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The Citizen, 2010-02-25, Page 3THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010. PAGE 3. An innovative change in dispatch services for the North Huron Fire Department will result in improved emergency response, according to Fire Chief John Black. Black explained the proposed dispatch service at the Feb. 16 meeting of North Huron Council. The Wingham department is currently dispatched out of Hanover, and the Blyth department out of Stratford, on a “page out” only service. That means that the first firefighter to the station after a 911 call must respond to the dispatcher, and then stay back to man the radio. “The last thing I want to do is put an able-bodied firefighter on the radio, especially during the day when we're shorthanded as it is,” Black told council. As a result, Black, along with Hanover and Grey Highlands fire chiefs Ken Roseborough and Bob Meads worked out a deal with the Hanover Police Services board that would provide full dispatch services, so a firefighter doesn’t have to stay behind at the station. That would involve the creation of a dispatch advisory board that would liaise between the Hanover dispatch and the member fire services. It would also streamline policies and procedures among member departments, instead of an individual set of dispatch rules for each department contracting the Hanover dispatchers. The deal would also see thedispatcher become profitable. Thepolice services board wasconsidering shutting down their dispatch service because it was continually running a deficit, because it bills municipalities on a per-capita basis. The new arrangement will see the costs of the dispatch divided equally among the members, with a surcharge for municipalities with heavy usage of the service. The actual cost of running the full dispatch service is not known as of yet, but for the rest of the year, the per-capita billing will continue, at a cost of $13,000 for North Huron for the remainder of 2010. North Huron spent $16,000 on dispatch services in 2009, plus provided the firefighter to work the radio every call. Black said he and Chiefs Roseborough and Meads will continue to promote the co-operative to other fire departments. “The cooperative proposal is currently in the infant stage but has gained significant interest,” Black said. There are currently six other departments who have agreed to the proposal, in addition to North Huron, as of the Feb. 16 meeting. “This is the innovative thinking we’ve been looking for for the past few years,” said Coun. Archie MacGowan. Reeve Neil Vincent agreed. “That's a great step forward,” he said. Yvonne deBruyn-Bramhill, the woman accused of defrauding Wescast Industries of over $400,000 last year, will appear in Wingham court for a preliminary hearing on May 13 after not being present on Feb. 18. Charged with one count of fraud over $5,000, deBruyn-Bramhill is accused of defrauding Wescast between 2003 and 2008, police say. Cpl. Darren Morgan of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that the Mount Forest woman was reportedly diverting company money into personal accounts, including bank accounts, Canada Savings Bond accounts and RRSP accounts. Sympathy is extended to Amy McCrea and family in the passing of her husband Ralph McCrea this past week. There were seven and a half tables at the euchre party Feb. 15. Winners were: high lady, Pat Jenkins, 72: high man, Doug Cartwright, 77; ladies’ lone hand, Dawn Clime and Lillian Appleby, tied with three each; men’s lone hands, Wilmer Glousher, three; low lady, Betty Archambault, 45 and low man, Mary Craig, 45. The door prize went to Wilmer Glousher. Share the wealth went to Edith Glousher, Gord Jenkins and Mary Craig. The next euchre will be March 1 at 1:30 p.m. in the Legion Hall. Everyone welcome. I looked up my birthday calendar and I don’t have any birthdays for this coming week. BLYTH UNITED CHURCH Greeting at Blyth United Church on Sunday, Feb. 21 was Fred Meier. Ushering were Hope Button, Nancy Hakkers, Tyler Cartwright and Jon Hakkers. Music director was Floyd Herman and Bryce Glousher ran the power point. Flowers at the front of the church were from the funeral of Ralph McCrea, placed by his family. The Scouting movement processed the colours into the front of the church. Quaid Kerr, a Beaver, lit the candles at the front of the church. Rev. Clark welcomed everyone on this first Sunday of Lent. He drew everyone’s attention to the announcements in the bulletin. Special mention was that the ladies are making pies for the last time until fall on April 20, so if you wish to order pies call Joann MacDonald, 519-523-9274. The UCW meeting will be March 18. The following Venturers and Scouts received the Religion in Life badges from Lavern Clark and Rev. Clark. Venturers were Shawn Reinink, Tyler Cartwright, Jon Hakkers and Luke Klages. Scouts were Jordan Reinink, Wes Klages, Quinton Hakkers and Dylan Brak. The congregation joined the choir in the second verse of the introit, Come All You People. The call to worship was followed by the children coming forward to hear Mark Nonkes tell them about his work in Africa. Mark told them that the children in Africa were much like them. They like to kick a ball around, ride bikes and play games the same as we do. The children went downstairs for their time of worship and fellowship. The hymn, Today We All are Called to be Disciples. Jon Hakkers read the scriptures from Matthew 5: 1-11. The choir sang the anthem, Peace Like a River/Kum Ba Ya. Mark Nonkes’ message to the adults was, Faith in Motion. Mark started out by saying most people go south to fine warm weather, he came north to find cold weather as he has been in Africa the last few months. He said there is a lot of unemployment and HIV in Africa. Last year we gathered 365 bikes to send to Africa. They took almost a year to get to where they were going. People are trained to repair the bikes and it gives someone a job. Some of the bikes were sold but some were given to children who were poor and had lost their parents from AIDS. They sent a message by way of Mark to say thank you for the bikes the congregation donated. The offering was received followed by the Prayers of the People and the singing of The Lord’s Prayer, the last hymn, Lord Speak to Me, the commissioning, the benediction and the choral, Three- Fold Amen. The recession of the colours by the Scouting movement was followed by the first part of the Annual meeting. The annual meeting followed the lunch. Change should improve NH emergency response Pre-lim set in fraud case Mulberry Hill Farm Community Share Garden accepting new members for 2010 Buy a small or large garden share and enjoy the benefits of weekly fresh locally-grown produce. * Seasonal food * Pesticide free * No chemical fertilizers * No GMO seeds * Free range eggs For more information contact Nancy Hislop 519-526-1024 or email hislop5@sympatico.ca Township of North Huron Council & Committee Meeting Schedule March 1 Regular Council Meeting 7:30 p.m. - Council Chambers March 8 Committee of the Whole 7:00 p.m. - Council Chambers March 15 Regular Council Meeting 7:30 p.m. - Council Chambers March 16 North Huron Police Services Board 7:00 p.m. - Board Room Construction Ph.:519-523-9354 Cell:519-525-8615 Custom 5" seamless eavestrough in aluminum or steel N e w REMINDER Dog Tags and Licences are now due and available at the Township of North Huron Municipal Office. All dogs must be licensed in compliance with Township of North Huron By-law No. 41-2008. An owner or boarder of a dog(s) shall within 10 days of becoming such an owner or boarder, and thereafter on or before the 2nd day of February cause such dog(s) to be licensed for one year. A $15.00 late payment charge shall be assessed in addition to the licence fee after February 2nd. Proof of Rabies Vaccination must be available at the time of purchase. The By-law requires dog owners to forthwith remove excrement left by the dog anywhere in the municipality of the Township of North Huron. Any person contravening this provision is subject to a $100.00 fine. For further information please contact: The Township of North Huron 274 Josephine Street Wingham, ON N0G 2W0 Phone 519-357-3550 By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318 From Marilyn’s Desk NEWS FROM BLYTH Big boot Snow soccer was one of the events at last week’s annual winter activity day at Blyth Public School. Jeremy Grisdale was on the run, streaking towards the net on this play. (Aislinn Bremner photo) By Lindsey KuglinThe Wingham Advance-Times