HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-04-06, Page 1Crusaders win
WOAA crown
See page 17
Brussels plans
open house
See page 2
Co-operative
development
proposed
See page 3
Volunteer runs
gymnastics
program
See page 5
Report
shows many
expenses
under budget
It was good news and more good
news when Brussels council got the
final year-end figures for 1987
Monday night from its auditors.
Nancy Exel and Luc Gagnon of
Pannell Kerr MacGillivray presen
ted the 31 - page financial report for
the village. PUC and the various
boards and committees operating
under the village's financial con
trol showing a surplus of $52,351
for all the organizations and
$33,169 for operations of the
village itself.
The good news went further as
the report showed that tax arrears
in the village are the lowest they
havebeeninthe pastsix years,
averagingonly $21 percapita or
seven per cent of the total tax
billing. In 1986 the arrears stood at
$43 per capita or 16 per cent the
lowest if had been in the previous
five years. Arrears reached a high
in 1982when fully 20 per cent of
taxes were in arrears.
“Basically you had a very good
year,’’ Mrs. Exel told the council
lors . She said the village is in a very
strong financial position with a
surplus of over $33,000 to help
offset tax increases, about double
the surplus from last year.
The decline in tax arrears was
also welcome news, she said and
praised the efforts of village office
staff to collect more tax arrears.
The improvement in the situation
says a lot for the financial stability
of the town, she said. By way of
comparison she said tax arrears
range from under two per cent in
some larger towns in the area to 15
to 20 per cent in some rural
townships.
Reeve Gordon Workman asked
if it was wise for council to use up
the whole surplus in reducing taxes
or to plan for the future by building
up reserve funds. Mrs. Exel said
that it is a good idea for council to
continue to build reserves for
possible emergencies in the fu
ture. As well, she said, if the
government announces an attrac
tive new program in mid year after
the budget is set, municipalities
with money in reserve can take
advantage of the program while
those that have no reserves may be
unable to raise their share of such a
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
VOL. 4 NO. 14 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1988.45 CENTS
Many travellers have been delighted to see large flocks of giant white
swans, like these on Concession 4-5 of Morris Township just east of
Belgrave, resting and feeding on local ponds, sloughs and flooded
fields over the past week. Locally called Tundra Swans, neither MNR
staff at Wingham or Steve Cooke of Clinton, noted outdoorsman and
writer, would venture a guess as to whether the birds are actually
either Trumpeter or Whistling Swans, the two species listed in current
bird guides: the two species are virtually impossible to tell apart, short
of killing them. Tundra Swans are not an endangered species,
according to the MNR, but they are vigorously protected. They usually
stay In the area for a week to 10 days.
program.
Both revenues and expenditures
were up from 1986. Total revenues
raised from all sources this year
totalled $944,788 compared to
$866,250 in 1986 (with $220,761 in
1987 and $206,344 in 1986 going to
county and school board levels).
Total expenses for the year
increased to $676,895 from
$665,181 in 1986.
Besides the $33,000 surplus in
general municipal operations the
catering group for the Brussels,
Morris and Grey community centre
had an accumulated surplus of
$24,503, the Homecoming Com
mittee had a surplus of $4,060
(after already giving several
grants). This is the first year the
catering group’s funds have been
channeled through the village
books, a move necessitated by
demands of provincial officials for
better elected controls over all
municipal organizations.
Expenses in several areas were
Continued on page 2
Blyth hosts Opportunity Tour Sept 14
The foreign investment Oppor
tunity Tour being planned for this
fall by the Ministry of Industry,
Trade and Technology in conjunc-
ion with the counties of Huron,
Perth, Middlesex, Grey and Bruce
will be in Blyth on Wednesday,
September 14.
The group of 20 to 30 potential
investors andtheir spouses and
companions will arrive in the
village late in the afternoon, when
they will be given the opportunity
to view the two investment oppor-
tunities identified by the Blyth
Industrial and Tourism Commit
tee. They will then be treated to a
“real country supper’ ’ at the Blyth
Memorial Hall, according to BITC
secretary Elaine Scrimgeour, and
will later attend a performance of
BordertownCafe at the Festival
Theatre.
“It’s fitting that‘Bordertown’ is
on that night, since most of these
people will likely be Americans,’’
Mrs. Scrimgeour said. Called “the
best new play of 1987’’ by London
critic Doug Bale, Bordertown Cafe
is about a boy coming of age at the
Canada-US border, torn between
his loyalties to both countries. It
opened in Blyth last summer, and
is back by popular demand this
season.
Blyth is one of five municipali-
tieswhichwillbe visited by the
group during its 48-hour stopover
in Huron County, each of which
had submitted investment oppor
tunities to the tour’s planning
committee by the January dead
line. Altogether, Huron business
men will present 19 of the 36
investment opportunities identi
fied by all five counties involved, a
featwhich Wayne Caldwell, senior
planner with the Huron County
Planning Department called “re
markable.’’
The schedule for the Huron
County portion of the tour, which
was approved at a meeting of the
planning committee in Goderich
March 21, will see the group arrive
in the county late in the afternoon
of September 13, when they will be
taken to their lodgings at the
Benmiller Inn, later to be hosted to
a county-sponsored banquet at the
Maitland Country Club in Bay
field.
If time permits, theymaytour
Goderich that afternoon as well, to
view the area and/or the two
projects identified by the town.
Most of Wednesday will be spent in
Seaforth and Tuckersmith Town
ship, which together have put
forward 14 projects for considera
tion, before going on to Blyth.
The group will have breakfast at
Benmiller on the morning of
September 15, and may return to
Goderich for a last look, if time
permits, before going on to
Wingham, their final stop, where
they will have lunch before leaving
the county for Bruce County.
Wingham has put forth one project
for consideration.
The Brussels, Morris and Grey
Industrial Committee had origin
ally asked if the Opportunity Tour
could stop in Brussels, although
the group had not been able to
identify any investment opportuni
ties in the area prior to deadline.
However, the logistics of the
cramped schedule made this im
possible, and the BMG Committee
says that it will instead put
together a promotion package for
the area which it will present to the
Continued on page 3