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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, August 15, 2013
Volume 29 No. 32
FIRE - Pg. 17Huron East discussespotential amalgamation FESTIVAL - Pg. 18‘Prairie Nurse’ bringslaughs to FestivalWARDEN- Pg. 6Huron East’s Steffler to viefor warden positionPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Central Huron forges ahead with new lawyer
Bishop crowned Brussels Fall Fair ambassador
Spreading the good word
Kabrina Bishop, right, was crowned Brussels Fall Fair ambassador Saturday night at the
Brussels Legion. Bishop was up against three other young women who would have all been
great choices according to Bishop. Last year’s ambassador Meagan Dolmage, left, is seen
here crowning the new ambassador who says it’s her goal to serve her community and tell
everyone about all the good things Brussels has to offer through her new position. (Vicky Bremner
photo)
Central Huron Council is not yet
ready to give up the fight.
Councillors welcomed London-
based lawyer Valerie McGarry to
their Aug. 6 session to hear her
recommendations on whether or not
Central Huron should forge ahead
with its appeal of the Huron County
Official Plan.
Though Central Huron lawyer
Alan Patton and planning consultant
John Cox recommended against it,
both suggesting there was no
possibility for a win, McGarry had
another take on the appeal.
She saw merit in both Central
Huron’s expressed concern with
commercial-scale water taking and
renewable energy matters.
“Those two issues have survived.
What you would have to define for
yourselves is what constitutes a win
for you,” she said.
McGarry said one important fact
for council to consider is while it is
true a lower tier’s planning
document is supposed to be
consistent with the Provincial Policy
Statement (PPS), once an issue
appears before the Ontario
Municipal Board (OMB), the
adjudicator must consider the local
council’s decision-making
process.
“That piece of the legislation gets
lost all the time,” said McGarry,
adding if council wants to have
control over its long-term planning,
it must carefully choose its language
“even if it means fighting with your
upper tier.”
McGarry encouraged council to
“stay the course” if it wants to
see any change. She also noted
the county’s official plan
terminology is “just too loosey
goosey permissive.”
“If you stay the course, you’ve got
the opportunity to negotiate,” she
said, adding if council wants
change it will “need to hang in
there.”
During a question period,
Councillor Brian Barnim said the
process has been a “calamity of
errors since the beginning” and
asked whether meeting with county
officials is a possibility, which
McGarry said would be one
possibility that is in order.
Councillor Burkhard Metzger said
finding an agreement with the
county prior to the OMB hearing is
the ideal scenario.
McGarry noted there is nothing
preventing Central Huron from
meeting with the county, and she
added doing so would be a “time
saver.”
“I think there may be some
middleground to be found,” she said.
“You’re stuck with the Green Energy
Act for now but it might not be there
forever.”
Council ultimately agreed to
appoint Councillors Barnim and
Alison Lobb to join CAO Peggy
Van Mierlo-West in the interviewing
process for a planner that
will be a witness at the
OMB once the next hearing date is
set.
Bluevale’s Kabrina Bishop was
named Brussels Fall Fair
Ambassador on Saturday night at the
Brussels Legion.
Bishop competed with three other
young women for the crown, which
she says she was both surprised and
thrilled to have put upon her head.
Sponsored by the Majestic
Women’s Institute, Bishop was
chosen as ambassador over Katelyn
McKay, Ami Schimanski and
Meagan Sholdice, who won this
competition’s Friendship Award.
In an interview on Monday,
Bishop said that Nicole Noble, who
has been heavily involved with the
ambassador competition for years,
had asked Bishop to put her name in
the running for years, but it wasn’t
until 2013 that Bishop felt she was
ready to (potentially) make that
commitment.
She said that since she had just
received her diploma in Early
Childhood Education from Georgian
College, she felt it was time to start
the next chapter in her life and that
the ambassador competition was a
step in the right direction.
Members of Bishop’s family have
been involved in various agricultural
organizations over the years. Her
sister Kayla is the current Queen of
the Furrow for the Huron County
Plowing Match and her mother
Jacquie was recently named chair of
the 2017 International Plowing
Match committee after years of
involvement with the Huron County
Plowmen’s Association and various
levels of 4-H clubs.
“I thought it would be a good way
to give back to my community,”
Bishop said in her interview with
The Citizen.
She said that while she was
excited to participate in the
competition, nerves definitely set in
Saturday afternoon when she was
interviewed by the panel of judges.
She was able to relax during the
competition’s supper break, but
nervousness returned once again
when it was her turn to speak in front
of the gathered audience at the
Brussels Legion.
For the public speaking portion of
the competition, Bishop spoke about
her personal experiences with the
Brussels Fall Fair. As a former
Brussels Public School student,
Bishop recalled going to the fair
with the school every year, in
addition to showing her goats.
Bishop says she was shocked
when her name was called at the end
of the competition, mostly because
of how strong the competition
was.
“I was definitely shocked,” Bishop
said. “The competition was so good,
any of the other girls would have
been amazing, so I was thrilled.”
Looking ahead, Bishop says she
hopes to spend her year as
ambassador spreading the good
word about Brussels and all it has to
offer.
“I’m looking forward to helping
put Brussels on the map at other
agricultural fairs,” Bishop said. “It’s
a very special place.”
Revitalize Memorial Hall.
Re-Purpose Blyth Public School.
Establish the Blyth Foundation.
AD SPONSORED BY
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Cheryl Heath
Special to The Citizen