HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-06-23, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, June 23, 2011
Volume 27 No. 25
SCHOOL - Pg. 16Blyth principal to headnew school in Wingham BIA - Pg. 20 North Huron Councilapproves of BIA conceptPROMOTION- Pg. 10Knox United’s Murray madechair of H-P PresbyteryPublications Mail Agreement No. 4005014 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
For the first time in over a decade,
Huron County may have a warden
who hails from Huron East.
While it first crossed his mind in
2002, Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan put his name forward to
be warden at Huron County’s
Committee of the Whole meeting on
June 15.
MacLellan said he has had
confidence shown in him for years
by his fellow councillors and since
taking over the position of mayor in
Huron East, he now has the time to
expend. Despite considering running
for the position as early as nearly 10
years ago, MacLellan knew at the
time that he didn’t have the time to
commit to the position.
Things are different now though,
he says, with cutting back some of
his personal and career
commitments he knows he’ll have
the time to commit now.
“When I took on the mayor
position, I dropped some of the
commitments I used to have and I
backed out of coaching hockey,” he
said.
MacLellan says that while he
dropped some of his personal
commitments and had a
conversation with the employees at
the business he owns, he found that
his life wouldn’t have to change too
much. He says he trusts in his staff
and knows that he won’t be around
as much as he is now, should he be
elected to the warden’s chair.
“I had a tough talk with my staff
and essentially asked them if they
could run things for a year while I
was gone,” he said.
MacLellan said he feels confident
in his ability to chair meetings of
Huron County Council and to move
them along in a timely fashion, but it
was really the confidence in him
shown by his fellow councillors that
propelled him forward into making
this decision.
Over the last 10 years, MacLellan
said, councillors have been asking
him to chair committees and have
mentioned that he should run for
warden and that confidence has
meant a lot to him.
“I’ve been nominated by my peers
a lot at the Huron County level,” he
said. “I take that as a vote of
confidence.”
In addition, MacLellan says, while
a warden has to remove his
municipal hat and think of Huron
County as a whole, he felt more than
enough time had passed since a
warden came from Huron East.
“I thought it was about time I
stepped up,” he said. “I’ve been at
county council for 11 years and in
that time there hasn’t been a warden
from Huron East.
“I think it will be a good thing for
Huron East to have someone step up.
Hopefully it will help to put us on
the map.”
While no one else has declared
their intention to challenge
MacLellan for the spot this fall,
there are still several months for
councillors to declare their intention
to run for the position.
Blyth Farmers’ Market opens for
its eighth season, Saturday afternoon
with several new vendors expected
to take part.
The market is held on Dinsley
Street West and will run from 1-4:30
p.m. each Saturday until Sept. 3.
Market co-ordinator Keith
Roulston said that new vendors have
expressed interest in being part of
the market so he hopes to have some
new faces and more variety this
year.
The market grew out of a
successful one-day experiment in
August 2003. Favourite vendors of
regular market shoppers including
Noah Stutzman (vegetables and
baking) and Steele Wool Farms
(lamb and woolen products) will be
back for the season.
The market is still seeking new
vendors and anyone interested can
call Keith Roulston at 519-523-4792
(days) or 519-523-9636 (evenings
and weekends).
The proposed new public school in
Wingham has passed two of its final
barriers with North Huron Council
approving the Avon Maitland
District School Board’s site plan
in a recorded vote during a
special council meeting on June 13
and the withdrawl of Bob Pike’s
appeals.
Councillors Brock Vodden of
Blyth and Ray Hallahan of East
Wawanosh voted against the
proposed site plan, however all other
members of council voted for it in
the 5-2 approval.
During Chief Administrative
Officer Gary Long’s report to
council during Council’s regular
meeting on June 20, he advised
council that Pike had withdrawn his
Ontario Municipal Board (OMB)
appeals and that the school board
and township staff would begin
working towards a final building
layout and development agreement
to get the school build started as
soon as possible.
Long reported that Pike had sent a
letter to the school board that stated
he officially withdrew his appeals
regarding such issues as increased
traffic in the area and that a copy of
that letter had been sent to the
OMB case manager in charge of the
file.
“This is good news for a number
of reasons,” Long stated. “There is
still a lot of work to do with the
school board, but getting the OMB
appeal out of the way will allow this
development to proceed in Wingham
and in North Huron.”
In the meantime, according to
Long, the school board will
be working with township staff
and consultants to refine the site
plan.
“This is good news for the
municipality,” he said “I think
parents and children and teachers are
pleased that we can move ahead and
continue to work with school
engineers.”
Long also stated that the adjacent
Willis properties may see
development because of this
approval.
“There has been considerable
interest in the Willis properties, both
the commercial in Morris-Turnberry
and residential in North Huron,”
Long said. “Investors and
developers, however, were waiting
for a green light for this project.
Until the OMB appeal cleared, there
was hesitation to invest in projects
there.”
Long stated that Pike’s appeal had
a positive effect on the school’s plan
and stated that others would share
that view.
“I really believe the school, the
layout and the site plan are better
because of Mr. Pike s appeals,” he
said. “I really believe that, and
[Director of Planning and
Development for Huron County]
Scott Tousaw would agree, the site
plan is better due to Pike s
involvement.”
The school board is expected to
make an announcement this week,
according to Long, regarding the
withdrawn appeals and future plans
for the site.
Huron East’s MacLellan eyes warden position
New school a go,
appeals pulled
Kickin’ up some dirt
The fourth round of the CMRC Ontario Provincial Championship took place at Chris Lee’s
Walton Raceway over the weekend with races taking place all day Saturday and Sunday.
While the weather has just started brightening up, 2011 will be the busiest in the raceway’s
40-year history. This year’s Walton TransCan will also celebrate a milestone marking the 20th
year the event has taken place in Walton. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Farmers’ Market back
in Blyth on Saturday
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen