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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-04-04, Page 1County gives final approval to Huronview plans Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. VOL. 6 NO. 14 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 1990.50 CENTS Settlement reached on Blyth ball park The lengthy dispute over the completion of the renovation of the George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond was settled Thursday night when Blyth village council and the Blyth Industrial Slow-Pitch Tournament Committee reached an agreement to cover expenses that have already- been paid by the village and costs necessary to put the ball diamond back in playing condition. The agreement was worked out in a meeting between village councillors and a group of repre­ sentatives of the ball committee at the regular meeting of council Thursday night. Interested obser­ vers at the meeting were represen­ tatives of George Radford Con­ struction Limited, the contractor involved in digging out the dia­ mond and building it up again. For ball diamond users it means the diamond should be in use for at least part of the summer. Esti­ mates given Thursday night were that the park might be ready by July 1. For village ratepayers it means le project will be completed with very little actual out-of-pocket ex­ penses. Council basically agreed to use a portion of its grant money available through PRIDE fuding to pay for 50 per cent of the funding and the ball committee would pay for the remainder, in part with a three-year, interest-free loan from the village of up to $6,000 to be repaid within three years. The village had already paid bills totalling $7,302.05 for the project which were not included in the original grant from the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation that paid for up to one-third of the costs of the project to a limit of $36,000 total costs. The project’s cost had already increased to $43,704.05 with an estimated $11,500 required to finish the project. The ball group agreed to give an additional $2,000 to the project at this time. It still had $1,642.14 left from its original bank deposit for the project. It meant it had a total of $3,642 available for the project in cash. After meeting in a separate Continued on page 3 What to do, what to do Princess Pristine (Carrie Salsbury), Prince Duncan (Duncan McGregor), the elder prince of the realm, Prince Oswald (Steve Oliver) the younger brother, and Prince Zippo (Floyd Herman), take a moment to mourn at Blyth Festival's Medieval Feast Saturday night for their dear parents Queen Katherineand King Peter who have passed away. Thesituation unfolded throughout the evening as they try to find a new king and queen for the realm. The Huronview North project at the south edge of Brussels and a new Huronview committee resi­ dence at Clinton took one giant step closer to reality Thursday when Huron Council gave final approval to the detailed program proposal and functional program study for the $21 million project. The two studies will now be forwarded to the Ministry of Com­ munity and Social Services for approval of the project. If all goes according to the current time table, tenders for the two new buildings ■Id be called in August. nere is a sense of urgency in getting the buildings underway because of rapidly escalating costs. When the report of the Seniors Care Facilities Committee was presented in 1988 it proposed to build three homes, a smaller replacement for Huronview at Clin­ ton plus satellite homes in the north and south of the county (totalling 320 beds) for a cost of $65,000 per bed. By the latest estimate withonly 224 beds, the cost had risen to $94,500 per bed. Estimated construction costs are now put at $125 per square foot and some councillors Thursday were questioning if that figure might not be too small. Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle ques­ tioned the Committee of Manage­ ment for Huronview about the costs, saying he had heard about a project in eastern Ontario where the cost for a home for the aged was $156 per square foot and for a senior citizens apartment was $126. Gail Lamb, architect for the project told council that she had heard the same story and investi­ gated and felt that perhaps the building was a multi-floor building which increases costs compared to the two one-floor buildings propos­ ed in Huron. She had recently completed a one-floor building at a cost of $111 per square foot, she said. However, she said, some things are changing that will increase costs. The government has now asked that all of the apartments in the alternative hous­ ing sections, (20 apartments in Brussels and 20 in Clinton), be accessible for wheel chairs instead of just some as in the original plans. It means increases in space needed around doors among other things she said. Later in the day Reeve Mickle made a motion that would have put a cap on the county’s contribution project of $9 million. It would send a signal to the province that the county has a limit in how much it can spend, he said. He was supported by Lossie Fuller, deputy-reeve of Exeter who said that when the Huron County Museum was built a cap was placed on spending and it worked well. Claus Breede, project director for the construction of the museum explained the cap had worked well in the case of the museum. The original tender had h^en 45 per cent over the cap but revisions were made to the plans so the job could be done for the same amount. Nigel Bellchamber, county clerk­ administrator said that the differ­ ence is there is more flexibility in a museum plan than a home fog; the aged where there are many govern­ ment requirements. In the end. the proposal for a cap ' was turned down in a recorded vote by a margin of 18-10.