The Citizen, 2012-03-29, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012.Four per cent increase proposed in Huron East
Towering above the competition
The Grade 3/4 class at Blyth Public School enjoyed putting on the architect hard-hats and
planning their own buildings out of wooden sticks. Shown displaying their creations are, front,
left to right: Reid Button, Ella Sawchuk and Braedan Fleming. (Denny Scott photo)
Treasurer Paula Michiels
presented the second draft of the
Huron East budget on March 20 with
a proposed average four per cent tax
increase across the municipality’s
five wards.
This increase, Michiels reminded
councillors would simply be for the
municipality’s third of a resident’s
tax bill. The Huron County and
school board levies would still have
to be taken into account.
In the current draft of the budget,
which has yet to be finalized and
approved by council, Seaforth would
see the highest tax increase at 5.2 per
cent. Brussels would see a 3.6 per
cent tax increase, Grey’s municipaltax levy would be increased 2.6 percent, McKillop’s levy would rise 3.5per cent and Tuckersmith’s levywould go up four per cent.
Michiels, however, reminded
councillors that the current budget
did not include a handful of projects
and the carry-over deficit of nearly
$280,000 and in a note on her
presentation, she added that she
could see the levy rising as much as
six per cent across the municipality.
“I have removed what I can and
reduced any line items that seemed a
bit high when compared to 2011
actuals,” Michiels stated in her
report. “There doesn’t appear to be
much room in this budget.”
The second draft of the budget,
Michiels stated, includes a shortfallof over $550,000. She said that themunicipality is looking at cuttingnearly $350,000 from the budget andthe carry-forward deficit (which is
just under $280,000, but is projected
to be as high as $350,000) could be
dealt with in 2013 when the
municipality has paid off the
expensive renovations at the
Seaforth Town Hall building.
With the large cuts the
municipality is facing, several
councillors brought up the Victoria
Street project in Seaforth, which will
cost Huron East over $300,000 as a
project that may have to wait a year
until the municipality gets its budget
under control.
Of the two big ticket projects,
however, councillors acknowledged
that the Town Hall building had to befixed and that it had been in itscurrent condition for far too long.“We’re in a no-win situation,” saidCouncillor Andy Flowers. “We have
to get the town hall fixed up. We
have no choice.”
Flowers said there would have to
be plenty of room in the budget for
the project. As several councillors
had suggested, the $500,000 figure
on the project was simply a starting
point for the town hall project and it
could end up costing the
municipality a lot more than that.
While neither the Huron County or
the school board budgets have been
finalized yet, Michiels said that the
education budget is projected to be
lower than it was last year and the
Huron County budget increase was
hovering around 0.5 per cent.However, Huron East Mayor BernieMacLellan said the Huron Countybudget could rise as much as threeper cent, but he didn’t see it going
any higher.
However, he said that this was
going to be a crucial year for Huron
East and several other municipalities
like it in terms of budgetting and
saving.
MacLellan called this a “crunch
year” and said that when it came to
cutting the budget down and
eliminating projects, if he had to, he
didn’t mind “being the bad guy”.
Though there was lengthy
discussion surrounding the budget,
no final decisions were made and a
third draft of the budget will be
presented in April.
The flat roof above the upstairs
hall of the Blyth and District
Community Centre is going to get
some needed repairs thanks to one of
several recently announced Ontario
Trillium Foundation grant.
The project, which was included
in the North Huron 2012 proposed
budget, looks to replace a roof that,
when the community centre last saw
major renovations, somehow got left
off the bill.
“There are leaks through that
roof,” Director of Recreation and
Facilities Pat Newson said. “It’s a
priority project for the township and
something we definitely want to go
forward with.”
The renovations to the roof should
begin sometime this construction
season as the project is commencing
as soon as the funding is in place.
“We hope to have it finished
before the fall,” Newson said. “We
have to get the grant in place and
meet all the requirements, but we’re
having an architect in now to look at
the project.”
Newson stated that the project is
currently estimated at $110,000 and
that the grant is for $50,000 of that.
“That’s the most money we can
get for a project like this and it’s
what we requested,” Newson said.
“The grant application was sent in
late 2011.”
Other area recipients include the
following:
• The Brussels Agricultural
Society which received $22,400 over
three years to create a sustainable
farmers’ market to improve access to
locally grown food and increase
tourism to revitalize the village’s
downtown.
• The Air Cadet League of Canada
Port Elgin Squadron No. 340 R.C.
which received $23,800 to complete
renovations in the next year to the
organization’s facility to make it an
accessible training space for local
youth in the Saugeen Shores area.
• The Bluewater Rest Home
which received $33,900 over one
year to create an accessible entrance
to the hub of services designed to
meet the health and wellness needs
of seniors living independently in
the Zurich-area.
• The Bruce County Historical
Society which received $15,000 over
one year to publish and distribute
three history books that document
the heritage of the county in a visual
way.
• The Goderich Columbus Club
which received $51,800 over 18
months to increase the
organization’s capacity by hiring
part-time staff to administer daily
operations and address the needs of
people affected by the August 21
tornado in Goderich.
• The Walkerton Golf and Curling
Club which received $52,400 over
one year to provide affordable,
accessible curling activities to
residents by replacing refrigeration
equipment which will improve the
club’s ice and energy efficiency.
• The Township of Huron-Kinloss
which, as part of a collaborative
effort, will receive $51,400 over one
year to install an elevator at the
historic Lucknow Town Hall to
make it completely accessible and
increase community use.
• The Women’s Housing serving
Bruce and Grey which, as part of a
collaborative effort, will receive
$64,000 over one year to develop a
domestic violence awareness
campaign across the two counties
including posters, flyers and
billboards to include information
regarding the services Women’s
Housing provides.
For more information about the
Ontario Trillium Foundation, visit
www.trilliumfoundation.org/en
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By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Grant handed out
to Blyth arena