HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-02-17, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011.
Wingham project
concerns businesses
in North Huron
OPP inspector says 2010 was challengingDan Grant, Detachment Co-
ordinator for the Huron OPP gave
what would be his final annual report
to Huron County Council on Feb. 9.
Grant, who will be retiring later
this month, reported on the state of
policing in Huron County,
highlighting both successes and
areas that need improvement and
outlining some plans for the future.
Grant began his presentation by
pointing out that 2010 had been a
difficult year for the detachment. In
addition to the detachment’s regular
challenges of policing Huron
County, Grant said the March
murder of OPP Const. Vu Pham took
its toll on the entire department.
Pham’s death, along with the
dispatch of several officers to the G8
and G20 summits and a high
turnover due to several officers
leaving the detachment, made 2010
one of the most challenging in
Grant’s time in Huron County.
Grant said that between retirement
and several officers moving on to
other opportunities and transferring
to different detachments, several
new officers had to be hired in Huron
County, leading to the loss of a
wealth of experience in area
policing.
Grant reported that total calls
throughout Huron County were on
the rise, but ever so slightly, running
from 14,604 calls in 2009 to 14,714
in 2010.
In 2010 there were just under
1,100 collisions throughout Huron
County, which was down
significantly from 2009.
Impaired Driving charges had
decreased in 2010. Those charges,
however, Grant said, are rathermisleading. He said that a highnumber in a category like ImpairedDriving can be a good thing. He said
the more charges are laid, the more
the OPP are doing their job, but on
the other hand, it is disheartening
because people are continuing to
drink and drive.
Grant reported that vehicle/deer
collisions came in just under 350,
which means that of the
approximately 1,000 collisions
throughout Huron County,
vehicle/deer collisions are over 30
per cent of the county’s total
collisions.
Grant said that he was hoping that
after he retired, discussions with
Dave Laurie, public works director
and a representative from the
Ministry of Natural Resources
would occur to help curtail the
vehicle/deer collision numbers.
Grant said he was extremely
pleased in the drop in domestic
disturbance calls. The number of
reported domestic disturbance calls
in 2010 was 231, which is down
drastically from 2009’s 380 and even
further down from 2008’s 408
calls.
Drug offenses in Huron County
are also down by approximately 40
offenses in 2010 compared to 2009
and charges for Mischief are also
down from 608 in 2009 to 542 in
2010.
Robberies were up slightly with
seven occurrences in 2010 compared
to four occurrences in 2009. Break
and Enters were down to 308 in 2010
from 364 in 2009 and Arson was
down to 10 in 2010 from 15 in 2009.
When he opened the floor to
questions, Grant was asked about the
new law governing distracted
driving and asking what was beingdone to control texting and driving inHuron County. Grant admitted that was one of themore difficult laws to enforce, butthat the OPP was looking into a month-long blitz similar to theirefforts on seatbelts and drunkdriving.
Between petitions, reports and
councillor requests, North Huron
Council’s first meeting of February
focused primarily on businesses and
how they will be affected by the
upcoming Josephine Street
reconstruction in Wingham.
The construction, which
represents the first major
restructuring of a commercial area
in North Huron since amalgamation,
saw council approaching decisions
that could set precedents for future
work.
The construction on Josephine
Street will limit commercial
opportunities by blocking off
parking on the main street, however
members of council and North
Huron Staff believe that businesses
will weather the inconvenience due
to planning put into the construction
schedule.
Ralph Campbell, Director of
Public Works for North Huron
explained that the construction
would be happening in small
sections of the street as to not cause
problems through the entirety of the
commercial core of Wingham.
Councillor Bernie Bailey,
however, isn’t as confident, and
wants the council to be proactive so
the community knows that the
municipality is aware of the
problems this will cause to
businesses.
“I think we should have the
Business Development Manger talk
to the retailers and talk to [Director
of Recreation and Facilities] Pat
[Newson] to determine the
availability of the [Wescast]
Complex for the summer and see if
some retailers want to work out of
it,” he said.
Bailey was informed by council
and staff that there had been
communication between the
business development office and the
retailers, and that there was a
committee to mitigate the problems
this will cause, however no one was
anxious to act on his idea of using
the complex as a temporary business
home.
Bailey stated that, as a business
person who has been through this
kind of interruption before, he
thinks council needs to be more
proactive, however he was
assured that this reconstruction will
be nothing like the last time
Josephine Street was being worked
on.
Council welcomed Jim Woodley
earlier in the evening, a business
owner in Wingham, who wanted to
know what kind of interruptions and
what kind of renovations he can
expect to the commercial corridor
on Josephine Street before he
commits to keeping his business in
the area.
Woodley left with promises of
future work and council’s word that
they wanted him, and all other local
businesses, to persevere through
these times.
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
London Bridge it ain’t
Mrs. Decker’s Grade 5/6 class at Blyth Public School built bridges on a budget to understand
architecture and managing expenses. The bridges, made from toothpicks and glue mostly,
were tested and some held more than three kilograms. Mrs. Decker (middle) added weights to
the bridge until it broke while students (from left) Amber Siertsema, Marielle Van Schaik, Brett
Fleming and Drew VanWyk looked on. (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen