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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 27, 2011
Volume 27 No. 4
AGRICULTURE - Pg. 11Pork and beef producerspresent united front COURT - Pg. 17 Locals face charges inWingham courtSPORTS- Pg. 9Brussels Atoms sweepZurich to advancePublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Fire agreement
returns to ACW
MacLellan wants smaller council, no more wards
On the trails again
What would a Huron County winter be without snowmobiling? Thanks to a hearty helping of
the white stuff on Friday night and Saturday, snowmobilers were in heaven over the weekend
and the deep freeze certainly helped matters by packing the trails tight. These travellers
stopped in Blyth, but just for an instant at a stop sign before continuing on their way. (Jim Brown
photo)
After North Huron declined a
request for a new fire aid agreement,
councillors at Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh want to turn back the
clock and re-evaluate ACW’s
decision to decline North Huron’s
original fire protection agreement.
ACW Council originally turned
down the agreement because the
approximate $21,000 cost for fire
protection in and around Auburn
was more than three times their
previous costs.
Councillor Doug Miller, however,
thinks that this issue needs to be
resolved immediately.
“I think we need to go back and
look at the original North Huron fire
agreement,” he said. “What we’re
doing now is not adequate for the
people of Auburn.”
Miller went on to state that fire
protection is the most important
service that the township can
provide, bar none.
“We got into this position
originally due to cost,” Councillor
Barry Millian said in support of
Miller’s suggestion. “During the
research that we did, we were told
[our current system] would provide
Auburn residents with the same
level of coverage they have always
had, and that has been proved
wrong.”
Millian went on to state that their
original quote of a one to two minute
lag in calling in North Huron’s Blyth
fire hall under an aid agreement
would actually be four to six
minutes, and that isn’t acceptable in
his eyes.
“I was on the fire board, and I
know that a residential fire can
double in size every minute,” he
said. “Those extra minutes could
mean life or death.”
Millian went on to say he could no
longer, in good conscience, say to
Auburn residents that they were
receiving the same level of
protection they had received before.
“This is where we’re left, we have
New Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan thinks that Huron East
has successfully made it through
amalgamation and feels it’s time to
take the training wheels off,
abolishing the ward system and
cutting the size of council in half.
At Huron East Council’s second
strategic planning meeting this
month, Huron County planner
Sandra Weber reviewed a three-page
list of comments regarding the
municipality that came from
councillors themselves.
While many of the issues were
mainstays, a need to review the size
of council, as well as the ward
system, jumped off the page to many
councillors.
When it was time for discussion,
MacLellan admitted that those
thoughts were his, saying that he’d
like to see a six-or-seven-member
council in the future and the
formation of just two wards in
Huron East, the North Ward and the
South Ward.
A feasible dividing line between
the north and the south would be
Winthrop Road. This is the current
dividing line used to separate the
north and south patrols for the Public
Works Department.
MacLellan said that he felt the
number of councillors, as well as the
five-ward system was essential to
Huron East in the years proceeding
amalgamation, but now says he feels
they’re no longer necessary, because
of how far the municipality has
come in the past 10 years.
“I think we did a good job to get
rid of the boundaries,” MacLellan
said of council’s job in the post-
amalgamation era. “I’m
recommending a north and south
ward.”
MacLellan was blunt in saying
that council is “too big”, saying that
after lengthy discussion on issues,
the majority of council’s votes turn
out to be one-sided after the
discussion has been had.
MacLellan did have some support
from deputy-mayor Joe Steffler and
councillor Les Falconer, who agreed
that the number of councillors
should be investigated, but there was
also plenty of opposition to the idea.
‘We still cost less than the pre-
amalgamation government and I like
having the opinions of different
people on council,” said councillor
Bill Siemon. “We need two people
[per ward] at least in the rural
wards.”
Grey Ward councillor Dianne
Diehl agreed with Siemon, saying
that she didn’t think it would be
appropriate for one person to make
decisions for an entire ward.
“I have different opinions than
Alvin [McLellan, fellow Grey Ward
councillor] and that’s better than
having one person making decisions
for the whole ward,” she said.
Brussels Ward councillor David
Blaney agreed, saying that the initial
concept of amalgamation was meant
to reduce the amount of councillors
to lower costs and increase
efficiency. Neither of which, he said,
have worked as the result of the
provincial government concept.
“I would suggest that with a
municipality like this, with all of the
history that it has, both together and
separate, that we approach changing
something that works very
carefully,” Blaney said. “I just don’t
think reducing the size will make it
more efficient or cheaper. If
anything, it will probably cost more
money in the long run.”
To which, MacLellan responded
with, “Boy, could I respond”.
MacLellan, however, cut himself
off, saying that the reason for the
meeting was not to debate his
proposal, and that a special meeting
would have to be set up down the
road to discuss a potential change.
He suggested that an entire day be
dedicated to the subject on a
Saturday, or Sunday.
“We’re talking about something
that would impact the municipality
for the next four, eight, 12 years,”
MacLellan said.
Falconer, however, agreed with
MacLellan saying that the same job
could be done with fewer people.
“I think the honeymoon is over. I
think the ward system should go, but
I’m not sure about the number of
councillors,” he said.
McLellan said that while he was
not in favour of the mayor’s ideas,
that regardless of the outcome, that
the public should be brought in on
the process for such a big decision.
“If we’re going to downsize, the
public should have a say one way or
the other,” McLellan said. “I think
it’s good to have the different
opinions, even on this debate about
the size of council. It’s healthy.”
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Blyth native Erin Bolger’s success
with her cookbook and brand, The
Happy Baker, isn’t slowing down
any time soon.
Bolger received several pieces of
good news in the past few months,
including news that her own
webisode series will be launched in
February, and that her book, The
Happy Baker: A Dater’s Guide to
Emotional Baking (or A Girl’s
Guide to Emotional Baking as it is
known in the USA) was named one
of the best cookbooks of the year by
the New York Times.
Bolger joins culinary literary
heavyweights like media magnate
Martha Stewart, Italian cuisine
expert Mario Batali and California
cuisine pioneer Alice Waters on the
prestigious list.
“I was pretty darn happy about
that,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it
at all. For the New York Times to say
it was one of the best cookbooks of
2010, it made me a happy camper.”
Her webisodes, set to be released
on the Food Network
(www.foodnetwork.ca), will be
launching on Feb. 10, just in time for
Valentine’s Day.
Called The Happy Baker, the
webisodes are what Bolger hopes
will be another stepping stone in the
development of her brand.
“To have my own series online is a
big deal for me, it opens a lot of
great avenues,” Bolger said.
The series will feature 10 recipes,
half of them new and the other half
from the book.
“They’re pretty sassy and taste
great, especially the new ones,”
Bolger said.
Among the new additions is the
Happy Trails Mix Cookies, which is
about meeting the right person
according to Bolger, and her new
cheesecake recipe, Lost in
Translation Pina Colada.
“That was inspired by vacation
boyfriends that my friends have
had,” she said.
Bolger will be appearing on
Breakfast Television on CityTV on
Feb. 11 to promote the webisodes,
and will be producing one of the
recipes on air.
Everyone who sees it and likes the
Blyth native starts web series
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 18
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 14