HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-05-17, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012. PAGE 11.
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Students from five different elementary schools visited what will become the Wingham
Campus of Maitland River Elementary Public School on May 8 to get to know their new
classmates. Similar meetings took place at Turnberry Public School and Hullett Central Public
School. Students at the Wingham Campus took turns planting their hand-prints on a banner
under the watchful eye of the principal of the yet-to-be-built school Alice McDowell, top left.
These five students are from the five different schools and got the ball rolling for thier
classmates. (Vicky Bremner photo)
After Huron County Council
decided to dissolve the Low
Frequency Noise Committee at a
recent meeting, Huron East Deputy-
Mayor Joe Steffler felt the issue
needed to be revisited.
At the May 9 Committee of the
Whole meeting of Huron County
Council, Steffler asked if council
could discuss the issue once again.
However, since it’s a motion that has
technically already been dealt with,
it would need to be raised back from
the floor, receiving a two-thirds
majority vote to re-examine the
topic.
Steffler said he wanted the
committee’s report, which has never
been officially viewed by members
of Huron County Council (the
committee was dissolved before the
report was presented) to be
presented to council and then
forwarded to the Ministry of the
Environment for comment.
Steffler officially made the motion
to re-examine the issue, but the
motion did not receive a seconding
vote, meaning the motion died
before there was even a chance to
vote on it.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
County Council
weighs in on plan
Despite it being the “11th hour
and 59th minute” Huron County
councillors had some comments on
the Huron Sustainability Plan
presented at the May 9 Committee
of the Whole meeting.
The plan, originally presented to
council in January, had received
nothing but positive comments in
the months following, said Director
of Planning and Development Scott
Tousaw.
Tousaw was hoping for passage of
the plan so Huron County can
pursue funding for various projects
over the course of the year.
“This will say Huron County has
its homework done and can apply
for funding,” Tousaw told
councillors.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
said that while he was bringing up
his issue at the “11th hour and 59th
minute” he felt the rural areas of the
county were perhaps being left
behind in the plan.
Ginn said that many communities
in the rural parts of the county are
self-sustaining, prefer not to have a
lot of government intervention and
are “communities” in the true sense
of the word, where they rely on one
another for help.
“These are people who tend to
take care of themselves,” Ginn said.
“There’s no value for them in this
document.”
Tousaw said Ginn’s comments
were fair, but that looking out for
rural residents is something that
would be dealt with on a project-by-
project basis. A lot of the concepts
for the people Ginn had mentioned
are entrepreneurial in nature.
Tousaw says the most important
initiative in the plan is the Make
Huron Home project, which
encourages immigration to Huron
County as the population continues
to fluctuate.
Every project in the plan,
however, is going to be viewed
through a lens of sustainability,
Tousaw said.
Goderich Mayor Deb Shewfelt
said it was a good report, however,
he felt that a lot of renewable energy
projects were being left out for
various reasons.
“I think it’s a little light on the
energy,” Shewfelt said. “There’s just
one little line about solar and that’s
it.”
Shewfelt said he sees green
energy as the future of the area and
if it’s being ignored, he sees that as
being a major problem.
“I see it as jobs for the future all
along this coast,” Shewfelt said.
Shewfelt suggested that the lack
of inclusion of renewable energy
and wind turbines could be because
of the suggested adverse health
effects some are associating with
wind turbines.
“There are two sides to every
story,” Shewfelt said of renewable
energy.
Shewfelt also said that the county
should potentially look into a post-
secondary institution of some kind,
as there isn’t one along Huron
County between Owen Sound and
Sarnia.
Bluewater’s Bill Dowson likened
the well-being of the county and the
economy to a pendulum swinging.
He said that just when things seems
fine, there is going to be another
“tsunami” coming.
Dowson said he didn’t want
agriculture to be forgotten in the
report, telling councillors to
remember that farming is still the
number one business in the county,
despite weather or commodity price
hardships that may come and go.
Central Huron’s Dave Jewitt and
Huron East’s Joe Steffler both
pointed out opportunities for post-
secondary education in their
municipalities, Jewitt reminded
councillors of the Regional Equine
and Agricultural Centre of Huron
(REACH) and Steffler of the award-
winning HealthKick program in
Seaforth.
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent
came back to the Provincial Policy
Statement, saying that it was
“stymieing” some in the county
from using their land in different
ways.
“With some of our nicest rivers,
people aren’t allowed to develop
them because of the Provincial
Policy Statement,” Vincent said.
Huron County Warden Bernie
MacLellan asked if there was any
plan to diversify the county’s
population as far as age is
concerned. Tousaw, however, said
there isn’t a lot planners can do to
change the age of those in the
county.
Tousaw said the plan will not be a
“closed document” and that it will
be an ongoing process that can be
changed at any time.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
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