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The Citizen, 2008-06-05, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2008. Continued from page 1 impossible to think that the centre could be up and running by then. Planner Carol Leeming gave the second presentations. She discussed the Ontario Municipal Rural Broadband Partnership Program and how it has been working in Huron County. Leeming said she hopes to see most of the county with high speed internet capability by the end of the summer. She said the time has come for the people of Huron County to not be without this “essential service” any longer. She showed slides of the existing towers that are providing high speed access to rural pockets of the county, with towers in Brussels, Walton, Auburn, Londesborough, Benmiller, Molesworth and many more. Leeming went over some of the outreach the county has been attempting. While providing the service, there have been several workshops in the community to ensure that citizens can learn how to use the service at no cost to them. The final presentation was one on Huron County’s on-line interactive mapping tool at http://gis.huroncounty.ca. The site is set up with several layers options that makes it much more than a local Mapquest alternative. There are layers that can show land use and aerial photography to name a few. The site is equipped with a toolbar that is easy to navigate, a help section and a tutorial. WORKSHOPS There were three different workshops available to groups for the first period. There was a follow- up presentation on the planning department’s sustainable Huron presentation, an excursion to a local farm participating in a land stewardship program and a presentation on the new buy local, buy fresh program. While a sustainable environment was the focus of the day, the buy local, buy fresh presentation explored Huron County’s potential for a winery on a very specific type of soil. Richard Fitoussi of the Little Inn in Bayfield explained why the soil along this particular stretch of land would be perfect for growing grapes. Fitoussi, originally from France, said the potential is there to get a Huron County wine business off the ground with the right amount of investors and willing farmers who are lucky enough to be sitting on this fertile soil. He said there would have to be a minimum of 100 acres to start and that investors and farmers would have to be patient and not expect immediate results. The wine business is about maturation and history, he said, but he expects a return on investment (roughly $60,000 per ten acres) in approximately 13 years. However, the projected 13-year return time is based on a farmer who sits behind a desk and delegates, he said, and he knows most Huron County farmers aren’t like that. Fitoussi pointed out Huron’s director of planning Scott Tousaw in the audience and said there should be zoning restrictions on this “precious land” so that no houses goup on it and it can be preserved forits best possible use.A project like this, Fitoussi said,would open a door to Huron Countythat the Niagara region has beenexperiencing for years, a tourism very European in nature, what he calls, gastro-tourism. He used examples of regions that have food tours and cross-promotions set up between wine companies and cheese companies to maximize tourism and revenue by working together. Fitoussi said this project may be the first step in the right direction to attract this kind of tourism. Janice Dunbar and Joan Brady thens spoke about the forthcoming second edition of the Buy Local, Buy Fresh map for Huron-Perth. The map was initiated by the Huron-Perth Farm to Table Committee, which was established in 2000. The map is just one of the initiatives the committee is undertaking. Another is, of course, the Good Food box, which is ongoing throughout the county, simplifying the buy local process. After lunch, three more seminars were offered. The first was Huron Economic Development Matters with senior economic development manager Mike Pullen, a session on engaging volunteers and a discussion on downtown revitalization: a workshop on a very prevalent topic in many rural communities, presented by the county’s specialist on the issue, Kerri Herrfort, downtown revitalization co-ordinator. Herrfort has spent her time with the county working on community involvement and getting citizens to care about their downtowns. One such success story is in Dungannon, where community involvement is the highest