The Citizen, 2012-05-24, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, May 24, 2012
Volume 28 No. 21
APPLES - Pg. 11Orchards devastated bystrange weather FIRE - Pg. 16No room to move in firebudget says North HuronSPORTS- Pg. 8F.E. Madill track teamcleans up at meetPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Cranbrook resident sees property values falling
$15,000 donated
to Mounsey Fund
from ‘Canada Sings’
Exciting exercise
Students at Hullett Central Public School got to spend their Friday afternoon before the long
weekend enjoying the outdoors, exercising and doing it all for a good cause when they took
part in the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart event on May 18. Shown are,
from left, Chloe Elliott, Sydney Hunking, Collin Wilts and Avery Whyte. (Denny Scott photo)
After a presentation by Cranbrook
resident Dennis Mueller, Huron East
could be considering a property
values bylaw in the near future.
Mueller made a lengthy
presentation to Huron East Council
on May 15 detailing extensive
research he had done on the
correlation between wind turbines
and property values in the
community that hosts them.
Mueller said he and plenty of
other Cranbrook-area residents are
concerned with the proposed
transmission line to be built right
through Cranbrook.
He said that if council were to
enact a bylaw that protected Huron
East residents from plummeting
property values associated with
wind turbines, it could possibly be a
bylaw that could stand up in court.
Several members of council,
however, having just gone down this
road with a proposed health and
safety bylaw, were not quite as
convinced.
Mueller said he had research that
showed communities hosting wind
turbines have seen their property
values to go down as much as 20 per
cent and homes very close to
turbines have seen their values go
down as much as 40 per cent.
Some councillors remained
cautious, however, saying that none
of them had heard about the
Municipal Properties Assessment
Corporation reducing properties’
assessment already due to wind
turbines.
Mueller said the impact of wind
turbines going forward may “shock”
councillors and the Community
Vibrancy Fund being discussed by
NextEra Energy that would pay the
municipality $65,000 per year for
the next 20 years wouldn’t even
come close to covering the financial
impact turbines will have on the
area.
Mueller called the fund a public
relations plot.
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan said Mueller’s comments
had some merit because he brought
something in writing, including
comments on property values from
After a stellar performance on the
May 15 episode of Global’s Canada
Sings, the OPP team was defeated by
the team from WestJet, but the OPP
team did not come home empty-
handed.
A team of OPP officers and
dispatchers participated in the
competition and chose the Dave
Mounsey Memorial Fund as their
charity. And while the team came up
just short against their competition
from WestJet, the Fund was still
awarded $15,000 for its trouble, a
$5,000 consolation prize from the
program and a $10,000 donation
from WestJet.
The Dave Mounsey Memorial
Fund was first created two and a half
years ago, named after fallen OPP
officer Dave Mounsey of Blyth, who
was killed in a single vehicle
collision while on his way to a call.
Executive Director and founder of
the Fund Patrick Armstrong was in
the audience Tuesday night for the
performances and said he didn’t
know he and Mounsey’s parents
were going to be as big a part of the
program as they were.
Armstrong, among others, was
featured in a background segment on
Mounsey and the Fund, but
Armstrong and Mounsey’s family
members were interviewed live at
the show Tuesday night as well.
“It was really exciting,” Armstrong
said. “I’ve never done a live taping
before.”
Armstrong said he thought they
would just be in the audience
watching the performance, but when
he and Mounsey’s family arrived,
they seated them right in the front of
the theatre.
“I thought we were just going to
be part of the audience tucked away
at the back,” Armstrong said. “But
they put me right in front with
Dave’s parents.”
Armstrong said he was
“speechless” when he found out that
WestJet had decided to donate an
additional $10,000 to the Fund, even
though the OPP team had failed to
win the competition, which would
have secured a $25,000 prize for the
Fund.
He said that he finds it difficult to
speak for Mounsey, but he likes to
think that if Mounsey can see what
has gone on since his death, he
would be happy, not just that
something is continuing on in his
name, but that defibrillators are
being placed all over Ontario to help
people and keep them safe.
When Armstrong began his time
with the OPP, he was partnered with
Mounsey, who showed him the
ropes. The pair were part of several
memorials for fallen police officers
and Armstrong knew that
remembrance was a big part of
Mounsey’s life.
“I think Dave would be overjoyed
to see this in his name, but also
honouring fallen police officers,”
Armstrong said.
Armstrong first found out that the
Fund would be featured on the
program when its previous president
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 10
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
The Huron County Plowmen’s
Association has set its sights on
hosting the 2017 International
Plowing Match. It would be the fifth
IPM held in Huron County, should
the association’s bid be successful.
The year 2017 marks the 100th
IPM held in Ontario. It is also the
150th anniversary of the
confederation of Canada.
The possible dates for the event
are September 19 to 23 in the fall of
2017. However, before that comes
the bidding process. The committee
needs to find candidate hosts and
locations by July. The section
process is a joint venture between
the Huron Plowmen’s Association
and the Ontario Plowmen’s
Association.
The Huron County Plowmen are
currently looking for three candidate
sites. The sites need to meet a set
criteria. There has to be access to
three-phase hydro and easy access
for visitors to attend the match. The
land must be suitable for the
appropriate uses and located on or
near a paved road.
The first IPM was held in 1913 at
Sunnybrook Farm in Toronto, York
County. There were no IPMs held in
1918 and from 1942 to 1945.
The last time the IPM was held in
Huron County was in 1999 in
Dashwood. It has also been held in
Port Albert, Wingham and Seaforth.
Huron County has always been
well represented over the years in
matches held across the province in
competitive plowing competitions
and Queen of the Furrow
contests.
Anyone interested in more
information on Huron’s bid for the
2017 International Plowing Match is
asked to contact Barry Gordon at
519-902-7721.
By Ursina Studhalter
The Citizen
Huron to bid for 2017 IPM
Continued on page 10