HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-07-15, Page 1More information is being sought
on the potential grounds for an
appeal of the Avon Maitland District
School Board trustees’ decision to
close Brussels Public School and
Huron East Council is getting in on
it.
Brussels Public School supporters
Charlie Hoy and Jim Prior began
investigating grounds for an appeal
late last month and brought their
information to council at its July 6
meeting.
In a closed session, Hoy and Prior
presented what grounds they felt
they may have to launch an appeal
that could save Brussels Public
School and Huron East council was
convinced, committing up to
$10,000 to the legal fund, which is
currently just supported by Prior and
Hoy out of their own pockets.
In the days after their presentation
to council, Hoy said he and Prior
would be obtaining important
information from the Kitchener legal
counsel they hired about a solid
grounds for an appeal, as well as
what an appeal, and a potentially
successful appeal, could mean for
Grey Central Public School.
Several councillors said they
would not be in favour of dedicating
money to the legal fund if it meant
that Brussels Public School would
remain open, but Grey Central would
close, essentially resulting in a
switch of one Huron East school for
another.
Hoy said he would bring
Over a dozen Grey Township
residents came to the July 6 meeting
of Huron East Council looking for
several apologies, but didn’t get
them.
Spokesperson Pam Martin read a
prepared statement on behalf of the
group that called for apologies from
Mayor Joe Seili for his comments in
reference to Grey Central Public
School at the June 22 meeting of the
Avon Maitland District School
Board and Councillor David Blaney
for this thoughts on the decision,
published as a Letter to the Editor in
the July 1 issue of The Citizen.
Martin claimed the group found
both comments offensive to the Grey
community and inappropriate
statements for elected officials of the
area in question to make.
Martin said she felt hurt,
disappointed and angry at the
comments, especially when one of
the municipality’s goals in keeping
at least one school in Huron East had
theoretically been accomplished.
“I think we need to respect the
decision of the trustees,” Martin
said. She also called for both Blaney
and Seili to take ownership of their
comments and actions, indicating
that what they said was not said as a
representative of the municipality or
of its council.
Martin said that she felt an
apology from both men would be
appropriate and a suitable beginning
to the potential “mending of the
divide” that has begun to happen
between the Brussels and Grey
communities.
Before Seili or Blaney had a
chance to respond, Deputy-Mayor
and co-chair of the Accommodation
Review Committee (ARC), Bernie
MacLellan acknowledged that many
people in the community have hurt
feelings as a result of the trustees’
decision to close Brussels Public
School, but that going back and
apologizing for what was said in the
heat of the moment would not be
going forward, and therefore,
unproductive.
“I’m not condoning what was said
by any means,” MacLellan said.
“But I think this drags the process
on, which doesn’t help the
situation.”
Seili, however, did respond to his
critics, saying that after the letter
from Huron County Warden Bert
Dykstra was received by the ARC,
that he was “painted with the same
brush” that Dykstra was, despite the
fact that Dykstra’s comments were
made by him alone, Seili said. Huron
County council, in fact, later issued a
statement saying that its councillors
“regretted” the warden’s letter.
Seili said that after he watched
members of the community react
that way and make up their minds on
him, he had “made up his mind that
night”.
Seili said he found such comments
and assumptions hurtful when he
had fought to keep all Huron County
schools open, even in last year’s
North Huron ARC decision to close
Blyth, East Wawanosh, Wingham
and Turnberry Central Public
Schools.
“I only apologized to two people
for that night,” Seili said. “My wife
and the guy upstairs.”
Seili said that since ARC
processes had been happening in
Huron County, his record shows that
he has made motions and never
voted for a single motion that would
result in the closure of any school in
the county.
“I’d made up my mind,” he said.
Fire in Auburn
causes confusion
over new maps
Huron East council
commits to appeal
Cheering on the Oranje Machine
With its large Dutch population, Huron County has been buzzing for weeks as The
Netherlands made its undefeated run to the World Cup final. Unfortunately for this group of
supporters at The Blyth Inn, the Dutch lost Sunday’s final to Spain by the score of 1-0 after a
goal by Spain’s Andres Iniesta with just minutes left before a penalty shootout would have
determined the tournament’s winner. Both teams were looking for their countries’ first ever
World Cup. (Vicky Bremner photo)
A Saturday fire left North Huron
Fire Department Captain Kevin
Falconer in Intensive Care in Clinton
Hospital, while causing extensive
property damage to the home of the
Popp family in Auburn.
The fire broke out in the Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW)
portion of Auburn on the weekend,
with North Huron’s Fire Department
being the first to respond.
The blaze, which started at the
home of the Popps’ at 122 Goderich
Street in Auburn, started prior to
7:30 p.m. on July 10.
North Huron responded because,
while the Popps residence may have
been in ACW, the family that made
the emergency call lived on the other
side of the road, in Central Huron,
whose division of Auburn is covered
by North Huron’s fire department.
The emergency call was received
at 7:26 p.m., and three minutes later,
Engine 6 left the Blyth Fire Hall,
arriving at the scene at 7:36 p.m.
The firefighters found a two-
storey wooden house with its front
completely engulfed by flames.
The firefighters of North Huron’s
Blyth division knocked down the
fire at the front before entering to
fight the fire within.
Chief John Black of North Huron
put a call into Central Huron
requesting mutual aid in the form of
another tanker. All told, there were
three tankers on the scene, two from
North Huron and the one from
Central Huron. In addition, two of
the four cisterns in Auburn were
opened.
As the entire Blyth contingent of
firefighters was dedicated to the
situation in Auburn, additional
firefighters from North Huron
moved to Belgrave in Engine 1 to
respond to any calls in North
Huron’s coverage area.
At 8:26 p.m., an emergency call
went out from 83600 Marnoch Line,
approximately 2 kilometres south of
Westfield, where three-year-old
Logan Hallahan had been injured in
a mishap with a wind-turbine and
eventually succumbed to his injuries
at Wingham Hospital. (For full story,
see page 10)
Engine 1 was dispatched from
Belgrave at 8:28 p.m., arriving at the
scene on 8:39 p.m. Rescue 3 from
North Huron also responded.
Back in Auburn at approximately
8:30 p.m., Falconer stated that he
was feeling chest pains. On-scene
paramedics checked Falconer out,
and immediately took him to
Clinton Public Hospital, where he
remains in the Intensive Care Unit.
Shortly after, the homeowner of
the burning house collapsed, and
was attended to by firefighters on the
scene. No further medical attention
was deemed necessary.
Once the fire was contained,
representatives from North Huron
and Central Huron fire departments
discussed the location of the fire and
determined it was a Central Huron
concern. Central Huron firefighters
Apologies requested by Grey
CitizenTh
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Volume 26 No. 28FUNFEST- Pg. 11Brussels FunFest coming next weekend ENTERTAINMENT - Pg. 19 New exhibit opens at BlythFestival Art Gallery FridayTRAGEDY- Pg. 10Three-year-old boy diesjust north of BlythPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
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The Citizen
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