The Citizen, 2010-06-03, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010.
Underneath the moon
Grey Central Public School held its annual spring concert last week, called An Evening With
Sharon, Lois and Bram, featuring the songs of the favourite children’s group. Back row, from
left: Bennett Smith, Lauren Silcock, Manny Teichroeb and Kierstin Fraser. Front row, from left:
Lucas Ward, Brooklyn Rose, Kaleb Roth, Ayden Sheppard and Adam Martin. (Aislinn Bremner photo)
To the “pave paradise and put up
a parking lot” strains of Joni
Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,”
trustees of the Avon Maitland
District School Board were shown
snapshots of the threatened-with-
closure Grey Central Public School
in Ethel. But, during the public
delegation portion of a regular
meeting Tuesday, May 25, they also
heard a message of support for the
school which may be spared if Grey
Central is closed: nearby Brussels
Public School.
Proposals from various factions
within the recently-completed
Huron East North Perth (HENP)
Accommodation Review range
from closing both schools, to
closing one or the other, to keeping
both open. But a recommendation
from Avon Maitland staff, as part of
the final report from that Review,
calls for the closure of Grey Central,
changing Brussels Public into a
Kindergarten-to-Grade 6 school,
with Grades 7-8 students attending
either Elma Township Public
School in Newry or the yet-to-be-
completed senior elementary
campus of F.E. Madill Secondary
School in Wingham.
A final vote on the proposal is
planned for June 22.
At the May 25 meeting, Grey
Central Parent Involvement Council
co-chair Monique Baan outlined her
group’s informal assessment of
current and potential future
traffic on the one-way street that
runs alongside Brussels Public
School.
“Our parents are concerned about
the safety of their children,” she said
during her delegation. “Please show
us how you plan to accommodate
all this extra traffic and the logistics
of safely transporting our children.”
Baan’s presentation was followed
by a music-accompanied slide show
prepared by her son, Grade 8
student Ryan. The younger Baan
noted, prior to beginning the slide
show, that the family was already
affected by an Avon Maitland
accommodation review whenWalton Public School closed in2000.The third public delegation of the
evening came from Charlie Hoy,
who represented Brussels Public
School in the recent HENP review.
Hoy’s presentation came, it
seemed, at least partly in response
to a comment by trustee Meg
Westley at a previous meeting. On
May 11, during a meeting in which
Grey Central supporters made
another in a series of public
delegations to the board, Westley
called on the Brussels community to
make its feelings known.
Since the release of the staff
proposal, the basis for opposition to
the closure of Grey Central has
ranged from the comparatively
small amount of green space on the
Brussels property, to the value of
Grey Central’s Environmental
Learning Grounds, and the
relatively advanced age of the
Brussels building. There have also
been back-and-forth assessments of
the relative fuel efficiency of
transporting students by bus or
family vehicle to each site.
In his presentation, Hoy
expressed dismay that much of this
discussion is now being re-hashed
in front of trustees after already
receiving a full airing at the
Accommodation Review level.
“A lot of emotion was expressed
during the first few meetings (of the
Review), with the latter meetings
being more productive for our
work,” he said.
At the time, he recalled, there
were “very few questions” from the
Avon Maitland trustees in
attendance, so he believed they
were satisfied that they understood
the discussions. Hoy has been
surprised, since then, to hear “more
emotional pleas . . . stating the same
facts over and over again.”
He added he wants to assure
trustees the Brussels community “is
not complacent” and that “if the
trustees have any questions
regarding Brussels Public School,
please bring [them] forward.”
By Stew SlaterSpecial to The CitizenJune 22 vote determinesfuture of Brussels, Grey
Central Huron supports
mandatory inspections
Central Huron Council voted to
support the mandatory septic system
maintenance inspection program at
its May 27 meeting.
Huron County Health Unit Safe
Water Manager Bob Worsell made a
presentation on the inspection
program to council at its last May
meeting.
He said 23 other municipalities in
Ontario already have a program in
place and that Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh and North Huron have
agreed in principle to the program.
According to Worsell, a voluntary
program was in place in Huron
County between June 2005 and
November 2007, which included 95
systems in Central Huron.
In September 2009, the Source
Water Protection Steering
Committee recommended that
Huron County Council consider
offering a mandatory septic system
maintenance program. Following
discussion at Huron County Council
in March, a resolution was approved
to seek agreement from
municipalities, obtain board of
health concurrence and bring back a
summary report and a detailed
budget.
According to Worsell, the Health
Unit has estimated a cost of
$112,900 to inspect 350 septic
systems.
A user-pay approach would be
used as it identifies the number of
properties serviced with septic
systems in each municipality. Every
lower tier municipality participating
in the program would bill the owners
on an annual basis. The annual
payment would depend on the septic
system inspection program rotation
chosen. In a seven-year rotation, the
annual cost would be $46, while on a
12-year rotation, the annual cost
would be $27.
The report indicated that there are
2,137 known septic systems in
Central Huron.
The properties would be inspected
between April 1 and December 1,
depending on the snow cover. There
will be a priority to inspect cottage
properties in the summer months,
while the septic systems are in use.
The Health Unit would be the
inspecting authority as they have
experience delivering septic system
inspection programs, have qualified
By Jim Brown
Special to The Citizen
Continued on page 11