HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-12-20, Page 1$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, December 20, 2012
New use approved for Belgrave school
County
finds its
new CAO
Let’s get working
The elves were hard at work earlier this week at North Woods Elementary School just outside of Ethel for the school’s annual
Christmas concert. This particular performance was the story of “The Elves and The Shoemaker” a story of a dedicated
shoemaker who unknowingly got a little help from an equally dedicated group of elves while he slept at night. Pitching in to help
the shoemaker are, from left: Griffin Marshall, Avery McCutcheon, Camden McNevan and Christopher Pennington. (Shawn Loughlin
photo)
An official plan amendment has
been granted by Huron County
Council that should allow a business
to move into the former East
Wawanosh Public School building
just outside of Belgrave.
While planner Sally McMullen
had put a lot of work into the
application, she said that from the
Huron County Planning
Department’s perspective, she
couldn’t support the amendment.
Despite the fact that the property
has been home to a school for the
last 40 years, it is in an agricultural
zone, meaning that an amendment
would have to be made. The
property was purchased by Henry
Van Heesch, owner of Euro-Parts, an
appliance parts dealer currently
situated in Lucknow.
McMullen said that if the property
was to remain agriculturally zoned,
but given a special provision, that
would allow the business to move in,
but the amendment would be made
only for that piece of property and
that business. If anything were to
change, so too would the zoning, she
told councillors.
McMullen pointed out that there
has been an “extraordinary effort”
made by Van Heesch to earn the
support of the property’s neighbours
and that all were in support of his
proposed land use. McMullen said
she only received one response and
it was from a neighbour who was
concerned about water use in the
future.
The letter read that while the
neighbour was in support of Euro-
Parts becoming a member of the
Belgrave community, he feared that
approving this amendment would
open the door to future amendments
for high water use businesses and
that could negatively affect
agriculture.
McMullen said, however, that she
couldn’t support the application
based on the Provincial Policy
Statement and its criteria for setting
up a business outside of a settlement
area. If a business owner wants to
start a business outside of the
settlement area, a certain number of
criteria have to be met, McMullen
said, and Euro-Parts doesn’t
necessarily meet them.
She said that while the business
won’t compromise specialty crop
areas, if there are alternate locations
which would avoid prime
agricultural areas, they would have
to be investigated before using a
property in an agricultural area, and
that, she felt, was not necessarily
met.
Van Heesch, however, had told
McMullen that he was looking for a
property with a building on it, and a
specific type of building: a one-
storey building with a large square
footage.
McMullen said that when Van
Heesch’s criteria are taken into
account, there are no other
alternatives, but that there are plenty
of vacant industrial properties that
North Huron has made available for
development.
McMullen then told council that
North Huron changed its official
plan slightly in order to
accommodate the property, but that
the planning department could not
be in support of it.
Van Heesch then asked to address
council and plead his case, saying
that it is currently a “very exciting
time” for his business.
“This is a real opportunity for us
to grow,” Van Heesch told
councillors.
He told councillors that he went
door to door talking to neighbours of
the school three times. He said he
first went and introduced himself
when he was planning on purchasing
the property. When he won the
property in an auction he returned to
tell them he was now the owner of
the property and then he returned a
third time to explain his intentions
with the property.
He said he has received a written
letter of support from every
landowner in the area (with the
exception of one who rents out the
Huron County has found its new
Chief Administrator and Deputy-
Clerk in Brenda Orchard.
It was announced on Friday that
Orchard will begin her time with
the county on Jan. 28, 2013. She is
currently the Chief Administrative
Officer (CAO) of Annapolis
County, Nova Scotia.
A press release issued by the
county on Friday says that Orchard
has spent the last 12 years in senior
municipal positions in New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The announcement came after a
special session of Huron County
Council on Friday, the same day
council was attending day two of its
Committee of the Whole meeting.
Orchard holds a BSc degree from
the University of Toronto with
majors in Quantitative Methods and
Environmental Science. She is also
a certified economic developer.
“We are very pleased with the
calibre of applicants for Huron’s
CAO position,” said newly-elected
Warden George Robertson in the
press release. “Twenty-two of the
45 applicants had significant
municipal experience and it was a
challenging process for the
Selection Committee to narrow the
field for presentation to county
council.”
Former CAO Larry Adams was
dismissed alongside former
Treasurer David Carey and Director
of Human Resources Darcy
Michaud earlier this year.
Adams was replaced on an
interim basis by Heather Adams,
who currently remains in the acting
CAO position.
“I am also pleased that Heather
Adams, who has so ably assisted
council and staff as interim CAO in
recent months, will be available to
advise Ms. Orchard on an as-
needed basis.”
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Fire negotiations
could begin soon
During the Councillor’s Reports
and Inquiries section of North Huron
Township’s last meeting of 2012 on
Monday night, Deputy-Reeve David
Riach stated he wanted to start fire
agreement negotiations with Morris-
Turnberry.
He proposed a motion that, after
some doctoring, was approved and
will result in North Huron Township
Council inviting their counterparts
from Morris-Turnberry to a
forecasted series of negotiation
meetings in the New Year.
Earlier this month Morris-
Turnberry issued an ultimatum to
Continued on page 11
Continued on page 40
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
CitizenTh
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