it has been in a long time said Jane Hoy who was on hand to speak for the people of Dungannon. Herrfort went through several exercises to display the importance of collaboration, communication and community buy-in, in successful community revitalization. Another step Huron County is taking and Herrfort is overseeing is the customer service excellence training program. She hopes to have 60 per cent of businesses in Huron County trained on this program,making the county the “CustomerService County” of Canada.Herrfort is also travelling thisweek with nearly a dozen others toBoston for a revitalizationconference. After having the audience list several challenges and solutions, she moved onto the four-step approach to downtown revitalization. The first step is organization and scoping, the second is collecting and assessing, the third is planning and prioritizing and the fourth is the implementation of the plan. Herrfort also acknowledged the efforts of Paul Nichol and his associates who are currently working on a study in Brussels and mentioned the Strength in Numbers session in Clinton on June 16 which will discuss how communities in the county can help local businesses.In the third and last workshopsessions, there was a seconddiscussion on sustainable Huron,and a cultural plan overview, CultureMatters by Rick Sickinger and BethRoss with a question and answer period on the diversity of the county. PUBLIC NOTICE - HERBICIDE USE County of Huron Please be advised that spraying to control noxious weeds on the following County Roadsides North of Highway 8: •Blyth Road (Co. Rd. 25) from Blyth to Perth Road 174, London Road (Co. Rd. 4) from Blyth to Gilmour Line, Newry Road (Co. Rd. 16), Amberley Road, (Co. Rd. 86) from Co. Rd. 4 to Perth Road 172, Brussels Line (Co. Rd. 12) from Walton to Belmore, McNaught Line, Ethel Line and, Molesworth Line (Co. Rd. 19), Perth Rd. 178 (Co. Rd. 34), Fordwich Line (Co. Rd. 30), Harriston Road (Co. Rd. 87), Gorrie Line and McIntosh Line (Co Rd. 28), Belmore Line (Co. Rd. 12), Howick-Turnberry Rd. (Co. Rd. 7). The pesticide to be used is Desormone, PCP No. 15027, Milestone, PCP Registration Number 28137, and 2,4-D Amine 500, PCP Registration Number 14725, Registered under the Pest Control Products Act (Canada). Anyone not wishing to have their roadside property treated for noxious weeds should contact Jim Middegaal at the Wroxeter Patrol Yard 519-526-7231. • Benmiller Line & Lucknow Line (Co. Rd. 1), London Road (Co. Rd. 4) from Clinton to Blyth, Base Line (Co. Rd. 8) from Clinton to Co. Rd. 25, North Line (Co. Rd. 12) from Seaforth to Co. Rd. 25, Londesboro Road & Kinburn Line (Co. Rd. 15), Winthrop Road (Co. Rd. 17), Belgrave Road (Co. Rd. 20), Donnybrook Line (Co. Rd. 22), Blyth Road (Co. Rd. 25) from Hwy. 21 to Blyth, Sharpes Creek Line, Londesboro Road & Saltford Road (Co. Rd. 31) from Hwy. 21 to Hwy. 8, Amberley Road - both sides (Co. Rd. 86) from Lucknow to Co. Rd. 4. The pesticide to be used is Milestone, PCP Registration Number 28137, and 2,4-D Amine 500, PCP Registration Number 14725, under the Pest Control Products Act (Canada). Anyone not wishing to have their roadside property treated for noxious weeds should contact Bert Middegaal at the Auburn Patrol Yard 519-526-7231. Any questions, please contact the undersigned: County of Huron Highways Department 1-888-524-8394 ext. 504 Or Wilderness Vegetation Management 1-888-202-8342 ext. 21 Thank You for growing our business with us. Come CelebrateCome Celebrate 11 00 yrs of business with1100% off storewide plus many additional markdowns • Door prizes galore •Refreshments •Giveaways promoting “Going Green” Fri. June 6th 9:30 - 8 pm Sat. June 7th 9 - 5 pm Sun. June 9th 11 - 4 pm Hope to see you there! Jill 75 Ontario Road, Mitchell 519-348-9834 Give us a call 519-887-9061 Fax 519-887-8734 Cell Phone 519-357-6547 R.R. 2 Bluevale It’s Gardening Time • Natural Mulch • Screened Topsoil • Regular Topsoil (call ahead to make arrangements) • Sand • Gravel • Fill • Loading & Hauling • Backhoeing • Bulldozing • Excavating Delivery Available You Pickup John CONSTRUCTION LTD. Conference attendees hear broadband status A dramatic concept Huron County called on some local actors to explain the concept of sustainability at last week’s Huron Community Matters conference in Brussels. Sustainability has been the county’s buzz word since January when it began its study on sustainability and possible revisions to its five-year plan. (Shawn Loughlin photo)