HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-01-15, Page 1Down you go
Cold and snow are never a problem for youngsters who find the joy and pleasure in every
season. Kyle Stevenson, three, brought some adults out to entertain him and his cousin Paige
Stevenson, on Saturday at the hill behind Joe Hallahan’s Blyth home. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Funeral services are being held
today (Thursday, Jan. 15) for a 37-
year-old Belgrave man.
Peter Robertson, who became
Huron County’s first fatality of
2009, died of injuries sustained in a
single-vehicle snowmobile crash.
OPP said Robertson was travelling
on a portion of trail, south-east of
Belgrave at 11:30 p.m. Jan. 10 when
the mishap occurred.
Blyth firefighters responded to the
call. Peterson was pronounced dead
at the scene.
OPP technical collision
investigators were working on
discovering the cause of the crash.
Robertson leaves a wife, Carolyn
Ruff and two children, Dallas and
Jaida.
Huron County’s worst-paid
councillors just gave themselves a
raise.
Huron East councillors voted in a
raise for themselves that comes in at
just over two per cent.
Initially, councillors had
discussed a possible bylaw that was
in place where councillors would
receive the same raise they voted in
for staff. However, upon further
investigation, it was discovered that
no such bylaw exists. Councillor
then will keep themselves in line
with staff with a two per cent raise.
Council, however, will look into
enacting a bylaw that would set
parameters for council to follow
when it comes to raises at its next
meeting on Jan. 20 according to
treasurer and finance manager Brad
Knight.
The raise took effect Jan. 1.
Councillor David Blaney said,
“Yes, we are the worst-paid council
in Huron County, but we all applied
for this job.”
The per-meeting rate is up from
$125 to $127.50, a meeting
exceeding four hours will go from
$160 to $163.20, a half-day seminar
will go from $80 to $81.60 and a
committee meeting will go from $60
to $61.20 and the councillors’ per
diem will go from $4,500 for mayor
Joe Seili to $4,590, $3,500 for
deputy-mayor Bernie MacLellan to
$3,570 and $2,500 for councillors
up to $2,550.
Huron County councillors were
presented with the 2009 draft budget
last week and were surprised to see a
less than one per cent tax increase.
On Jan. 9, treasurer Dave Carey
presented the proposed budget
showing a tax rate increase of 0.96 per
cent.
Warden Ken Oke said that 2009
would be a difficult year to budget for,
with the current global economic
uncertainty. “This is one of the
toughest days we have to put up with.
We only have so much money and it’s
tough making sure it gets to the right
places.”
But after seeing the numbers, Oke
admitted to being surprised. “I think
there’s been a real monkey wrench
thrown into council. I think we were
expecting to hear something much
higher,” he said. “This has really
knocked the wind out of our sails as to
how to proceed.”
Oke and councillors had a
discussion period, largely comprised
of talk surrounding two funding
requests presented to council just
before budget deliberations began.
County council received two
requests for funding, from the
Gateway Rural Health Research
Institute and the Blue Water Rest
Home, for $500,000 and $1,246,000
respectively.
While there was little resistance as
to the worth of the projects the
payment method was up for serious
debate. However, by the time the
initial budget meeting had concluded,
both projects had been voted on to be
included in the budget.
In motions initiated by Huron East
councillor Bill Siemon, council, in a
recorded vote of 12 to five, included
both projects in upcoming drafts of
the budget.
Siemon specified in his motions that
the requested amounts be paid over a
five-year period, which drew
resistance from former Huron County
warden John Bezaire. Bezaire said
he’d like to see the Blue Water Rest
Home project funded on a per-bed
basis, similar to the way the
government is funding their share,
over a 25-year period.
Bezaire said this would work out to
approximately $56,000 annually and
would be easy to accomplish year
after year, rather than taking a big hit
on the budget for five straight years in
tough economic times.
When it came to the funding for the
Gateway Rural Health Research
Institute, he requested further research
into what the institute does, seeing as
how the Huron County Health Unit
also has a research department.
There were also requests from other
councillors for Carey to take a closer
look at the institute’s business plan so
council would know exactly where the
money was going.
Concern was also expressed that
there was no set date as to when the
institute hoped to be self-sufficient, so
when the $500,000 runs out, that the
institute could be back again asking
for more funding.
However, the projects were
approved to be entered into the budget
being paid over a five-year period.
After a request by Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh councillor Ben
Van Diepenbeek, county staff
members then went through their
department’s budget briefly to give
councillors an idea as to where the
proposed money would be going.
However, this was not a very
detailed process as the initial Huron
County budget is already a very
detailed document said several
councillors.
Carey prepared an extremely
detailed budget listing individual
items and costs by department due to
the new PSAB (Public Sector
Accounting Board) regulations which
requires municipalities to account for
all of its assets and begin to list
depreciation.
“The staff didn’t leave us with any
questions as to where the money is
going,” Oke said. “Everything is
literally listed here line by line. We’ve
got what we wanted here.”
Bezaire commented on the new
style of accounting and said his
biggest fear is that “it’s basically an
excuse for the province to stop
funding us.”
“PSAB is an excuse for the province
to step back for a few years and then
say, you shouldn’t need us anymore,”
he said.
More pay
for HE
council
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009
Volume 25 No. 2WINNERS- Pg. 8Lightning girls taketournament gold SPORTS - Pg. 9 Anthony Peters gets intothe SpiritGOOD WORKS - Pg. 6Students off to build school in KenyaPublications 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:
Crash
claims
life
The ball is in Canadian Tire’s
court yet again.
At the Jan. 7 meeting, county
councillors passed a
recommendation from the Dec. 9
committee of the whole that they
would grant relief on a bylaw
affecting traffic out of the proposed
gas bar if the corporation provided a
design including a traffic impact
study for approval by the public
works department and the county.
While all systems are go for the
actual store, currently, the issue of
access has stalled progress on the
gas bar.
Currently the site has a turnoff
lane of Amberley Road, leading
towards Tim Horton’s. Canadian
Tire would like drivers to be able to
exit right back onto Amberley Road.
The bylaw will not allow this,
however as vehicles would directly
into a dedicated right-turn lane, for
vehicles turning onto Hwy. 4.
North Huron councillor Murray
Scott asked about the status of
negotiations at this point.
Director of public works Dave
Laurie said he has met with North
Huron’s clerk-administrator Kriss
Snell but that there is no easy
answer.
In an interview following the
meeting, the county’s civil
engineering technologist Mike
Alcock expressed assurance that the
county and Canadian Tire would
work this out. “Talks will continue
and we will work together. I’m sure
there will be a solution.”
Gas bar
on hold
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
Draft budget shows less than 1% hike
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen