The Citizen, 2011-04-14, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011. Hundreds support REACH at budget meeting
Looking for local heroes
There are so many people out there who do
so much to improve their community.
Now you have a chance to say thanks.
Nominate that special person for the 26th
Annual Citizen Citizenship Awards.
Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of the Blyth and area
and Brussels and area communities to receive an award for contribution to the
community. If you know someone you think should be honoured, please fill in the ballot
and send it in. You may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee
should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and he or she didn't win,
please feel free to try again.
I nominate
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I feel she/he deserves this award because
Nomination Deadline April 30, 2011.
Name and phone number of nominator
❑Blyth
& area ❑Brussels
& area
Continued from page 1the kind of money it would take tokeep the centre running over the nextthree years. He took several factors
into account, including shortfalls
from the REACH fundraising
budget. He said that for 2011,
bottom line contribution numbers
would have to be in the
neighbourhood of over $650,000,
with numbers of $972,000 in 2012
and just over $1 million in 2013.
“This is not peanuts and they’re
not meant to discourage,” Metzger
said. “But it takes, big, big money to
pull this off.”
After Director of Finance Terri
Taylor’s presentation of the budget,
the floor was opened for questions
and comments from the public, and
what followed was an outpouring of
support for REACH, predictably,
according to REACH critics, largely
from out-of-towners who have made
their way to the centre for one reason
or another in the past.
Supporters had come from as far
as two and three hours away in order
to speak in favour of the centre and
even make recommendations as to
how the centre could be bettered to
attract more shows and more riders.
The main suggestion was a barn
where horses could be stored.
Several speakers spoke to this need,
saying that a barn is the only thing
keeping REACH from taking the
next step and becoming an elite
destination in the horse and
agricultural community.There were other local supporters,however, who had knowledge ofrural small businesses, saying that it
is unrealistic to expect profitability
from REACH at the present time.
One speaker said that in order for a
business to be self-sufficient, it will
often take five years and REACH is
nowhere close to that number.
And while the figures for revenue
and costs to the Central Huron
ratepayer were compared, there were
also other figures to consider, as
several speakers alluded to.
Joe Scully, a rodeo announcer who
had first been to REACH just weeks
ago, spoke in support of the centre,
saying that the full economic impact
of the centre can’t be considered
without taking into account funds
that are spent at local businesses.
He said that, approximating the
numbers, hundreds of thousands of
dollars had been generated for the
Clinton area over the weekend he
was here for a high school rodeo
event.
In addition, there were two young
female students who are currently
enrolled at REACH’s Performance
Horse Handler program, who stood
up for their school, estimating that in
addition to tuition and rent, over
$75,000 is infused into the
community per year by REACH
students.
Estimating that each student spent
$100 per week in Clinton, a class of
24 students would spend $2,400 in
Central Huron each week, equating
to just under $10,000 per month and
$76,800 for the eight months that
students are in Clinton. Estimated
rent costs also equated $4,000 per
student, per year.
Carol Dutot saw it a different way,
however. Dutot, an outspoken critic
of REACH, says that while she has
been around horses her whole life
and finds the centre’s facilitiesbeautiful, there is a serious lack ofaccountability and transparency inthe municipality’s dealing with
REACH.
Dutot said that while she was
happy that people were enjoying the
centre, that people had to be realistic
about costs and she, and other
Central Huron ratepayers, were left
to pay the bill while users pay just $5
or $10 to ride or $2 to walk their
dog. She said that large costs are left
for ratepayers, while further research
into REACH operations is
impossible because as a private
enterprise, their books are closed.
Dutot said that if the centre’s users
are so enthusiastic about the centre
and its place in the municipality, that
they should “step up to the plate”
with a donation cheque to help
shoulder the burden of costs.
“We don’t have enough money to
pave roads so you can get here,”
Dutot said. “I’m donating every day
with my tax dollars and you’re not.
Users have to step up to the plate and
pay for [the centre].”
Dutot reiterated that she wanted to
see accountability and transparency
at the centre with REACH asking for
hundreds of thousands of taxpayer
dollars.
There were others who were
critical of REACH and its practices.
When one REACH user stated that
the centre needs a barn to further its
potential, she stated that the cheapest
horse in her barn was worth $12,000
and many people with horses worth
similar amounts wouldn’t be willing
to stable the horses in a barn that
they felt uncomfortable with. This
comment was met with a comment
from the audience asking “who
cares?”
After the discussion surrounding
the costs and the potential addition
of a showbarn, Metzger reiterated
that the costs he had presentedearlier in the meeting did not includethe addition of a showbarn. He saidthat if users wanted to add a barn
above and beyond what was already
at REACH, those costs would have
to come from another area.
Metzger said that another topic
that would hopefully be discussed at
council’s meeting with REACH
representatives would hopefully help
mend the “disconnect” between
Central Huron residents and the
users of REACH. He said that many
residents have never even been to the
centre and he hopes that will change
in the future.
There was some confusion as to
why the municipal budget meeting
had been turned into a debate
concerning the importance ofREACH, as demonstrated byCouncillor Dan Colqhoun, who saidthat the remaining budget
discussions surrounded a $120,000
paving project (Telephone Road)
and not necessarily REACH’S place
in the community.
“We can’t afford to pave
anything,” Colquhoun said. “Don’t
try pushing us.”
To conclude the meeting, Ginn
stated that the entire municipal
budget, has been a challenge in
trying to keep everyone happy,
especially when it came to ongoing
negotiations with REACH.
“It’s a balancing act. We have a lot
of balls in the air,” Ginn said. “But
we will work this out.”
Municipality of
Huron East
2011 Budget
Notice is hereby given that the
2011 Huron East Budget
will be considered by Council on
April 19th, 2011 at 7:30 pm.
A brief budget synopsis is available
on the Huron East website.
www.huroneast.com
Complete copies of the budget document
will be available in the Municipal Office by
April 15th, 2011
J.R. McLachlan, Clerk-Administrator
County
approves
budget
Continued from page 1
services from the province.
He said that it would be
irresponsible for council to yo-yo
residents like that. He said that
every councillor knew that costs
were going up, so to implement a
low increase this year, would just
mean a high increase next year.
Huron East’s Bernie MacLellan
agreed, saying that while there were
suggestions that the proposed tax
increase would be irresponsible, he
felt quite the opposite, saying that a
steady increase that people can
budget for is the most responsible
action council can take.
Klopp said that while he
understood the concerns of Van
Diepenbeek and other councillors,
he felt that the three straight
increases of 20 per cent in the 1990s
were the result of extraordinary
circumstances where millions and
millions of dollars of programs were
downloaded. Klopp said that there
wasn’t going to be that type of
downloading in subsequent years,
so a tax spike shouldn’t occur, even
if a low increase was implemented
this year.
Huron County Treasurer Dave
Carey said that under the proposed
tax rate of 2.74 per cent, the Huron
County portion of a tax bill should
go up $20.66 for the year.
Prior to the budget talks, it was
decided that $6,000 would be given
to the Coalition for Huron Injury
Prevention (CHIP) to facilitate its
2011 budget. Carey said that $6,000
would have to be factored in at a
later date, changing the final budget
by a slight margin.
The budget passed by 15 votes for
the budget and four votes against it.
The vote was recorded with just
Shewfelt, Hessel, Klopp and Grace
voting against the budget in its
current form.