HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-15, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2012.County Councilforms committee
over closure
Hospital
Auxiliary
meets
The fruits of labour
Grey Central Public School students got to enjoy some skating and winter activities during
their winter fun day on March 8. Shown enjoying a frosty sundae made of maple syrup
collected and crafted at the school are, back row, from left: Sophie Cardiff, Brianna Schlosser
and Sarah Alexander. Front row, from left: Brantley Byerlay and Austin Lindsay (Photo submitted)
The March 5 meeting of the
auxiliary to the Clinton Public
Hospital was held in the hospital
conference room.
President, Ann MacLean
welcomed 21 members and one
guest, Brittany Fry, who shared
information about the Huron Good
Food Box which is available to
everyone in the county.
Details were given for the Irish
Stew Luncheon being held Friday,
March 16 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. at the
Clinton United Church. Everyone
welcome to attend and support the
hospital auxiliary.
The Hospital Auxiliaries
Association of Ontario (HAAO)
spring conference will be held April
30 at the Legion in Seaforth.
Members are to register by April 13.
The next meeting will be held on
Monday, April 2 at 9 a.m. in the
conference room for the annual
meeting followed by the monthly
meeting.
Huron County councillors were
disappointed with the lack of
communication that has gone on
about the closure of the Bluewater
Youth Centre in Central Huron and
will be sending a strongly-worded
letter to that effect.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
first mentioned the issue at the
March 5 Central Huron Council
meeting when details were few and
far between and nothing had been
confirmed. However, on March 7 at
the Huron County Council meeting,
Ginn brought the issue to council
now knowing that the closure for the
centre had been confirmed, but that a
date had yet to be set. The centre
would be closed nearly immediately,
however, closing the next day and
turning 200 employees away.
“This is a very difficult time in this
area,” Ginn told Huron County
Council on March 7. “This is a
terrible thing; a very serious issue.”
With councillors attending the
Rural Ontario Municipalities
Association (ROMA) annual
conference just the week earlier,
councillors felt that word could have
been handed down then. With the
closure happening so suddenly, Ginn
said, it’s reasonable to think that it
has been in the works for months
and yet no one told anyone from
Huron County about it at the
conference.
Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt, who at
the time was told the closure would
not happen for another year, said that
perhaps the economic development
department should be brought in to
turn the closure into a potential
opportunity for all of Huron County,
especially with the recently-slated
closure of the Walkerton Jail.
Central Huron’s Dave Jewitt didn’t
want to wait, saying that an ad hoc
committee should be set up, similar
to the committee set up when Volvo
announced it would be closing its
Goderich doors.
“The time is now,” Jewitt said.
“We need to put the wheels in
motion and strike a committee now.”
Huron County Warden Bernie
MacLellan said that the letter
council would be sending should not
be worded too firmly, but that it
should offer solutions and infer that
the county is willing to work with
the province, rather than be
confrontational.
Ginn told MacLellan that was fine
and that in that case the
confrontational letter would then
come from Central Huron instead.
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