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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1988-08-10, Page 1HELP 32 page service directory included inside Cigarette theft Thieves steal from EMA See page 5 Winners Brussels Bantams win See page 11 Bd. of Ed. changes election boundaries Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. VOL 4 NO. 32 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1988.45 CENTS Flying high, Moto-cross racers Gord Whiteley of RR 1, Atwood, front, and Jerry Bremner of Brussels put in some practice laps at their cross-country track in Morris Township before heading out to competitions at several southwestern Ont'' *o tracks for weekend racing. Said to be among the fittest of all athletes, dirt-bike racers must have serves of steel and muscles to match to keep up in their high-speed and dangerous sport. Brussels looks for celebration Brussels council would like to see the village with the same kind of big summer celebration other communities have and will ask local service clubs to come up with ideas. Pointing to other communities that have bean festivals or corn festivals, Councillor Malcolm Jacobs told council Monday night, he felt Brussels should have some kind of celebration unique to itself. He pointed to the example of a tiny community outside Toronto that has been organizing a festival each year for the last 20 years and last year attracted 20,000 people. That community doesn’t have nearly the business centre Brussels does, he said. The problem would be not just in finding a unique event but in getting enough people involved, Councillor Jacobs said. “Can it be done year after year? Will people co-operate and work together?” In the tiny community festival he talked about, everyone in the village got involved because they knew it was their one chance to raise money for local activities. Councillor Bruce Hahn said he knew that the Lions Club had already been trying to come up with new fundraising ideas. “It’s not easy”, he said. However, he said, he felt the Lions would be glad to meet with other groups and discuss ideas. Council agreed to send out letters to various community groups asking them to send representatives to a meeting and try to come up with ideas which all could be involved with. “Maybe it won’t work,” Coun cillor Jacobs said, “but at least we can say we tried.” Committee approval has been given to a new formula governing public school trustee distribution in Huron County, which will see the boundaries of all butfour of the present school board electoral districts changed at the municipal elections in November. The new distribution will also mean the addition of two new members to the board, bringing the total to 16. A committee consisting of the clerks of the towns of Goderich and Exeter, and of the Township of Stephen, representing the three regions in the county with the largest representation of public school supporters, met in Clinton on Monday with Huron County clerk-administrator Bill Hanly and HCBE director of Education Bob Allen, where they approved the trustee distribution recommended by the HCBE at a special meeting August 2. The new electoral boundaries are the result of Bill 125, which was given Royal Assent in June, providing for school trustees across the province to be distribut- ed according to support popula tion, rather than on the basis of total property tax assessment, as has been the case in the past. The addition of two trustees to the HCBE is the result of a motion russels considers changing trailer law Brussels council will reconsider its zoning bylaw that prohibits the location of mobile homes anywhere but in the village’s mobile home park. Reeve Gordon Workman brought up the subject at the August meeting of council Monday night, saying he felt Brussels was “only cutting our own throats if we don’t let people park a mobile home on those (empty) lots and get the tax money.” People who locate trailers on lots are likely to do it as a first step toward building a house in the future, heargued. Some mobile homes are as good as houses in appearance. Councillor Bruce Hahn pointed out there is a fine line between the kind of mobile home that would be acceptable and what would not. Reeve Workman suggested that if Councillor Hahn could come up with suggestions on how to draw Brussels council briefs Pay Equity law expensive With only one female on staff, the village of Brussels will have to pay $1,800 to conduct a study necessary to conform to a new Ontario pay equity law. The first payment of $900 for the study was approved by Brussels village council Monday night but not without complaining. Under the new pay equity legislation, all government employers must undergo a study to determine if female employees are being paid fairly in relation to men carrying on jobsofthe same skill level, whether or not the jobs are similar. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has agreed to undertake the studies for municipalities and has hired a consultant to do the work. Brusselsshare of the cost passed by the board in June, following the inclusion of an amendment to Bill 125, secured to an Ontario Public School Trustees’ Association lobby group, to permit boards to increase or decrease their total board size by one or two trustees. The loss of two of its trustees in 1987, as a result of full funding for separate schools in Ontario, had long rankled with the Huron board, which lost no time in moving to bring its total up to 16 members again. “We have found that the work load, especially on the committees, has been too heavy with only 14 members on the board, ’ ’ said John Jewitt, HCBE chairman. “Sixteen trustees will mean a much fairer distribution of the load.” The new electoral boundaries for Huron, expected tobe approved by the municipalities involved, the county, the Ontario Municipal Board (0MB) and the ministry of education, will see the present school board divisions of Brussels and Grey Twp.; Stephen Twp.; Goderich and Colborne Twps.; and Bayfield and Stanley Twp. remain unchanged. However, the present division of Seaforth and Hullett and McKillop Twps., currently represented by Continued on page 5 thatline he should do so, sAying new blood (it was councillor Hahn’s first meeting) can often solve problems. Reeve Workman suggested that if someone from Brussels wants a trailer and can’t get it, nine times out of 10 they’ll end up moving out of town. Earlier in the meeting the council learned there are two applications for the one open space in the municipal mobile home park. The first to arrive is from a Wingham resident and the second from a Brussels resident. Council felt in fairness that if the trailer is acceptable, the first applicant should be given the space. Council agreed to ask the Huron County Planning and Develop ment department what would be involved in changing the by-law to allow mobile homes outside the mobile home park. The issue will then be discussed further. will be $1800. “They’ll come up here and see we haveonewoman” Hugh Hanly, clerk-treasurer told council, then they’ll go away and write a report on whether she should get more money. “If it’s costing us $1800, I’d like to see what it’s costing the cities.” “And what are we getting for it,’’ Reeve Gordon Workman complained. Like it or not, Mr. Hanly pointed out, it is the law and Brussels can either pay AMO’s consultant or go it alone and probably pay a lot more for another consultant. ***** Brussels has begun action under the Property Standards Bylaw Continued on page 2