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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-12-05, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, December 5, 2013 Volume 29 No. 48 SCHOOLS - Pg. 22School Board gives iPadsto Hullett students AGRICULTURE - Pg. 23 Huron 4-H hands out itsannual awardsPARADE- Pg. 6Santa Claus comes toBrussels for annual parade Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0 INSIDE THIS WEEK: 4.68 per cent increase proposed to county budget North Huron votes to allow severances Who is this guy? Well, Christmas just isn’t for everyone. While Santa Claus may have only had the jolliest of intentions, a few seconds after this picture was taken, one-year-old Braxton Campbell burst into tears. Perhaps learning to love the big man in red will take a few years. Campbell was one of dozens of children who had their minute with Santa at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre on Saturday night. The centre was opened for visits with Santa, free skating, face painting, food and contests after the village’s annual Santa Claus Parade. For a gallery of pictures from the parade and afterwards at the community centre, visit The Citizen’s website at www.northhuron.on.ca (Vicky Bremner photo) While figures are bound to change over the next month or two, Huron County staff is currently proposing a 4.68 per cent increase to its overall levy next year. As part of a lengthy budget presentation by Treasurer John Cummings at Huron County Council’s Nov. 28 meeting, councillors heard about the proposed increase, but were told that because of the change in assessment, the county’s portion of the tax rate should actually go down slightly. Cummings told councillors that taxes, on average, would go down by 0.41 per cent under the proposed increase. That, however, didn’t take into account budgets of the lower- tier municipalities or the county’s two school boards, the bodies which comprise the other two thirds of a ratepayer’s taxes each year. He said the changes in assessment are part of a phase-in by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). With another hit from the provincial government in the form of a decrease of $620,700 in Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) money, some councillors weren’t happy with the staff’s suggestion that Huron County essentially absorb the blow from the province. The funding to the county has been reduced from just over $4.1 million to just over $3.5 million. Councillor Paul Klopp said he was worried that the OMPF cuts would go underreported and the county was trying to “be a hero” in shielding its residents from the cuts. He said he felt council should pass the cuts on in the budget, but tell ratepayers why over $600,000 had to be covered in the budget, pointing the finger squarely at the provincial government. He said he’d like to see the 2014 levy increase by just two per cent, rather than the nearly five per cent being proposed. No official changes, however, were proposed to the budget for its second draft, which will be presented to council later this month. As part of the meeting, councillors received presentations from each department head, where the department’s budget was reviewed Despite some concerns regarding wind energy and the Green Energy Act, North Huron Council approved, by bylaw, the township’s Official Plan amendment number nine. The amendment, which includes more than 90 changes to land designations, as well as changes regarding community structures, came as a result of the Official Plan’s five-year review. Huron County Planner Sally McMullen stated that aside from some of the land designation changes, which won’t affect current use and will only come into play with land use changes, severances or building permits, most of the changes were minor modifications including wording changes and correcting typos. There is one major change, however, that many ratepayers have been looking forward to for some time. Surplus farm severances, provided the official plan amendment is passed by the county and the province finds no problem with it, will soon be allowed in North Huron. The major change finds North Huron getting in line with other municipalities like Morris- Turnberry, who are allowing surplus farm severances to be severed and continue to be used as homes as a means of maintaining a population and tax base despite farm operations becoming bigger and bigger and enveloping more farms. Hedgerows, meadows and other natural environment features were also added to the corresponding section of the document and, while it didn’t result in any changes to properties, it does outline what natural environment features are present in the municipality. Prior to being read by councillors, the document was changed based on feedback from the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority and the Huron County Health Unit. Business Improvement Areas (BIA) from both Wingham and Blyth also received the chance to comment, however no comments came from either body. Twenty different responses to the document were received including seven written submissions from the open houses hosted by the municipality as well as 13 response to 79 letters sent out in regards to the map changes. Five of the written submissions from the open house were in favour of the surplus farm residences, while the two others dealt with suggestions. McMullen stated that of the 13 responses to the map changes, four requested that slated changes not occur. Two of those four were related to aggregate designations, which are part of a new plan to catalog all the potential aggregate locations in the county. McMullen explained that the redesignation of land to agriculture “ Cultivating and sustaining your creative economy - making new connections within community and within communities.” PRU ROBIE ARTSCAPE, TORONTO By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 26 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 27