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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-07-17, Page 20The efforts of the Brussels Library fundraising committee have paid off. Since being formed in early April, the committee has raised over $60,000, half of its initial target. And due to meeting its recent targets, the committee successfully petitioned Huron East council to proceed with the tendering process. Committee chair Charlie Hoy submitted a letter to council on behalf of the committee members asking council to proceed with the tendering process as half of the expected amount had been raised and the other half is figured to be coming very soon. Council voted 6-5 in favour of beginning the tendering process as soon as the final architect plans are ready at its July 8 meeting. Working with the initial agreement made between the municipality and the Brussels Community Trust, the committee has raised just over $40,000 on its own. The Trust, however, agreed to match every donation on a 50 per cent basis, up to $50,000. So the $40,000 raised by the committee will be joined by $20,000 so far from the Trust. So far, the committee has received a $20,000 pledge (payable over three years) from the Brussels Lions Club and a $10,000 pledge from the Brussels Optimists Club, in addition to approximately $11,000 in private donations. The committee’s efforts, however, are far from over. “We’re still brainstorming. We wanted to see what kind of a reaction we’d get from the pledge forms and just take it from there,” Hoy said. “We’re extremely pleased with the results so far. It’s wonderful what the service groups have donated and we’re very happy with some of the private donations.” Some of the upcoming events are the used-book sale that Cath- rine Campbell will be holding on the Brussels Fun Fest weekend at Melville Presbyterian Church and the Brussels Womens Institute will be selling raffle tickets for a quilt they made to be drawn in September. Hoy hopes to continue soliciting private donations, insisting that no donation is too small and that the three-year pledge is an important detail for people to remember. “We’re hoping a lot of private pledges will come through in the coming months,” he said. “It was the community itself that said they wanted a new library and we’re hoping they’ll back this project, as council is. We’re also hoping that having the fundraising spread out over three years will make it that much easier on everyone.” The committee is currently in the process of erecting a fundraising thermometer so the village can see how far it’s come and how it’s progressing in the coming weeks. They are also hard at work on a Wall of Recognition concept, although the details still have to be ironed out. Hoy says that everyone, regardless of how much they donated, will have their name on the wall. If people are interested in donating used books to the sale, they should call Campbell at (519) 887-9083. For general fundraising information, people can call Hoy at (519) 887- 8581 or Paul Nichol at the Huron Business Development Corporation at (519) 527-0305. PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2008.Plans are being put into motion thatcould see construction on the newBrussels Library start this winter.Huron East council voted by a 6-5 margin to begin the tendering process for the library at its July 8 meeting. Final plans for the library are not yet completed, but they are very close, says clerk-administrator Jack McLachlan, putting an estimation on the municipality receiving tenders as soon as one month from now. In giving the architect two more weeks to finalize plans, then for the municipality to tender the project andwait two weeks for them to come in,Huron East could be seeing tendersvery soon.McLachlan says the municipality isconsidering specifying the project as apossible winter project, which he thinks could increase its appeal to contractors. The motion came as a result of a letter submitted to council from library fundraising committee chair Charlie Hoy announcing that the committee has already raised $60,000, half of its goal. Initially, council decided to set a deadline of 60 days from its last public meeting, the fundraisingcommittee has since exceeded that.Some councillors felt the committeehad shown significant progress withwhat it had raised, while some felt thattenders shouldn’t be called until thefull amount was raised. The project is included in the 2008 budget, but there had always been uncertainty surrounding it. It was the decision of council to include the project and then if it were to be delayed to 2009, the municipality would then be operating with a surplus and be prepared for it. In addition to the Family Health Team building in Seaforth incurring unanticipated costs, at its last meeting,council approved salary increases thatsaw approximately $60,000 come outof the budget and into municipalemployee pockets.Mayor Joe Seili reiterated a point hehas been making since the beginning of this project, that he hoped to see the project go ahead sooner rather than later. The longer the projects waits, he said, the more expensive it will be. Not only that, he said, but another concern he had was the back-up that many contractors are experiencing during the current construction season. “If we were to go to tender tomorrow, we’d be lucky if we could start in November,” he said.Councillor Bernie MacLellan saidthat he didn’t see a problem with that,saying that the new structure could beenclosed within a week. Any workfrom then on could be done indoors,and therefore, during the winter. Councillor David Blaney called for a recorded vote over this motion. With councillor Joe Steffler absent, 11 councillors were left. Voting for the motion were Seili, MacLellan, Blaney, Orval Bauer, Andy Flowers and Les Falconer and voting against the motion were Larry McGrath, Alvin McLellan, Bob Fisher, Bill Siemon and Frank Stretton. Library committee’s fundraising efforts pay off HE council moves ahead on library tender A hatchet job Blyth firefighter Mike Kerr cuts a hole to get water into the attic of a barn that caught fire last week in Hullett. This was the second time the firefighters had been called to this particular location. The fire broke out the day before but a flare-up in the attic brought them back the next day. (Vicky Bremner photo) 404 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 The CitizenCheck out these and other books at: Summer Reading COMPLETE HYDRANGEAS More than 140 pages, with 180 colour photos of this versatile, hardy plant. 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