HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-09-13, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 13, 2012
Volume 28 No. 36
COUNTY - Pg. 31County staff on leave letgo early Tuesday morning BICYCLES - Pg. 34 Bicycles for Humanityreturns for third timeSPORTS- Pg. 13Area summer sports teamsare celebratedPublications Mail Agreement No. 4005014 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Huron County Council voted in
favour of reducing its membership
from 16 members to 15, but held off
on giving the bylaw its third and
final reading at the Sept. 5 meeting.
The recorded vote passed in favour
of the change with 12 votes for the
resolution and four votes against it.
The vote, however, did not take
place until numerous councillors and
members of the public had their say.
PUBLIC OPPOSITION
When Huron County Warden
Bernie MacLellan asked for
comment from the public on the
proposed changes to the composition
of Huron County Council, no one
spoke in favour of the change, while
several people spoke against it.
The first member of the public to
speak was Central Huron Councillor
and former Huron County
Councillor Brian Barnim. Barnim
had been outspoken about his
opposition to the changes since he
was first removed from council due
to the rule changes. His suggestions
would spark support from several
members of the gallery.
Barnim suggested that Huron
County Council consist of the heads
of council from each municipality
and that the municipalities that are
allowed a second representative have
that representative elected at large.
Barnim said that if the representative
was not on the lower-tier
municipality’s council, that person
could provide a different perspective
and would be more in touch with the
people of the municipality.
Barnim suggested that the second
representative could be elected on
the ballot just as a school board
trustee is. He suggested that this
process would eliminate a
redundancy that currently exists in
Huron County Council.
“Right now the deputies are
following the mayor and reeve
around. It’s a duplication of services,
you’re doing the same thing,” he
said.
Barnim said a system like his
suggestion would deter those with
part-time jobs looking for a
supplemental income, feeling that
being a Huron County councillor
would provide that second stream of
income from running.
“This would make people looking
for something to do with a decent
income choose something different,”
Barnim said. “You get better quality
at both tables.”
Barnim, however, acknowledged
that his theory might be “too much”
of a change for councillors to take.
In closing, Barnim said that
changing the composition of council
shouldn’t be about reducing costs,
but about better representation,
The former Blyth Public School
property, along with three other
school properties formerly part of
the Avon Maitland District School
Board (AMDSB), will be auctioned
off next Thursday.
According to Gardner Auctions
Inc. the auction will take place at the
school’s site at 4 p.m. on Sept. 20.
Pictures, terms of the auction and
floor plans are available at
www.gardnerauctions.com
The AMDSB is also auctioning off
the Stratford Student Services
Building at 10:30 a.m., Usborne
Central Public School at 12:30 p.m.
and Zurich Public School at 2 p.m.
that same day.
Viewings of any of the four
properties can be arranged by
appointment by calling 519-685-
2929 and the properties can be
viewed two hours before their
auction times on Sept. 20.
The former Blyth Public School
building is listed at 19,040 square
feet on a 3.51-acre property.
Morris-Turnberry and North
Huron Township Councils gathered
in North Huron Council chambers
along with representatives from the
Ontario Fire Marshal’s office for
what North Huron Reeve Neil
Vincent called a “fact-finding
meeting” on Thursday, Sept. 6.
Vincent started the meeting by
saying that, now in the third year of
the process, the creation of the
municipally-owned Fire Department
of North Huron was a learning
process and that things were still
being discovered.
Mayor Paul Gowing of Morris-
Turnberry stated that through a
meeting and discussion with the Fire
Marshal’s office, Morris-Turnberry
Council decided to investigate a
jointly-owned fire service. He stated
that Morris-Turnberry had no new
information to present since they
had made the suggestion at a
meeting held in the early summer
and that he was anxious to see what
information was available.
Gowing agreed with Vincent as
well, stating that this would be a
fact-finding endeavour for both
councils.
Fire Marshal’s Office Operations
Manager Dennis Gannon and Fire
Protection Advisor Paul Dow
presented information regarding not
only a jointly-owned fire
department, but also the
responsibilities of a municipality
when it both has its own fire
department and when it doesn’t.
(Dow and Gannon’s full
presentation is available on The
Citizen’s website at
www.northhuron.on.ca)
Gannon indicated that Morris-
Turnberry and North Huron would
not be the first municipalities to
jointly own a fire service after the
suggestion from the Fire Marshal to
disband local fire boards came
down.
Using Central York Fire Services,
a fire department that operates in
Newmarket and Aurora out of three
fire halls, as an example of
municipalities working together,
Gannon presented the gathered
municipalities with a possible role
model.
The fire service has existed for 10
years thanks to the foresight of the
municipalities creating it, according
to Gannon. The two municipalities,
despite the fact that Aurora had less
initial capital, less population and
less assessment value than
Newmarket, gave each other equal
representation on the board that
governs the system.
Each municipality has two
councillors serve as board members
and the chair and vice chair alternate
between the two municipalities to
insure fair and equal representation.
The budget is determined and
approved by both municipalities and
is paid for using an equation that
takes three different values into
account; the total assessment of each
individual municipality versus the
total assessment of both
municipalities, the total population
of each individual municipality
versus the total population of both
municipalities and the total calls, in
the previous year, for emergency
response in each municipality versus
the total emergency response calls
for both municipalities.
Unfortunately, as was pointed out
by councillors and Fire Department
of North Huron staff, the example
isn’t perfect.
Deputy Chief David Sparling
School property up for auction
Councillors vote on Huron County composition bylaw
Temperatures rise
at joint fire meeting
Getting their attention
Steve Scott from Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh put his skills on display over the weekend for
the annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association. Scott was one of
the main attractions on Friday, student activity day, as area students were impressed with what
Scott could do with a chainsaw. In addition, he took time with the students, answering
questions and even carving their initials into discarded pieces of wood for them to take home
as a keepsake from the weekend. For more pictures from the reunion, see pages 6-7 or visit
The Citizen’s website at www.northhuron.on.ca (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 27
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 31