The Citizen, 2007-05-24, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2007. PAGE 7.
People are in a building mood so
far this year in Morris-Turnberry, the
municipality’s chief building official
reported to council, May 15.
Jeff Layton reported 28 building
permits had been issued so far in
2007, up eight from the same period
last year and 15 from 2005.
***
The location of a proposed
Mennonite school in Turnberry Ward
will have to be moved because it
falls within the minimum distance
requirement of a nearby large
livestock operation.
Layton explained that it’s
recommended the school, which
will hold 20 students, be located in
a cluster of existing buildings on
the host farm, outside the
restricted area from the
neighbouring barn.
Nancy Michie, administrator,
clerk-treasurer, explained the
building will be treated as a farm
building. If it is no longer used as a
school it will be removed.
***
Municipal reserves for the
eventual closing of the Morris
landfilll site are in good shape.
Because of reduced material being
sent there, the site is now expected to
be operational until 2060.
Projections are it will cost
$179,500 to close the site.
Today there is $137,500 in a
reserve for that purpose, said
Michie.
***
Council will explore an Adopt-A-
Road program which would enlist
volunteers to help keep municipal
roadsides looking clean.
Deputy-mayor Jim Nelemans
explained the municipality would
buy safety vests to be worn by
volunteers as they were cleaning the
roadside. “It’s one way to get people
to take pride in their community,” he
said.
Mayor Dorothy Kelly said she was
fine with the program as long as it
didn’t create extra work for road
crews in picking up bags of garbage
that had been gathered by the
volunteers.
***
Council agreed to pick up the
option year on the snow removal
contract of McKercher Construction
at the same rates as 2006-2007.
Morris Turnberry council will try
a no-cost approach to a paperless
agenda this summer.
Faced with a report that showed an
investment of $7,000 to purchase
laptops for each councillor plus a
$3,900 set up fee and $3,900 annual
fee, some councillors were ready to
ditch the project.
“We can’t afford this,” said mayor
Dorothy Kelly.
But Michie explained it’s possible
to give codes to councillors to allow
them to a restricted-access area on
the municipal website where they
could download the bulky package
that is normally delivered to each
councillor before each meeting (in
her report she suggested it costs
$3,500 a year to print, bind and
deliver the packages).
Councillor Mark Beaven offered
to be a guinea pig for a trial in which
he would download the information
to his own laptop computer, then
bring it to each meeting and people
could see how the system works.
“I’d like to see if it works,” said
deputy-mayor Jim Nelemans.
“It will give us a chance to see
it,” agreed councillor Edna
McLellan.
Though he volunteered for the
trial, Beaven wasn’t in support of
computers being purchased for each
councillor. Each councillor should
pick up part of the expense because
there would be personal benefits
involved, he said.
“The municipality shouldn’t pay
more than half,” agreed councillor
Paul Gowing.
But Kelly said Central Huron,
which has instituted a similar
system, finds it has to buy new
computers every three years.
And councillor Bill Thompson
was against the idea. “It looks to me
it’s more costly than what we’re
doing now and every three years
you’ll have to buy new computers,”
he said.
“I worry about the people thinking
we’re spending too much money,”
agreed Kelly.
Passing the torch
Making their way down from Wingham, OPP cruisers led the annual Special Olympics Torch
Run down Blyth’s Queen Street on May 16. Over 25 participants were on hand, running down
the street and waving as they passed through with the torch. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Pictures of Home
The Citizen is currently planning its
2007 Commemorative
Brussels Homecoming Issue
and we are looking for pictures of Brussels
to highlight its history.
Drop your pictures off at either of our offices and include
your name on the back of the photo and a brief summary.
Photos will be returned to the Brussels office at a later date.
The Citizen
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Morris-Turnberryexperiments withpaperless agenda
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
Morris-Turnberry council briefs
People in a building mood