HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-11-15, Page 1The CitizenVolume 23 No. 45 Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 $1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Inside this week
Pg. 6
Pg. 8
Pg. 10
Pg. 15
Pg. 22
NH road crew gets
part-time help
Winning week for
local teams
ARC looks to the
future
Shriners donate to
hospital
Larry Mercey and
Friends at Hall
Levels of local government have a
bone to pick with the province and its
Ombudsman,André Marin.
As of Jan. 1,new changes to the
Municipal Act allow Ontari o
res idents to lodge an offi c i a l
complaint if a municipal council,
board or committee meets behind
closed doors. If a municipality hasn’t
appointed an investigator to deal with
complaints,they will be handled by
Marin’s office,free of charge.
At the Nov. 7 meeting of Huron
County council information from the
A s s o c i a tion of Municipalities of
O n t a r io (AMO) was circ u l a t e d
renouncing Mari n ’s “ swe e p i n g
generalizations”to the media.
“ T he Ontario Gove rn m e n t ’s
O m bu d s m a n ,André Martin has
made several comments recently in
the media about the use of closed
door meetings by mu n i c i p a l
gove rn m e n t s .Th e y are consistent
with views that he pres ented in
N ove mber 2006 during the
committee hearings stage of
Municipal Act amendment.”
These comments,the information
continues,are being made on the
“basis of presumption.”
“We respect the Ombudsman’s
i n t e rest in open and tra n s p a r e n t
gove rn m e n t ,h o weve r ,we have a
mu ch gre ate r ap p re c i atio n for the
d egree to wh i ch mu n i c i p a l i t i e s
conduct their affairs in full view of
the public.”
“Municipal councils add ress a
wide va r iety of business thro u g h
council meetings and a re l at i ve ly
small number of those circumstances
provide for closed meetings under
the Municipal Act. These incl u d e
matters pertaining to labour relations
or employee negotiations; litigation
or potential litigation; solicitor-client
p r iv i l ege; security of pro p e r t y ;
personal matters about identifiable
individuals,including employees and
proposed or pending acquisition or
disposition of land.”
Warden Deb Shewfelt said “AMO
has answered that they think he was
off base,to put everyone in the same
category. I think I can speak for
Huron County and the lower tiers
when I say closed meetings are not
abused.”
Saying he was offended by Marin’s
remarks to the media,Shewfelt noted
that it is understandable that there
may have been some examples of
this in the province.“But to link us
all discredits us.”
Chief administrative officer Larry
Adams said a rep o r t is being
prepared for the committee of the
whole and a recommendation will
come forward at the next council
meeting.
On the Monday previous,North
Marin’s
remarks
irk NH,
county
Broadband
ever closer
New library for Brussels
Brussels will see a new building
this spri n g ,as citizen s voted in
favour of a new library to replace the
existing Carnegie library.
At the public mee ting held in
Brussels on Nov. 7,a vote of 12-4
sealed the fate of the library situation
for good.
Huron East deputy-mayor Bernie
MacLellan said he would have liked
to see half of Brussels at the
m e e t i n g,but understood that this
was not the case.
M a yor Joe Seili had similar
i n t e n t i o n s ,s t r at e gi c a l ly sch e d u l i n g
the meeting on Nov. 7 at the arena
following the Duff’s United Church
supper.
“A c t u a l l y,the turnout wa s
probably great for a public meeting.
A lot of the people who were there
last time were there this time. It was
a busy night in town and we were
hoping that a lot of the people would
come up to the public meeting after
the supper,”Seili said.
“We thought that if we did have
the meeting [at the arena] that we’d
get more people,but I guess that
didn’t work.”
The Decision
The main question of last week’s
meeting was whether to renovate the
existing building,or to build a new
library entirely.
Councillors said they would like to
see a new building go up in Brussels.
