HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-02-28, Page 2PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2019.
Chartrand suggests recreation staff reorganization
There could be some changes in
the future of Huron East’s
recreational departments with
another tough budget year ahead.
Huron East Council discussed the
first draft of the municipal budget at
its Feb. 19 meeting with both the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre and Seaforth and
District Community Centre expected
to post accumulated deficits over
$100,000 by the end of the year.
Those budgets don’t include a new
recreation director position, which
had been discussed extensively at the
time of last fall’s election.
Discussion had surrounded
ensuring the future success of the
municipality’s arenas, especially the
Brussels centre, which could
undergo an expansion and
renovation in the coming years with
a potential price tag of $4.5 million.
Michiels told council, however,
that the budget currently sits with a
shortfall of just under $1.5 million
and that’s without the new position
or a new municipal website,
both projects councillors felt
were essentially for the coming
year.
Brussels Councillor John Lowe
said that while he knew the budget
year was going to be another tough
one, there are some programs that
have to be well-funded if they’re to
be successful.
Tuckersmith Councillor Ray
Chartrand, however, felt that the
recreation department could be
restructured with a director found
from within without having to hire a
new person.
Chartrand said that with three
directors, one at each site (including
the Vanastra Recreation Centre) and
a number of employees, the centres
could certainly be restructured to be
more efficient.
At the meeting, Chartrand said
there were eight employees working
at two arenas, while some
neighbouring municipalities had
arenas with one employee doing all
of the work. Upon further research,
however, there are two full-time
employees at the Brussels centre and
three full-time employees at the
Seaforth centre (though one of those
employees splits his time between
the centre and the public works
department).
Chartrand said there could be a
way to filter all recreation-related
phone calls to one arena and one
director, while each centre could
have its own director.
He suggested that the concept of
restructuring the recreation
department should be discussed by
the personnel department and then a
recommendation could be made to
council before a decision is made.
There, he said, members of the
committee would have to take a hard
look at the numbers and make
decisions based on data, rather than
emotions.
The issue will now be discussed
by the municipality’s personnel
committee before returning to
council at a future meeting.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
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Wanted
Dam decision optics concerning
North Huron Councillor Chris
Palmer wants to make sure the right
message is being sent by council’s
decision to research making the
Howson Dam and Pond Committee
an official committee of council.
During council’s Feb. 19 meeting,
Palmer said that while the
committee seemed happy with the
decision, he wanted to make sure all
councillors were on the same page.
Council had, in directing staff to
look at setting terms for the new
committee, taken a step that the
previous council had not, according
to Palmer, and that could give the
group a false sense of achievement
since the committee wasn’t official
and the dam is still a very expensive
project.
“I want to make sure we don’t lead
them on,” he said. “Surely, they
know the economic situation we’re
in.”
Palmer went on to say that
forming the committee could give
members the credibility to start
fundraising, but that the decision and
feedback have led to some sleepless
nights for him.
Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip said
that council hadn’t committed to
anything yet.
“All council has done is request
information for what the terms of
reference would look like,” he said.
“Nothing has been committed.”
Seip went on to say that the staff
report would come back to council
and council could make a decision
from there.
“We make the decision based on
that,” he said. “We get that
information we need to make a
decision.”
Seip said he didn’t agree with
Palmer’s assessment, saying that
council hadn’t led anyone on, adding
that the issue has been a “hot-button
topic” for more than a year and a
half.
“It’s not going away, but we need
to make sure,” he said. “We have to
put everything in a row, put all the
same information together the
previous council got [and] determine
if the committee is the right fit.”
Seip said all the information,
including the new terms of
reference, needs to come back to
council as one package so that
council members can make the right
decision.
Palmer was still concerned that the
current council doing what the
previous council hadn’t might create
the wrong impression with
ratepayers.
Reeve Bernie Bailey said he had
heard rumours about the issue, but if
ratepayers were concerned about the
committee, they had the right to
come forward and speak to council
about the issue.
Council took no action as a result
of Palmer’s concerns.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Just for fun
Local broomball teams hosted parent-player games over the weekend as part of the winding
down of their seasons. Above, the PeeWee Silver squad faced off against their parents in Blyth
on Saturday. (Hannah Dickie photo)
By Grace Theophilopoulos
The first meeting of the Hensall 4-
H Breakfast Bonanza club was held
on Feb. 22 at the Hensall United
Church after two weeks of
postponement due to winter weather.
The meeting started off with the
4-H pledge and introductions.
Elections were then held. The roll
call for the meeting was, “what are
two things you eat for breakfast?”
Guests Sandy Edelsward and
Carol Dougall from the Huron
County Food Advisors gave a
presentation on Canada’s new food
guide, proper hand washing
techniques and kitchen safety.
The most fun and tasty part of the
meeting was when we divided into
groups and made smoothies. We
tasted and evaluated the three
different smoothies. We thanked our
speakers and ended the meeting
with the 4-H motto, “Learn To Do
By Doing”.
4-H Breakfast Bonanza
Club holds first meeting
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