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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2012-10-11, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012. PAGE 9. While Huron County Councillor John Grace appreciated a recent presentation by Business Development Co-ordinator Douglas Barill, Grace had some pretty harsh words for the county’s position on economic development. “The train on economic development has left the station and Huron County is not on that train,” Grace told councillors at their Oct. 3 meeting. Grace suggested that council spend some time at the Oct. 10 Committee of the Whole meeting discussing an economic development strategy to ensure thatHuron County wasn’t getting leftbehind. Grace said he didn’t want to wait to have the discussion and that steps and action needed to be taken as soon as possible. Warden Bernie MacLellan, however, suggested that while county staffing levels are at a minimum, that too much couldn’t be expected from the remaining members of the staff. MacLellan said that an issue like economic development, and really the future direction of the county, is not a problem that can be solved in a 15-minute conversation at a council meeting. He said that staff should be given time to prepare acomprehensive report and a strategicplanning session should be planned to discuss the report. He said that with staffing levels where they are, the earliest that a strategic planning session could be arranged would likely be early next year or possibly as late as the spring of 2013. After MacLellan spoke, Grace agreed with him, saying the discussion is too large to take place over a matter of minutes during a council meeting where other issues and time constraints loom. Grace just didn’t want to wait until spring, he said, for fear of falling even further behind the rest of the province in terms of economicdevelopment.“Everybody is ahead of us,” Grace said. “We need some urgency and waiting until the spring wouldn’t be prudent.” MacLellan said that the issue could be handed over to the staff and a report could be prepared as soon as possible, but he was leary of weighing them down at a time when staffing issues are a concern. Huron East’s Joe Steffler said that money needed to be dedicated to the economic development budget going forward and that it is a lot more important than a lot of the councillors have been treating it overthe years.“I hope Dave (Laurie, director of public works) doesn’t have anything sharp, but I think economic development is as important to this county as public works,” Steffler said. Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt, however, said that certain things needed to happen before those economic development discussions can take place. “I think we need to fast-track the hiring of a CAO (chief administrative officer),” he said. The issue was then referred to staff to prepare a report. Huron East will go through with a rain barrel study of its own in Vanastra and if it’s as successful as some councillors think it will be, it could be expanded to include the whole municipality. Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight’s initial recommendation was for council to provide a commitment of $10,000 in hopes of being granted up to $25,000 for the project from the Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund. Knight’s report stated that the fund could provide up to $25,000 for the project, which would pay for rain barrels for up to 275 residences in Vanastra. Knight’s recommendation was for the $10,000 commitment to come from Tuckersmith’s pre- amalgamation reserves. That recommendation, however, would be dropped and the money would be authorized to come from the municipality’s general reserves as Tuckersmith Ward councillors were left in the dark regarding the request. Tuckersmith Ward Councillor Larry McGrath stated immediately that he was not in favour of the money coming out of the reserves. Under the gentlemen’s agreement that had been made at the time of amalgamation, in order to utilize the pre-amalgamation reserves, both ward councillors would have to be in favour of the proposed use for the matter to even reach the voting stage. McGrath said he wasn’t told about the portion of the recommendation that suggested the money be withdrawn from the reserves. After hearing that, fellow Tuckersmith Ward Councillor Les Falconer also stated he was against the proposal, saying he was planning on supporting it, based on the fact that McGrath had been informed ahead of time. When he found out that was not the case, he withdrew his support. Mayor Bernie MacLellan said the idea behind the funding, both from the Community Fund and from the municipality was that the barrels, which sell for between $100 and $125 at local stores, could be provided to those in the community free of cost. MacLellan said he was hoping that the barrels would ease the burden on the municipal sewer system, while at the same time conserving rainwater that could be reused on lawns and the like. It would be a winning situation for everyone, he said. Councillor Bill Siemon was in favour of the program he said, but he was concerned with how the barrels would be distributed and in turn, what percentage of usage would be achieved in the program. In Wingham, several years ago, Siemon said residents had to pick up the rain barrels and usage was lower than councillors were hoping. MacLellan suggested that to avoid such a problem in Huron East, summer students could be hired to go to homes and install the barrels free of cost for the homeowner. As far as costs, MacLellan said that while the barrels sit on store shelves for over $100, if a municipality was buying several hundred of them at a time, he would think Huron East could get the barrels for about $50 each. Deputy-Mayor Joe Steffler said that Vanastra could be used as a test site for the project and that, if successful, the program could be expanded to include other communities such as Brussels, Egmondville and Seaforth. The motion to fund the project from the Tuckersmith reserves was never officially brought forward, but a motion to fund the project from the municipality’s general levy was carried. Huron East to purchase rain barrels for Vanastra Grace fears Huron County is being left behind Stories about storytelling Author Douglas Gibson was in Blyth late last month on the Memorial Hall stage telling stories about other authors he has known through decades in the Canadian literature world. He was on hand to speak and then sign copies of his book Stories About Storytelling. (Vicky Bremner photo) Down at the Legion The Blyth Legion welcomed the popular live comedy show “Down at the Legion” to Blyth late last month. The show graced the Memorial Hall stage with the Legion hosting a roast beef dinner beforehand. (Vicky Bremner photo) "! The Council of the Municipality of Central Huron is commencing the 2013 Budget Deliberations. Upcoming Budget meetings are as follows: Monday, October 15, 2012 Capital Plan Monday, October 29, 2012 Roads, Utilities, Fire, Environment, & Equipment Tuesday, November 13, 2012 General Government, Facilities, Recreation, Protective Services, & Economic Development Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Review of Consolidated 2013 Budget All Budget meetings listed above begin at 5:00 p.m. and will be held in the Council Chamber, REACH 169 Beech Street, Clinton, Ontario unless otherwise notified. Please check the municipal website for further details and postings as they become available. www.centralhuron.com Brenda MacIsaac, Clerk Municipality of Central Huron By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen #3 And We Try Harder Recent circulation figures for the 8 paid circulation newspapers serving Huron County show The Citizen has the 3rd highest circulation. The Citizen Proudly Community-Owned Since 1985