Not for any other re a s o n ,t h a n
business,with renovation quotations
spanning from $525,000 to $788,000
and with new building quotations
from $750,000 to $993,000. With
such a small margin between the
two,building a new building makes
far more sense,they said.
Another reason was the possible
repair cost that could come with
renovating the existing building.The
roof was raised as a point of concern
as well as the electricity the old
fixtures in the Carnegie Library uses.
A n y rep a i r s would come at an
additional cost to the quoted price.
“At least we’ve got direction to go
a h e a d . It is a slow process in
planning. It never moves as fast as
you want it to,but you try and get the
public’s ideas. This is spending a lot
of public money and looking
towards the future,”Seili said.
“We can budget and control cost
m o r e on a new bu i l d i n g. On a
re n o vat i o n ,until you re m o ve the
walls,you don’t know what you’re
getting into.”
Seili also told the public that,“To
do nothing is not an option”,and if
the project was stalled again,the
l i b r a ry wo u l d n ’t meet county
requirements and they would close
its doors.
The current price quotat i o n s ,
MacLellan said,are extremely high.
Council hopes that once local
contractors are brought in on the
project,prices will go down. As the
price stands,council is proposing a
$600,000 ceiling of cost on the
project,which works out to $400 per
s q u a r e foot. Seili and MacLellan
said they hope to get the project
completed for less,as most new
houses in the area are built at a cost
of $150-$200 per square foot.
This decision also comes after
council researched two buildings in
the Brussels dow n t own core and
found none of them to be feasible for
the square - f o o t age Huron County
now requires of its libraries.
The New Building
Council presented architect John
Rutledge’s drawings of the proposed
addition to the existing building and
a new building.
The new building would be just up
O r ch a r d Lane from the ex i s t i n g
bu i l d i n g,with a new parking lot
b e t w een. This would allev i a t e
parking concerns in the downtown
core.
It was a celeb rat o ry mood as
Huron County council welcomed a
recommendation to sign the contract
for broadband service at the Nov. 7
meeting.
Planner Carol Leeming wa s
present to give a f ollow-up report
right on the heels of the committee
of the whole pre s e n t ation. “ T h e
timeline is challenging. It’s driving
the process to proceed as quickly as
possible.”
H u r on was one of 18
municipalities that received approval
for funding subject to the
completion of a formal request for
p r oposal process to select a
broadband service provider.
She introduced the review team,
who were also present,Chris Lee,
chair of the Huron East economic
development committee,IT manager
Kim Reid,R o ger Watt and
consultant Brock Vodden.
The pro j e c t ,wh i c h has been
funded by OMAFRA to a maximum
of $850,000,must have cash and in-
kind contributions of $1,700,000 to
access the funding.
The committee has worked closely
on the project with Pe r th. Th ey
ra n ked four proposals that we r e
submitted on evaluation criteria that
i n c luded ge n e r al assessment of
ap p ro a ch ,t e chn ical and fi n a n c i a l
plans and the company or
o rga n i z a t i o n ’s ability to complete
the project by the March 31
d e a d l i n e. All costs must be
submitted by that date to qualify for
re-imbursement,said Leeming.
The actual constru c t i o n ,s a i d
Leeming,must be done b y June.
B e fo r e the end of that month a
progress report must be delivered to
the Ministry outlining the project
results to date.
A second interview was conducted
by the Huron Review Team with
Comcentric Networking Inc.,then a
final ranking was done of the four
proposals with Comcentric chosen
as the preferred vendor.
Perth,said Leeming is considering
a different proposal.
Remembering
There was a good turnout to the Brussels cenotaph on Sunday morning for the annual
Remembrance Day service. Wreaths were laid and poppies placed in memory of loved ones
and to commemorate the sacrifice of those who gave their lives in war. In addition to Legion
members, the pipe band, local Guiding units and Cadets participated in the service. Rev.
Cathrine Campbell officiated as padre. (Vicky Bremner photo)
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
Continued on page 7
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
Continued on page 6
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 6