HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-01-24, Page 1The CitizenVolume 24 No. 4 Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 $1.25 ($1.19 + 6c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Inside this week
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Rural Response a
rural response
Ag Society presents
awards
Local broomball
teams in tourney
Beef producers get
uplifting message
Brussels clinic open
house a success
Grey firefighters responded to a
barn blaze just west of the
Huron/Perth boundary on Newry
Road early on the morning of Jan.
16.
Fire chief Calvin Semple said they
are not certain yet what started the
fire which began in the older portion
of the barn.
A passing motorist noticed the
blaze and alerted the property
owner, Bruno Lichtensteiger around
5 a.m., said Semple.
Brussels firefighters were called
in to assist with drawing
water, while Atwood’s department
also helped at the scene.
Construction equipment from
Ryan’s Construction was also
brought in.
Firefighters were able to save the
larger portion of the barn, Semple
said. Unfortunately an unknown
number of pigs were lost as a result
of the fire.
Damage was also done to two
Harvestore silos, each about half
full with corn. “Those will be a
costly repair,” said Semple.
The chief estimates the damage at
close to $500,000.
Grey
barn
burns
Shutting it down
Shawn Walker of the highways department placed a barricade at the north edge of Blyth on
Sunday afternoon, closing the road to traffic. Snowsqualls blew into the area in the truest
sense of the word targetting some areas more than others. While this road was closed due to
blowing and drifting snow causing poor visibility and slippery conditions, and Wingham was
virtually blocked, just a short distance west of Blyth, residents reported no significant snowfall.
(Vicky Bremner photo)
Demolition began last week on the
Brussels Country Inn, but the land
beneath it may find itself a key
player in another story, that of the
Brussels Library
The building’s owner, Dave
Rapson, after several years of
courting the property to potential
buyers, found that the land under the
hotel was worth more empty than it
was in its current state and decided
to bring the building down.
After gutting the existing hotel
due to several problems stemming
from water damage due to a broken
roof drain, Rapson made the final
decision to take the building down
when he recently discovered five
new leaks in the roof.
And with a void where a large
piece of Brussels history used to
reside, another historical decision
has come to the minds of several
citizens.
A petition, organized by economic
development manager for the Huron
Business Development Corporation,
Paul Nichol and his wife Kathy,
suggests a possible land swap. The
swap would see Rapson offer up the
newly-leveled Brussels Inn property
as a site for the new library in
exchange for the current site of the
new library just west of the Carnegie
building.
This would result in one of the
largest investments in the village’s
recent history being on the main
street, not tucked behind it.
Nichol can find only logic in the
decision that would take giant steps
towards revitalizing the village’s
main street.
“People here are quite concerned
about detracting from the main
street. Time and time again we talk
about how many good things there
are in Brussels, the recreation, the
sports, the service clubs. But the
thing people keep coming back to is
the state of that main street,” Nichol
said.
“So, the first time we’re going to
make a major investment; this is a
$600,000 building, in our
community; we’re not going to do it
on the main street?”
Rapson says that this community
group has written and circulated this
petition without his knowledge and
he has had just the briefest of
discussions with Huron East staff on
the matter. The issue has not been
formally proposed to council yet,
and the earliest it will be able to be
tabled is at the Feb. 5 meeting.
Rapson met briefly with Huron
East treasurer Brad Knight last week
as he stopped in to pick up the
demolition permit.
“I’m not going to stand in the way
of progress,” Rapson said. “But on
the other hand, I have a business
here, and I want to recoup
something.”
Councillor David Blaney, who has
championed the library since the
topic first came up, says he’d like to
see the new library on the main
street.
“I think if it’s possible, putting the
library facing our main street would
be a very good thing. It would help
to revitalize the downtown and it
would prevent us from having
another vacant spot in the main
commercial district,” Blaney said.
“I’ll be bringing the issue to
council, but I can’t say what council
will do with it. Council will see the
petition, it will be circulated to all
the councillors and they will have to
make a decision as to whether that is
the route they want to take or not. I
can’t say what their answer will be. I
think there are very good reasons
why the library facing the main
street should be considered.”
With the Brussels Library having
sparked debate since legislation
deemed the library inaccessible, this
proposition could be viewed by
council as yet another battle in a war
that has taken far too long.
Measures are already well
underway to have the existing
Carnegie library protected under
historical designation, a bylaw that
should be at council by early
February, says Blaney. This swap
would see the new library go up next
door to the existing Carnegie
building.
“You have to understand that the
horse has kind of left the barn as far
as Huron East council is concerned,”
Nichol said. “They’ve struggled to
get this far and they finally knew
what direction to take and now
here’s someone trying to confuse
things on them. The only way to get
the horse back in the barn is a
petition. Period.”
There are hopes that the change in
circumstance might prove
significant enough to put the brakes
on the project.
“I think council is going to be
quite willing to look at the change in
circumstance and see if it can be
accommodated,” Blaney said.
Rapson has said that he is open to
discussion about a land swap, as a
businessman, he will have a nose for
which deal is the best fit for him as
well as the community.
Petitions have been placed in most
of the businesses on the main street
where they should remain until the
matter is expected to be brought to
council.
As for the future of the Brussels
Library, Blaney says that a public
meeting should be called soon to
discuss possible floor plans for the
new library, wherever it may be.
“There will certainly be another
meeting so the people can see what
the building might look like,”
Blaney said.
“It won’t be an extra meeting to
address this issue. The next meeting
will be the one we always intended
to have so that the local ratepayers
can see what the building should
look like before we plan to build
it.”
Last week the Belgrave
Community Centre Board held a
public meeting to dispel some
rumours that were circulating and to
put some new procedures in place
that will put control back in the
hands of the board.
With rumours circulating
regarding the cost to rent the
Belgrave Community Centre and
that North Huron council was
attempting to take control out of the
hands of board, the public meeting
was held to try and ease concerns.
Reeve Neil Vincent, who is also a
member of the board spoke on
behalf of the council, saying that he
would like to see things continue to
operate as they are.
“One thing I will say on behalf of
all of council is that I would like to
see the building used as much as
possible. If we can come up with any
plan that meets the care and control
requirements that our insurance
company is asking for as well as
what the community wants, that
would be perfect,” Vincent said in a
later interview.
Vincent said that some concerns
were raised over a party that took
place at the community centre where
no rental agreement was signed.
North Huron’s insurance company
caught wind of this and told the
municipality to tighten up the
security at the community centre.
“Council does not want to disrupt
the community board at all. We want
the community board to run the
centre. If we ran it, it would just add
to municipal expenses,” Vincent
said. “If we can meet those care and
control requirements, we are very
happy to let the Belgrave community
centre board keep running it. It was
never the intention of council to take
the control away.”
After insurance insisted that North
Huron step in until security could be
Demolition sparks Brussels petition
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
Meeting
clarifies
issues
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 6