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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 5, 2012
Volume 28 No. 1
SPORTS - Pg. 9Ironmen break losingstreak with shootout win 2011 - Pg. 12‘The Citizen’ looks backat the year that wasPOLICY- Pg. 3North Huron defers bylawon procedurePublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Weekly collection needs only council approval
Library design
presented at Levee
She can’t win
Deputy Mark Pennington and Huron East Most Wanted Parasol Sal, also known as Pat
Langlois, often seen with her accomplice The Big Guy, were on hand for the Brussels 140th
Birthday kickoff celebration at the Brussels New Year’s Day Levee celebration. Sal’s own flesh
and blood called from Mexico to donate $20 to keep her in prison prompting her to throw up
her arms in disgust. The event was held at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre.
(Vicky Bremner photo)
Nearly 20 years after wiping its
hands clean of a service that is
traditionally handled by
municipalities, Central Huron is
wading back into the business of co-
collection after receiving favourable
comments from ratepayers about a
proposal put forth by Bluewater
Recycling Association president
Francis Veilleux.
Councillor Burkhard Metzger,
who outlined the possibilities for
councillors during Central Huron’s
Dec. 22 Committee of the Whole
session, suggested offering up the
three sizes of collection bins —
small (two bags), medium (four
bags) and large (six bags) — at
progressively costlier prices in
order to encourage citizens to
continue in the battle against
excessive waste.
Metzger also pitched the
possibility of bi-weekly collection,
at a cost of $28.58 per household per
year, which proved to be an idea
favoured by several councillors,
including Alex Westerhout, Alison
Lobb, and initially, Mayor James
Ginn.
“This is supposed to be something
that is good for the environment,”
said Westerhout, arguing it would
not be cost effective or efficient to
have weekly garbage runs.
Councillor Brian Barnim lobbied
for weekly collection at a cost of
$51.42 per year, noting it’s largely
the lakeshore ratepayers that have
been asking for a change to the
current system that sees private
contractors picking up Central
Huron’s garbage at a cost of $2.50
per bag and up.
While noting seasonal residents
have small lots that don’t allow for
composters, Barnim says there are
other concerns, like cottagers who
don’t want to return on weekends to
find old garbage still there.
“I do see that (bi-weekly
collection) as a problem on the west
of Hwy. 21,” he said.
Westerhout argued that there
would not be the kind of volume
created to necessitate weekly
collection and, as a consequence,
many rural residents would be likely
to use the opt out option.
That is something Barnim was
prepared to live with as he noted,
“They can’t miss what they don’t
have.”
“There has certainly been a lot of
phone calls west of Hwy. 21 and 60
per cent of your tax assessment
comes from west of Holmesville,”
says Barnim.
While Lobb echoed Westerhout’s
sentiments, and argued that bi-
weekly pickup encourages recycling
as well as advanced measures, like
using kitchen catchers and
composters. Mayor Ginn chose to
support weekly collection given that
Metzger’s report shows no other
municipality uses bi-weekly
collection and that there might well
be the volumes in place to justify
Bluewater Recycling Association
trucks travelling Central Huron
roads once a week instead of bi-
weekly.
In the end, councillors, defeated
Lobb’s motion for bi-weekly service
and endorsed Metzger’s resolution
for weekly pickup at a cost to the
taxpayer of about $80 per year,
which will be placed on the tax bill,
and bin costs to range from $80 for
the smallest to $120 for the medium
and $160 for the largest. There will
be other associated costs of the
program, including dumping fees at
a cost of about $20 per household
per year.
Once council endorses the motion,
ratepayers will be sent letters
offering up a two-week window to
choose a bin size, if they do not
respond, they will receive the default
size. Ratepayers also have the option
to opt out.
Council’s next session is set for
Monday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
The Blyth Business Improvement
Area (BIA) is officially prepared to
move forward as North Huron
Council approved its constitution
just in time for their inaugural
meeting tonight, Jan. 5 at the
Bainton Art Gallery.
“With some minor tweaking to
clarify issues about voting and
membership, the constitution is
ready to be considered by council,”
Chief Administrative Officer Gary
Long explained to North Huron
Council at the Jan. 2 meeting.
Aside from some wording that was
found to refer to the Town of Blyth
instead of the Township of North
Huron, council approved the
constitution allowing the BIA to
begin planning to develop business
in the area.
Councillors were concerned that
having Deputy-Reeve David Riach
as council’s representation on the
BIA’s board could be seen as a
conflict of interest as he is a business
owner in the area, however both
Reeve Neil Vincent and Long agreed
that, since decisions made by the
BIA won’t specifically benefit any
particular business, Riach’s voting
privileges shouldn’t cause concern.
“Fiduciary conflicts of interest are
the real concern,” Vincent said.
“That means the potential to make
money from a decision being made
in an unfair situation. Since the BIA
won’t make money itself that
benefits anyone on the board and
their decisions will reflect on more
than one, if not all the businesses in
Blyth, it shouldn’t be a concern.”
Architect John Rutledge has been
instructed to prepare tendering
documents based on his proposal for
a renovated and expanded Brussels
Library.
Rutledge was given official
direction from Huron East Council
at its Dec. 20 meeting. He had
promised council he would present
comprehensive plans before
Christmas at a previous meeting, a
promise on which he delivered.
“I’m very glad to be able to make
this presentation before Christmas,”
Rutledge told councillors at the last
regular meeting of 2011.
Rutledge presented councillors
with the entire building’s proposed
floorplan as well as computer-
generated concepts as to how the
exterior of the building will look,
from two different angles, after the
expansion.
Rutledge also presented council
with cost estimates that range nearly
$300,000 from one another without
even taking several factors
into account, simply because,
Rutledge said, it was too early to
make a reasonable estimate on
them.
Rutledge said that low range for
the library, including a 10 per cent
contingency fee, a 10 per cent
professional fee and five per cent for
permits, inspections and related fees
is $693,574 and he presented a high-
end estimate of $979,959.
The proposals do, however,
include 13 per cent HST, which the
municipality should receive 86 per
cent of back from the government.
The two estimates, however, don’t
include cost to be incurred to fill in
the new addition’s foundation with
gravel fill, upgrades to the existing
basement for new HVAC
mechanical installations or costs
related to several easements, site
work, landscaping and the parking
lot that is proposed to include 16
total spots (two of which will be
handicapped-accessible).
This was a point that concerned
councillors immensely. With the
amount of fill necessary to level the
property (which is currently very
sloped), some councillors felt
landscaping and fill costs alone
could drive the cost up another
$250,000.
Rutledge has proposed the parking
lot for the west side of the property,
behind the existing library, and for
the sidewalk to run along the south
side of Orchard Line, eventually
running into the new entrance.
Under Rutledge’s proposal, the
entrance would make its way into a
central hallway with part of the
library area on the left of the
entrance and the programming room
By Cheryl Heath
Clinton News-Record
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
BIA approved by North Huron
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 24