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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-09-29, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 29, 2011 Volume 27 No. 38 FALL FAIR - Pg. 11Results from theBrussels Fall Fair begin FIRE - Pg. 14ACW nears final fireplan implementationELECTION- Pg. 7Provincial candidatestackle election questionsPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK: Tanker delayed Strategic planning continues Candidates discuss issues in Holmesville Take the ride A handful of students from Brussels Public School had their share of fun last week at the 150th annual Brussels Fall Fair. Up front Tyson Fischer leads the way with Ava McCutcheon and Nolan McCutcheon along to take the ride as well. The fair was one of the most memorable in recent history, organizers said, with numbers up across the board and a large downtown parade. (Denny Scott photo) Huron East Council decided to postpone the purchase of a new pumper truck for the Grey Fire Department during the regular council meeting on Sept. 20. The Sept. 20 meeting was held at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre to coincide with the opening ceremonies of the 150th annual Brussels Fall Fair. Council was faced with a difficult decision that spanned several council meetings as the fire department was seeking particular type of truck chassis, and the only proposal that had come in, as a result of their request for proposals, came after the deadline. Councillors were somewhat confused as to the difference between a tendering process and an RFP, and some were under the impression that they had to choose one of the vehicles that had been proposed. “You have the right to say no to all of the proposals,” Huron East Fire Chief Marty Bedard said. Upon questioning, the fire officials present stated that, while the vehicles could work that had been included in the proposals that met the deadline, they would require additional financing to bring them up to the needs of the departmnent. This would likely cause the final cost of the vehicles to go over, or further over, the $200,000 estimated cost. Council decided to postpone the purchase of the vehicle and aim to request proposals again in the spring. Business stakeholders, owners and interested individuals, accompanied by North Huron staff and council members, shared their view of the future in a special planning meeting at the Bainton Art Gallery in Blyth. The meeting, held so the Blyth business community could continue to build upon the feedback given at meetings in which residents of East Wawanosh and Blyth gave their opinion on the direction of the municipality, will help form the basis for the municipality’s strategic plan. While other meetings focused on “big picture” ideas, the business people of Blyth were very ready to discuss the specifics of Blyth and North Huron. Richard Elliott of Elliott Nixon Insurance on Queen Street in Blyth, stated that a way needed to be found to slow traffic in the village. “We need to slow traffic down from [County Road 25, or Blyth Road] to the Greenway trail,” he said. “People need to be able to cross without the regular speed of an oncoming vehicle being a problem.” Elliott stated that he hoped the Stantec engineer report, a document which details potential development for Blyth’s streetscape, would deal with it. The document has not yet been presented publically. Local business owner Steven Sparling stated that council and township staff needed to find a way to make living in Blyth cost less. “We need you to follow the money,” he said. We need council to scrub the budget, eliminate the redundancies and deficiencies and manage costs while growing the community.” While staff stated that they and council were doing their best to eliminate any needless spending, several suggestions were made throughout the meeting on how to reduce costs. Examples included everything from the sale of the town’s bucket truck, which was now forcing staff to rent a bucket truck when necessary, to cutting grass and whether it was less expensive to contract those services out or invest in different species of grass. Performance reviews were also mentioned later in the meeting, and the impact they have, and North Huron Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk Gary Long stated that was something he had tackled head on since starting in the community. He said he had made a concentrated effort to make evaluations more than conversational and set goals and timelines for employees. “Employees need to remember who they are working for,” he said. “There is no pot of gold, no source of unlimited cheques, we know that and they need to as well.” Sparling noted that growing the village would be difficult due to the lack of physical space to expand into. Elliott agreed, stating that North Huron would either need to work with Morris-Turnberry, or look at getting land in East Wawanosh to expand. He also stated that council should look at repurposing land in Blyth that could be used more effectively. Don Scrimgeour, of Scrimgeour’s Food Market, stated that the key to growing the community was to aim The topic of wind turbines dominated the conversation at an all- candidates meeting on Sept. 22 hosted by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture (HCFA). Four of the six candidates in Huron-Bruce attended the meeting in Holmesville with Patrick Main of the Green Party and Christine Schnurr of the Family Coalition Party having to send their regrets due to work and school commitments respectively. Left to debate the issues were incumbent Liberal Carol Mitchell, PC Lisa Thompson, Grant Robertson of the NDP and independent candidate Dennis Valenta. The meeting was moderated by HCFA President Marinus Bakker who came under fire for his attempts at keeping the meeting brief by restricting questions, both by limiting the amount of questions asked from the floor and by giving those asking questions just one minute to say their piece. The meeting ran well past its planned end time of 10 p.m. due to the debate amongst audience members over whether the meeting should be extended to allow additional questions and the eventual answers to those questions. OPENING REMARKS In his opening remarks, Valenta expressed his distaste for party politics, urging people to vote for him as a candidate who would have the freedom to do what his constituents want, rather than be tied to policies by a party. “When [party politicians] get elected, they follow their agenda, not yours,” Valenta said. Thompson stated that a vote for her would directly reverse several decisions made by Mitchell’s Liberal government like pending wind energy contracts signed through the Green Energy Act, rural schools being closed in Huron County and the closure of the Walkerton Jail. “We would put a moratorium on wind farms until economic and health and safety studies can be done,” Thompson said. Mitchell defended the Green Energy Act, saying that the green economy is the way forward for Huron-Bruce and that it’s the very definition of economic development. Mitchell also touched on programs specific to agriculture that have been brought in during her time as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs such as the Risk Management Program. Robertson said he was the first political figure to come out in support of a Risk Management Program and that he had spent years supporting Huron-Bruce farmers. Robertson addressed what he called the “demographic crisis” in which the riding is losing its residents 35 and younger, especially those in the world of farming. WRITTEN QUESTIONS Questions were collected from those in attendance and crafted together by members of the HCFA to blend similar questions together and to ensure questions were not repeated. While many of the questions surrounded agriculture, the first question dealt with providing an affordable energy supply going into the future. Thompson came out and criticized the Green Energy Act for eventually costing more than it will make for By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 11 By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 24