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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, April 26, 2012
Volume 28 No. 17
FIRE - Pg. 14Councillors says ‘no’ tocounty-wide fire service ART SHOW - Pg. 23 Locals honoured atHuron County Art ShowSPORTS- Pg. 9Hockey Association honoursfallen former playersPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Huron East approves 3.5 per cent tax increase
Black’s passing
shakes community
Pitching it out to pitch in
Members of Blyth Public School visited several sites throughout Blyth on Monday, April 23 to
clean up the community as part of a late Earth Day (April 22) celebration. Here Grade 3,4 and
5 students were busy cleaning up the Lions Park to keep the Earth clean and healthy. (Denny Scott
photo)
Huron East Council approved a
tax increase of just over 10 per cent
for the municipality, and 3.5 per cent
overall, after a lengthy debate at the
April 17 meeting.
The increase is nearly double what
was being proposed by Treasurer
Paula Michiels, who brought the
fourth draft of the budget to the
meeting with a 6.77 per cent
increase proposed to the general levy
and a 5.92 per cent increase
proposed for the municipal levy.
Combined with a minimal
increase of one per cent at the Huron
County level and proposed decreases
to the education levies (they have yet
to be finalized), Huron East
residents are looking at an average
increase to their total tax levy of 3.5
per cent. Michiels’ original fourth
draft of the budget included a total
tax increase of 2.11 per cent, which
council decided to increase.
As a result of the increase, council
will place just over $65,000 in the
municipality’s equipment reserve,
leaving an additional $100,000 in
general surplus.
With the impending hiring of a
facilities manager and extensive
repairs needed at the Vanastra
Recreation Centre, the decision has
been made to leave the $100,000 in
the general surplus until the hiring
has taken place, as the money may
go toward urgent facilities projects
identified by the newly-hired
manager.
“We’ve nickel-and-dimed
ourselves to death,” MacLellan said
after proposing the 3.5 per cent
increase. “We’ve never left ourselves
with much left.”
MacLellan mentioned Huron
County Council’s potential plan of
approximately a three per cent
increase each year for the next 15
years in order to stay on top of
bridge and road repairs, saying
that a string of consistent, yet
minimal, increases should keep the
county “very viable” for years to
come.
Deputy-Mayor Joe Steffler agreed
with MacLellan, saying that the
municipality’s reserves had to be
built up, as it would soon turn into a
“pay me now or pay me later”
situation.
Steffler said the municipality’s
reserves need to be looked at as a
savings account that council needs to
“keep level” over the years.
Councillor David Blaney didn’t
speak against the increase, but he
said the attitude surrounding the
municipality’s reserves needed to
change.
Blaney said that once money is put
into reserves, it carries with it a new
attitude all of a sudden, that it
shouldn’t be spent under any
circumstances, but that Steffler was
right, the reserves should be looked
at like the municipality’s savings
account.
“It’s looked at like we’re spending
what we don’t have, which is not
right,” Blaney said. “We’re using our
own money.
“It’s having money available when
you need it, and this year I think we
need it.”
While some councillors felt the
increase was going too far at a time
when people want to see minimal tax
rate increases, Councillor Bob
Fisher said council wasn’t putting
enough money in reserves this year
and said he would support and even
higher increase.
MacLellan said that the
municipality has planned to put
$250,000 into the public works
department equipment reserve and
$100,000 into the fire reserve on an
annual basis. However, when those
annual contribution levels were set,
MacLellan said, it was at a time
when the municipality had a lot of
old equipment. As items have been
replaced, he said, the equipment
demand hasn’t been quite as great.
Director of Public Works Barry
Mills, however, said it is nearly a
guarantee that between $200,000
and $310,000 will be used on a large
equipment purchase for the Public
The village of Blyth and
Emergency Services Training
Centre (ESTC) will host a memorial
service for the late Fire Department
of North Huron Chief John Black on
April 28 at 1 p.m.
The service will start at the Blyth
and District Community Centre
where the fallen firefighter funeral
procession will start out from the
community centre at 1:30 p.m.
going south on Gypsy Lane and will
turn on to Blyth Road and then
travel to the ESTC where a service
will be held.
Black passed away on April 17,
less than a week after announcing he
was taking a medical leave from his
position of Fire Department of
North Huron (FDNH). The medical
leave was due to the reappearance of
a cancer that Black had faced and
beaten in 2010. Black’s second
occurrence of cancer was discovered
after Black took ill with a severe
case of influenza earlier this year.
Black was hired three years ago
with the mandate of running the
newly-formed FDNH and making it
legally compliant.
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent
stated Black’s professionalism
followed him even into his medical
leave and, because of that, the
FDNH can continue to run while the
township says goodbye to a man
with “unquestionable dedication”.
“The way John was saw that
everything was planned for,”
Vincent said. “That’s just how
professional he was. The dedication
he had was well above and beyond
what anyone could ask for.”
The job Black was hired for,
according to Vincent, was one that
could lead to some conflicts but he
felt that, as fire chief, Black made
quick friends with those willing.
“Some people may have felt that
sometimes he acted too much by the
book,” Vincent said. “He was here to
do a job and he did it and he made
fast friendships with people in the
fire service.”
Having to achieve complete legal
compliance wasn’t an easy task for
Black to accomplish, Vincent said.
Especially not while trying to keep
taxes low in the township, however,
he said Black performed admirably.
“His dedication to making the fire
department compliant was
unquestionable,” he said. “Even
when we knew it would be bumpy
and we’d face criticism, John did
everything we asked of him.”
Two days after Black’s passing,
and a week after the announcement
of his medical leave, Vincent said he
found himself talking to someone at
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 10
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Out of respect to John Black, the
North Huron Fire Chief who passed
away earlier that day, Morris-
Turnberry councillors decided, at
their April 17 meeting, to postpone a
public meeting on a Morris-
Turnberry fire service.
The meeting had been scheduled
for May 10 to allow the public to get
more information and ask questions
about a proposal for the
municipality to set up its own fire
service and pull out of agreement
with North Huron.
“I personally feel it would not be a
good thing [to proceed with the
meeting],” said Mayor Paul Gowing.
“I agree we should postpone it, but
we are tight for time,” said Deputy-
Mayor Jason Breckenridge.
Councillors asked Nancy Michie,
administrator clerk-treasurer, to look
into options for a date later in May
when the meeting could be held.
That date will be decided at the May
1 council meeting.
Council also voted to send a
memorial tribute to Chief
Black.
Council briefly discussed,
following a question from
Councillor Jamie Heffer, the idea of
seeking the assistance of an
arbitrator in an attempt to settle its
dispute with North Huron.
Gowing said he couldn’t see the
process working unless the
arbitrator’s ruling would be binding.
With the difficulty of making that
work, and the potential cost of
hiring an arbitrator, councillors
decided to drop the idea.
M-T postpones fire meeting
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
Continued on page 12