The Citizen, 2010-03-04, Page 1The latest meeting in the Huron
East-North Perth Accommodation
Review brought more group
discussion to the table, but
no resolution as the deadline
for a recommendation quickly
approaches.
Held at Listowel Central Public
School on Feb. 24, the meeting
opened with comments from North
Perth deputy mayor Julie Behrns,
who said that the closure of any
school within the municipality
would hurt the chances of future
development and the potential to
attract new businesses to the area.
One of the more passionate
speakers was a local resident who
saw a problem with having the same
representatives at every meeting,
when the people who have the final
say aren't in the discussion.
"If the Ministry of Education is
potentially closing these schools,
they should be standing here to say
why it is," he said.
He went on to say that the ARC
committee needs to face the fact that
the debate has always been about the
money, and always will be about the
money.
"Let's get on the money track and
see who made the mistakes and find
out why we can't pay our bills," he
said. "If the bills weren't paid
properly, someone needs to take
responsibility."
For the first time, ARC committee
members were able to look at the
Renewal Capital Asset Planning
Process (ReCapp) data for each
school under review. Avon Maitland
District School Board information
and reporting analyst Hugh Cox
explained the Facility Condition
Index (FCI) gives a percentage to
each school that determines when
the building would be too expensive
to repair, with a lower percentage
being favoured.
"Being close to 30 per cent within
our board is a pretty good number,"
Cox said.
Cox said the benchmark within the
AMDSB is a 60 per cent FCI to
decide that it's cheaper to build a new
building than repair the existing one.
Within the six schools under
review, Listowel Central shows the
highest FCI rating of 40.28 per cent,
while Wallace Public School's FCI is
26.31 per cent at the opposite end.
The waters are muddied somewhat
by the renewal costs for each school,
which are updated differently than
the FCI. Using that data, Wallace is
estimated at costing $1,179.000 in
the next 10 years, compared to
$267,349 in the same time for
Eastdale Public School. Further,
Elma Township Public School tops
the category for replacement cost at
$7,142,480.
"It's not a simple matter of what
something is worth versus what's
needed to replace the building," Cox
said.
It was decided that those in
attendance would be broken into
smaller discussion groups at that
point in hopes of generating more
public input. Chairperson Mike Ash
said the groups met for 30 minutes
and came back with some good
comments, and an overall
understanding that something would
eventually have to be done.
"There were differences of opinion
over which individual schools would
be considered for closure, but also
understanding that the status quo is
not an option," Ash said.
With the final ARC meeting
scheduled for March 3 at Elma
Public School, the time for the
committee to make a
recommendation to the trustees is
running out. Ash said he feels there's
a general agreement between the
North Perth and Huron East
members, but that's where it ends.
"I think there's a difference of
opinion between North Perth and
Huron East, and both sides of the
issue will be heard by the trustees,"
he said. "I don't think there will be a
single recommendation that will
satisfy all the members of the ARC."
ARC gets figures on capital planning
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, March 4, 2010
Volume 26 No. 9HELPING HAITI - Pg. 12Belgrave supper, auction tohelp with aid BACK AT WORK - Pg. 23 Blyth native Mark Nonkesback in NamibiaSPORTS- Pg. 8-9Local teams in OMHAplayoffsPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Thanks to the quick response of a
neighbour and North Huron fire
departments, a fire was contained
before it could spread to other
buildings on Blyth’s main street.
The fire was discoverd by
neighours of the Blyth Corner Cafe,
384 Queen Street, who alerted
authorities shortly after 8 p.m.,
Thursday, February 23.
According to North Huron Fire
Chief John Black, the fire
department responded in record time
after receiving the call.
“We received the call at 8:13 p.m.,
and were on the scene within two
minutes,” Black said, adding that
they had the fire controlled within 15
minutes of arriving on the scene, and
were able to declare the fire
completely put out by 11:30 p.m.
While Black was not able to speak
to the cause, owner of the Blyth
Corner Cafe Tracy Cook told The
Citizen that it was human error.
Black said that the fire was
contained to the kitchen, however
the rest of the building sustained
heat and smoke damage.
The building’s structures was
saved by the alertness of nearby
neighbours, and the speed with
which the neighbours contacted the
fire department, according to Black.
“A large disaster was averted by
[the neighbours] making that call,”
Black said. “With everything as
close as it is on [Queen Street],
things could have been much
worse.”
Cook said that early estimates
have the restaurant being re-opened
in the next month-and-a-half, and
she plans on keeping with it.
“We’ll still be here,” she said.
The entire interior of the
restaurant needs to be taken out and
replaced before the doors can re-
open, Cook says, adding that they
may make some small changes.
“We’ve been thinking about [any
changes], but it’s a small space, we
can’t change a lot,” she said.
Cook thanks the support of the
community, and says with the quick
response of her neighbours, she will
be able to move back in and get back
to business as soon as possible.
By Andrew Smith
The Listowel Banner
O’ Canada!
While it may have been a dramatic game on Sunday, victory was never in doubt for these Canadian hockey fans who watched
Canada defeat the United States to win Olympic gold, at the Brussels Legion. The day, sponsored by the Brussels Optimists,
brought hockey fans of all ages together for a pivotal day in Canadian hockey history. Back row, from left: Nick McArter, Ben
Newell, Tiffany Deitner, Kailey Wheeler, Dylan McNeil and Jaime Newell. Front row, from left: Alison Stevenson, Owen Newell,
Amber Wheeler and Aliya Dauphin. (Vicky Bremner photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Thursday
fire
damages
Blyth
Café