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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2011-12-15, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, December 15, 2011 Volume 27 No. 49 COUNTY - Pg. 14Representatives namedto committees NARCISSE - Pg. 27Blyth-directed play winsGovernor General’s AwardBIA - Pg. 10Blyth BIA names its first-ever executive Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK: Huron East’s MacLellan acclaimed as warden Huron East joins appeal process Starving artists Students at Brussels Public School swore off food for 30 hours, from 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 to 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 9, to raise money and awareness of hunger and drought in East Africa as part of the Brussels Public School Kids Care 30 Hour Famine. The event had students participating in all sorts of events to help them pass the time, including finger painting. Shown painting are, from left, Alyssa Bragan, Teegan McGavin and Mackenzie McNichol. (Denny Scott photo) With no one running against him, Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan was acclaimed to the position of Huron County Warden on Dec. 7 in Goderich. In the first official business at the Goderich Courthouse since the Aug. 21 tornado, MacLellan accepted the nomination of Ashfield-Colborne- Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek and told the dozens in attendance how he planned to approach 2012. MacLellan said one thing he has learned in his years on Huron County Council is that councillors don’t like surprises, so he plans not to spring many as warden. “I’ve learned a lot from the warden [Neil Vincent],” MacLellan said. “There are going to be things I make sure I do and do not do in the coming year. “I have learned ‘do not surprise council’ so I will not be doing anything of that nature.” MacLellan did, however, say that he will be striving for transparency in his time as warden, saying that while the warden’s time sheets (as well as those of all Huron County councillors) are public documents, he’s going to take it one step further and make his time sheet part of the monthly council package. “I want to be on record as doing the best job I can for Huron County,” MacLellan said. In addition to publishing his time sheets, MacLellan also said that anything he attends will result in a report being made back to council. He said he’ll be attending events that he feels will be advantageous to his time as warden, not necessarily every event that comes along. MacLellan said that while it may be nice for the warden to make an appearance at “Little Suzie’s birthday party” if it’s not going to benefit Huron County as a whole, he will have to consider his attendance at the event. He said that being paid by the taxpayers, they deserve to know what councillors are up to and they deserve to know that council is using its time to better the county. “If I go to a conference, it’s only fair to the ratepayers that I bring back a report,” he said. To thank council for electing him warden for 2012, MacLellan announced that he had made a donation in the amount of $500 to the Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Fund in the name of Huron County Council, the same fund Vincent donated to on behalf of the county councillors as he finished his term last month. MacLellan said during the time immediately preceeding the election, he didn’t visit every councillor, as is the tradition. He says he chose not to do it because he didn’t feel it was his “job” to hear councillors concerns. He said he felt that if councillors had concerns going forward, he was confident those councillors would bring them up. In his nomination of MacLellan, Van Diepenbeek spoke about MacLellan’s nearly 20 years in municipal politics and his dedication to a multitude of issues throughout Huron County, calling him “competent” and “capable”. “I’m confident we will not be disappointed,” Van Diepenbeek said. In an interview with The Citizen after his election, MacLellan said his comments about moving in the direction of more transparency have been well received by members of Huron County Council. “It’s something we need to constantly moving towards,” Newly-elected Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson will be opening her main constituency office in Blyth on Tuesday, Jan. 3. During the October election, Thompson’s only campaign office was located in Blyth, a village she indicated would be perfect for a permanent constituency office, should she be elected. Renovations have been ongoing for several weeks at the former home of The Green Gallery and The Quilters Way on Queen Street and Thompson had delivered on her hope of opening an office in the geographical centre of the Huron- Bruce riding. The office will be Thompson’s main location, with a smaller, Huron East Council has officially decided to join Central Huron in its appeal process of the Huron County Council composition ruling of last month. Members of Huron East Council discussed the issue extensively on Dec. 6 in a closed session, said Huron East Mayor and newly- elected Huron County Warden Bernie MacLellan, but they didn’t make an official move until Friday. “Huron East is partnering with Central Huron to start the appeal process,” MacLellan said on Friday in an interview with The Citizen. MacLellan said council debated the situation for over an hour in closed session on Dec. 6 and eventually decided to join Central Huron for two appeal steps, stopping just short of committing to a full-fledged appeal. As a result of the decision, Huron East will be side by side with Central Huron as the case is put in front of an appeal judge who will decide if the case merits an appeal. Huron East will also participate in the second step, investigating if the appeal judge feels there is enough evidence to reinstate the four members of Huron County Council who were removed late last month. As of right now, however, Huron East has stopped short of the third step, which would be participating in an actual appeal alongside Central Huron, which has already committed to a full appeal. MacLellan says that for Huron East’s part of the first two steps of the appeal, the total cost borne by Central Huron and Huron East will be between $3,000 and $5,000 to be split between the two municipalities. If the first two steps are successful, MacLellan says, and the appeal is deemed to have merit, the issue will return to Huron East Council where a decision as to whether or not the municipality would like to see the appeal process through to the end alongside Central Huron would have to be made. After the first two steps have taken place and in the event that they are successful, MacLellan says, a report is expected back to Huron East Council, at which time further discussion will take place and a vote will be taken. MacLellan says that if the first two steps of the appeal process are successful, it is also expected that at that time Central Huron and Huron East would approach the other two municipalities that lost representation, North Huron and South Huron, and garner support from them as well for the third stage of the appeal. The appeal is being handled by Patton Cormier and Associates, a law firm based in London. They provided the legal opinion first referenced by Central Huron Councillor Brian Barnim at the Dec. 5 meeting of Central Huron Council and they will be handling the appeal By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 28 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Thompson opens Blyth main office Continued on page 14 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 25