope that local
police officers, local OPP officers
and all our local emergency services
workers can attend.
Currie said that she hopes to make
the launch an annual event, as part of
an ongoing commitment to make
sure there is enough blood on hand
for the summer season.
As part of that commitment, the
Fire Department of North Huron
will be joining a program called
Partners for Life, another program
through Canadian Blood Services.
The program allows companies
and community groups to donate
together and receive recognition for
their work.
“It’s neat to be able to make this
kind of commitment,” Currie said.
“It should result in a lot of blood
Two representatives of the
Nuclear Waste Management
Organization (NWMO) appeared
before Central Huron councillors
June 11 to outline the next steps in
the process if council chooses to
pass a resolution expressing interest
in becoming the possible site of
Canada’s first deep geological
repository for spent nuclear fuel.
At Council’s June 11 Committee
of the Whole meeting Joanne
Barnaby, NWMO’s director of
social research, said the next step
will take 10 years to complete as the
project is still in the second step,
which involves learning about the
suitability of the 21 communities
that have expressed interest in the
multi-billion dollar initiative.
Barnaby emphasized safety is the
first priority while other issues
include finding communities that
wish to continue with the process to
ascertain whether the deep
geological repository is a “good fit”
with the community’s long-term
vision. Part of that study, which will
be conducted at later stage, asks the
potential host community to
demonstrate its “willingness” to host
the repository.
“We are looking as to whether we
can get a conversation going,” she
said, noting the expansive
stage three process will focus on
only one or possibly two host
communities.
Ben Belfadhel, director of the
NWMO’s geoscience department,
said the third phase will involve
projects that require a number of
consultants and a vast array of
surveys. The end result of the
research will include more than
2,000 pages of documentation
resulting from a number of means
including surveys conducted via
airplanes.
Overall, added Barnaby, a holistic
approach will be used to identify the
best possible host community since
the project is about more than jobs
and economic development.
“Ultimately, it would be a
community decision to move to the
next step,” she said, adding the list
of requirements through potential
hosts communities include the
completion of an initial screening, a
resolution from council, and a letter
of understanding signed by the
potential host community.
During the question period,
Councillor Burkhard Metzger asked
whether outlying communities,
including the County of Huron, will
be part of the approval process and,
as such, if their support should not
first be garnered. Barnaby said the
first step is verifying the potential
host community’s willingness and
then the project will move forward
to consider the broader region.
Councillor Marg Anderson’s
question as to whether the NWMO’s
open houses were well attended and
about the level of feedback was met
with the assurance that a “good
crowd” attended the initial open
house.
“NWMO is not so focused on
numbers for this kind of event,” said
Barnaby, adding if a community is
short listed, it would be equipped
with a community office for the
public to access for information.
Barnaby added: “Folks can be a little
nervous” about the possibility of
having spent nuclear fuel stored in
their communities. She said people
who attend the open house events
are often comforted by the number
of checks and balances in place.
Councillors agreed to further discuss
the project at its strategic planning
session in late June.
By Cheryl Heath
Special to The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 18
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 16