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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 5, 2012
Volume 28 No. 27
GRADUATION - Pg. 11‘The Citizen salutes itslocal graduates SPORTS - Pg. 28Local girl performs wellat national championshipAWARDS- Pg. 9Four locals take home Queen’sDiamond Jubilee awardsPublications Mail Agreement No. 4005014 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Council and staff members from
North Huron Township and the
Municipality of Morris-Turnberry
met at the Knights of Columbus Hall
at the North Huron Wescast
Community Complex on June 27 to
present their beliefs for fire
protection in a public, but not open
meeting.
While members of the public were
allowed to attend the meeting, there
was no public input permitted as it
was meant to be a forum for the two
councils to present their plans for
future fire protection and try to
negotiate some form of fire service
agreement at a later date.
North Huron Chief Administrative
Officer Gary Long explained that if
members of the public had questions
or statements regarding the meeting
they should submit them to their
respective council members rather
than taking questions from the floor
that night.
Representing North Huron
Township Council were councillors
Bernie Bailey, James Campbell, Ray
Hallahan, Brock Vodden and Alma
Conn as well as Long, Reeve Neil
Vincent, Deputy-Reeve David
Riach, Deputy Clerk Kathy Adams,
and Acting Fire Chief Keith
Hodgkinson and Deputy-Chief
David Sparling.
Morris-Turnberry’s represen-
tatives were Councillors Jaime
Heffer, Jamie McCallum, John
Smuck, Neil Warwick and David
Baker as well as Mayor Paul
Gowing, Deputy-Mayor Jason
Breckenridge and Administrator
Clerk-Treasurer Nancy Michie.
North Huron presented its
information first, reviewing their
budget as well as budgets from
Kingsville, Brockton and discussing
the practices of the North Perth Fire
Department; three fire departments
with similar builds to the Fire
Department of North Huron which
has two fire stations, one full-time
fire chief and one full-time fire
prevention officer.
Long explained that the
comparison with these fire
departments, specifically with
Kingsville and Brockton, was to
outline how much a compliant fire
department costs to run effectively.
North Huron’s fire protection
budget for 2012 totaled $954,645
while Kingsville’s and Brockton’s
budgets were $1,039,551 and
$983,432, respectively.
“We wanted to talk about
Brockton, North Perth and
Kingsville because they are meeting
the standards and providing the
highest level of fire protection,”
Long said.
Of North Huron’s fire service
budget, $313,000 was put into
reserves this year and subsequently
taken out to buy a new tanker for the
FDNH’s Blyth station.
Other highlights of the budget
included recently deceased Fire
Chief John Black’s annual salary of
$63,000, pay for the firefighters at
$92,000 which represents 11
firefighters on average attending 130
calls per year at an average of 2.5
hours on the scene at $26.40 per
hour.
Training costs close to $52,000
Eric Coates, the longest-serving
artistic director in the history of the
Blyth Festival, is stepping down at
the end of the current season.
Coates announced this week that
he has accepted the position of
artistic director of Ottawa’s Great
Canadian Theatre Company
(GCTC).
The current season is Coates’s
10th leading the Festival. He
succeeded Anne Chislett when she
stepped down after the 2002 season
and produced the 2003 season on his
own. The first play he directed as
artistic director was Having Hope At
Home by David S. Craig, which he
made part of his 10th season as well.
During his tenure the Festival
produced 28 world premieres. Some
of the most successful and
memorable include The Thirteenth
One by Denyse Gervais Regan, The
Ballad Of Stompin' Tom by David
Scott featuring the music of the
Canadian legend, the Governor
General’s Award-nominated
Reverend Jonah by Paul Ciufo and
Innocence Lost: A Play About
Steven Truscott by Beverley Cooper,
Closures balance budget: board
‘A number of issues’ raised at joint fire meeting
No more pencils, no more books
Grade 8 student Emily Mitchell (forefront) led the charge as the bell rang for the last time at Brussels Public School last Thursday.
For many students the bell signified the start of their summer vacation, while for many others it signalled the end of an era
decades old in Brussels. In the meantime, the Municipality of Huron East has purchased the school and is in the process of
creating a small business incubator in the building. (Denny Scott photo)
Coates
resigns
from
Festival
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 28
Years of school closures have
allowed the Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB) to balance
their budget, says the board’s vice-
chair.
Randy Wagler told trustees at their
June 26 that although difficult, the
AMDSB was able to balance its
2012-2013 budget thanks to its
practice of closing and merging
schools with low student numbers.
“While those have been difficult
choices I think they’re paying off in
our ability to maintain and enhance
in the face of budget cuts,” he said.
The board’s 2012-2013 budget
shows $4.7 million less in provincial
grants and allocations than they
received for the 2011-2012 year. The
total amount of grants and
allocations for this year will be
$193,678,640. Next year the board is
expecting $188,970,626.
The board balanced their almost
$200 million budget partly through
the elimination of 48 positions
across the board, including
administrators, teachers and support
staff. The AMDSB has 1,635
permanent, full-time equivalent
positions, as well as temporary staff.
Superintendent of business and
treasurer Janet Baird-Jackson said
that some of the eliminations came
from school mergers as well as
declining enrolment. She said the
effect on individual schools would
be proportional to how much of a
Continued on page 25
Continued on page 23
By Rita Marshall
Special to The Citizen