HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-09-20, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2012.
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Council, requires a triple majority to pass.
The triple majority would consist of a
majority of Huron County councillors
voting in favour of the program, as well as
a majority of lower-tier municipalities. The
lower-tier municipalities that vote in
favour of the program must comprise a
majority of the county’s residents
in order to achieve a triple majority
vote.
MacLellan said the goal is to obtain the
triple majority vote by the fall and have the
staff and programming in place soon after.
The goal is to have the program up and
running by spring of 2013.
Between the evening of Sept. 13 and the
morning of Sept. 15 unknown suspects
forcibly entered the Blyth United Church
through a north side window, taking
several items worth approximately $3,500
says the Huron OPP.
Some of the items that were stolen are a
black Lenco portable projector and
monitor, a Dell laptop computer, a black
Toshiba laptop computer, a black audio
amplifier and a black “Splashworks” duffle
bag.
Anyone with information on the incident
is encouraged to call the Huron OPP at 1-
888-310-1122 or 519-524-8314 or Crime
Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
HE votes down program
Break-in at Blyth United
Running for Terry
The annual Terry Fox Run was held in Brussels on Sunday with
perfect weather conditions. Brianne Oldridge, left, and Kristen Pipe,
were out enjoying the run and raising money for cancer research at
the same time, while Gary Pipe is just behind the pair of girls. (Vicky
Bremner photo)
County retires page program due to lack of interest
The end of the year will
officially mark the end of an
era as the honourary position
of the page at Huron
County Council will be
discontinued.Years ago, severalcouncillors recalled at the
Sept. 12 Committee of the
Whole meeting, the page was
responsible for handing out
paper reports and walking
from speaker to speaker with
council’s one microphone.However, with the majority ofcouncil’s documents now
paperless and every
councillors equipped with his
own individual microphone,
the page’s duties have
decreased greatly over the
years.In a report prepared byClerk Barb Wilson before she
resigned, she stated that in
December of 2010, when
council went paperless, that
decision eliminated the only
remaining task for the page.
In her report, Wilson saidshe contacted 12 othercounties throughout Ontario
and none of them used a page
any longer.
Her report also stated that
while there was a lack of
duties for the page to
complete, that wasn’t the only
thing lacking for a page at a
council meeting.
“Many of the pages come
ill-prepared for the meeting
and due to their lack of
interest appear very bored,”
she said.
Wilson suggested that if
council wanted to continue
the page program that perhaps
an essay contest could be held
and winners could be chosen
from the contest participants.
While councillors said they
were sad to see the program
go, they couldn’t offer up anyreasons for it to continue.Howick’s Art Versteeg said
he supported the
recommendation to
discontinue the program, but
“with regret”.
Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt
said that while the page
program should be
discontinued due to a lack of
interest, perhaps group visits
could be arranged with
county schools for classes to
attend a meeting to learn
about municipal politics and
their local representatives.
“I hate to see it go,” said
Bluewater’s Bill Dowson.
Council decided to
continue the page program
until the end of the year, when
it will be officially
discontinued.
Warden term extension considered
While no official decision
was made at the Sept. 12
Committee of the Whole
meeting, Huron County
Council voted to move to the
next stage of implementing a
two-year term for the warden
position.
The vote was passed on
Sept. 12, but the vote was
only to go ahead with a public
meeting where ratepayers
may come and speak their
mind on the topic.
“We’re just voting on
having a public meeting and
then having a vote,”
Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt
said. “The public needs to
speak on it.”
Bluewater’s Paul Klopp,
however, was confused,
saying council should present
the public with council’s
point of view and then ask
members of the public if they
agree or not. He didn’t want
to leave it open-ended for the
public by not telling members
of the public where council
stands.
Members of council,
however, informed Klopp that
council has a position and that
decision was made at a
meeting where Klopp was
absent.
A motion was made that
council endorses the
recommendation made by
consultant George Cuff in his
report on governance. The
recommendation stated that
the term of warden should be
at least two years, if not three
or four years. Council,
however, several
months ago passed a
motion recommending
a two-year term. It
would not become
official until a public meeting
has been held and another
vote has been taken.
The motion to proceed to a
public meeting and then vote
on the future of the warden’s
term was carried. The public
meeting will take place in the
near future.
If passed, the two-year term
of warden would be brought
in for 2014 after the
municipal election in the fall.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen