HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-10-10, Page 20Huron County councillors have
requested a report on salt purchasing
in the county after a circumvention
of the county’s purchasing policy
was suggested.
The move to purchase salt from
the Sifto salt mine in Goderich has
been automatic for years, said Public
Works Director Dave Laurie, but at
council’s Oct. 2 meeting, the move
was questioned by Huron East
Mayor Bernie MacLellan.
MacLellan told his fellow
councillors that he was worried
about setting a precedent with the
salt contract.
“I don’t want to set a bad
example,” MacLellan said, adding
that buying salt from the Goderich
mine year after year could “really
show” favoritism when purchasing.
Huron East Deputy-Mayor Joe
Steffler, who worked for the Huron
County Public Works Department
for decades before retiring,
disagreed with MacLellan saying
that purchasing salt from the
Goderich mine “only makes sense”.
With the frequent closure of Hwy.
21 through Goderich and further
north, if Huron County experienced
a bad storm, he said he wouldn’t
want to rely on salt coming from
Owen Sound or Windsor when the
weather, and the roads, were bad and
maybe even closed.
“For safety reasons,” Steffler told
councillors, “this has all kinds of
merit.”
Warden George Robertson then
asked about the history behind
the tender and Laurie told him
that the county has never tendered
for salt, always opting instead to
simply buy it from the Goderich
mine.
“I don’t know if this is a good
thing or a bad thing,” Robertson
admitted. “I agree with, for once,
Councillor MacLellan.”
Laurie understood councillors’
concerns, but said that if the
county’s salt policy was to change,
he would have major concerns about
whether or not he would be able to
get salt for his department
throughout the winter months.
He said that because of the
county’s preferred status with the
mine, the public works department
has been at the front of the line for
years. If the policy changes, so too
does that policy and the county will
be put back at the end of the line for
salt.
Council then looked to Treasurer
John Cummings, who said that there
are certain situations in which
council can award a non-competitive
contract to a company.
One of those reasons was if the
regular contract was compatible
with existing systems and another
was if council felt it was acting in
the best interests of the county by
not tendering for the contract.
Council then directed staff to
bring a report on the salt contract to
a future meeting so it could be
discussed prior to this winter’s salt
purchase.
PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013.
Continued from page 19
generally clear between $4,000 and
$5,000, but a lot of that profit
margin, he told the group, has to do
with the large amount of donations
received for the event. Without
donations, proceeds would likely be
closer to $1,000.
Boyer briefly consulted with two
other firefighters, who were at the
meeting, and they agreed that if the
department was to get involved, the
only fair way to do it would be to
split the proceeds evenly. Diehl said
that while halls in Moncrieff and
Cranbrook were not yet in the
financial dire straits that the Ethel
hall is, they were not far behind, so
it wouldn’t be right to ignore them
during a fundraising effort.
Another fundraising opportunity
that was discussed was a softball
tournament. Those in attendance
said the profits from a tournament
could be between $3,000 and
$4,000, but a tournament requires a
large number of volunteers, which
may be tough, McLellan said.
There was also some discussion
about a potential fall supper in the
future. In the past, Diehl said, when
there was a church harvest supper at
the school, profits generally hovered
around $2,300 to $2,500, which
could be beneficial to the hall.
McLellan said he would bring
some of the group’s ideas to council
in hopes that the municipality might
donate $1,000 to the hall until next
spring, when fundraisers could
begin. In order to entice council,
however, McLellan said that
community members had to be
willing to volunteer and put in
effort, as they hope council will.
Several new hall board members,
including Boyer, stepped forward
and said they would assist the centre
going forward and volunteer at its
various future fundraising events.
While McLellan was told that
several members of the community
found out about the Oct. 3 meeting
too late to attend, he said it would be
beneficial to hold a second meeting
after putting out a call for volunteers
and new board members. In
addition, at the time of the new
meeting, a cost estimate for
fumigation of the hall should be
prepared by then, so true costs of the
hall’s revitalization should be known
by then.
The next meeting to save the hall
has been set for Thursday, Oct. 17 at
7:30 p.m. at the hall.
Council to rethink
winter salt contract
Spaceman came down...
Marc Garneau, left, was in North Huron last weekend to speak with Liberal Party supporters,
reporters and Wingham Air Cadets 543 Squadron. Garneau is currently an MP and was, of
course, Canada’s first man in space. The meet and greet event with Garneau took place at the
Richard LeVan Airport in Morris-Turnberry. (Jim Brown photo)
Second hall meeting
called for Oct. 17
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By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen