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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-07-29, Page 1Blyth’s Emergency Services Training Centre (ESTC) is about to grow substantially with a new technology centre being built near the existing grounds. At a special council meeting, North Huron Township Council gave the go-ahead to Fire Chief John Black to start entering into contract negotiations with Domm Construction of Aylmer to finalize plans for the new education building, which is set to have a ceremonial sod-turning on July 30. The timing of the ceremony is ideal, as the the Fire Fighters Association of Ontario (FFAO) is in Blyth for its annual convention, which is being hosted by the North Huron Fire Department and the centre is host to several activities. Included in the layout of the building is room for the storage of firefighting equipment as well as vehicles, classrooms, offices, and an alternative emergency command centre for North Huron Township. The bid from Domm Construction proved to be the most appealing of four tenders, as well as being the least expensive. Among the appeals for the design, according to Black, is the separation of services into ‘dirty and clean’ areas. In the ‘dirty’ area, there is space for hoses, gear and laundry, while, in the ‘clean’ side, there is space for offices and classrooms. The original site for the new technology centre needed to be altered as the grade of the land was unsuitable for building. The new site will have it closer to the existing ESTC centre and firefighting props. The original building site would have required eight to 10 feet of top- filling to bring the land to a proper grade, which would have required a significant portion of the construction budget. Black expressed that the winning bid would not necessarily be the least expensive, but the most attractive offer backed by the most highly-evaluated construction company. Black stated that companies would be evaluated on contractor qualifications, the quantity of the work suggested, the quality of the work, the schedule for the build, and the cost of the build. A major reason that the Domm Construction proposal best fit the needs of the ESTC, according to its building committee, is the possibility to enlarge the building if enrollment in the ESTC courses continues to increase. “Expansion will be possible with the Domm Construction estimate,” Black said. The vote to allow Black and township staff to begin negotiating the costs was unanimous among all councillors. Black then explained that the budget they had originally set out was providing to be unrealistic, and that there needed to be more leeway for negotiation. A $75,000 grant, provided by the federal government, and a $75,000 budget from North Huron Township would have come close to covering Domm Construction’s estimate of $1.61 million dollars, but the ESTC requires water and sewer to be run for both the building and for a fire hydrant on site. After all costs of the water and sewage and contingency plans, the ESTC build’s budget would be approximately $1.37 million dollars. Black requested an additional $400,000 be made available for negotiating, as the $1.37 million is $240,000 less than Domm Construction’s bid, and doesn’t take into account furniture and equipment, as well as several options that Black believes will be worthwhile, like a foyer to display antique fire equipment that is currently cared for by the Blyth Fire Department and additional building options. Brussels appeal formally filed Honouring Wayne As part of the official opening of the new pavilion at the Brussels Ball Park, a tree was planted to honour Wayne Lowe, who passed away in October, 2008. The opening kicked off 2010’s Brussels FunFest, which began on Friday night with the Brussels Tigers fastball tournament, which was won for the first time by the Walton Brewers. From left: Don Sholdice, Hope Lowe, Gerry Wheeler, Dave Stephenson and Ken Higgins. (Vicky Bremner photo) An appeal has officially been filed with Minister of Education Leonna Dombrowsky on behalf of the residents of Brussels in regards to the recent decision by Avon Maitland District School Board trustees to close Brussels Public School. The appeal, however, while supported by Huron East Council for up to $10,000 and the Brussels Community Trust for up to $3,000, did not please everyone, especially when discussing what might happen if the appeal is successful. The nine-page document (which can be viewed in its entirety on The Citizen’s website at www.northhuron.on.ca) that was submitted to council detailed several reasons as to why those who filed the report, Charlie Hoy, Jim Prior and Glenda Morrison, felt the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) process treated the school unfairly, resulting in a flawed decision. If successful, however, Hoy said at the July 20 meeting of council, things could go back to status quo, eliminating all decisions made by the ARC and finalized by the board trustees. Both Grey Central and Brussels Public Schools may possibly remain open, but then again, the possibility remains that both schools could be involved in a future ARC process initiated by the school board. When questioned about the possibility of closure, despite the motion stating that council would support the appeal, only if it meant that Grey Central would not close, Deputy-Mayor Bernie MacLellan said, “The entire process was flawed. We’re hoping that if successful, by the time there’s another ARC, the process will have changed.” MacLellan said that if the deficiencies are ironed out, he is confident that neither school will close, as he says there was no justification to close either school in the first place. The appeal cites several areas in which the authors of the appeal state that the process failed Brussels Public School. Some of the six main areas of interest in the appeal were the ReCAPP data provided to members of the ARC, anonymous letters that were sent to the ARC as well as the splitting of the ARC. Hoy said that over the last few weeks, he and others who were preparing the appeal gathered over two times the amount of signatures required to petition an appeal from the Ministry of Education. Hoy said he received over 225 signatures on the official appeal, which asked if residents would support an appeal of the process that resulted in the pending closure of Brussels Public School. Hoy said, in response to Huron East’s donation to the legal costs of the appeal, that approximately $2,000 in legal costs had been spent as of the time of the council meeting. Hoy stressed that the appeal is very non-specific when it comes to naming names and that nowhere in the appeal does it ask for the closure of Grey Central. The appeal deals strictly with Brussels Public School and how it was treated throughout the ARC process. Hoy said that as far as he could tell through Ministry of Education documents, a school cannot be involved in a subsequent ARC process for at least five years, something that was important when he was asked what would happen if the appeal was successful. In a recorded vote, the motion to Blyth will be welcoming firefighters from across Ontario to the 109th annual convention of the Fire Fighters’ Association of Ontario. Being hosted by the North Huron Fire Department, the event kicks off on July 29 with a pub night being held at the Blyth Inn. An executive meeting is scheduled at 1 p.m. in the Old Library Meeting Room at the Blyth Memorial Hall, followed by the sod turning for the new Emergency Services Training Centre at 4 p.m. Festivities start on Friday with the Blyth legion hosting a breakfast at the hospitality tent at the Blyth Campgrounds at 7 a.m. The breakfast runs until noon. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the annual Fire Fighters’Association of Ontario meeting will be held in the upstairs of the Blyth Community Centre, while children’s activities will be held at the Lions Park pavilion from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Game registration will be held at the same time at the main camping office. Vendors will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The firefighters’ games will be Tender approved for ESTC Welcome firefighters CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 29, 2010 Volume 26 No. 30FUNFEST- Pg. 12Brussels’biggestweekend in pictures FESTIVAL - Pg. 23 ‘Pearl Gidley’opens at Blyth FestivalSPORTS- Pg. 2Walton Brewers win first-ever Brussels crownPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK: Continued on page 6 Continued on page 6 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen By Denny Scott The Citizen By Denny Scott The Citizen