HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-07-04, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 4, 2019
Volume 35 No. 27
GRADUATION - Pg. 9
‘The Citizen’ honours
local Grade 8 grads
FESTIVAL - Pg. 27
‘Cakewalk’ returns to
the Blyth Festival stage
AWARDS - Pg. 2
Blyth Festival artists take home
Dora Mavor Moore Awards
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
Pedestrian safety concerns persist
Outdoor
market
to open
The Blyth Outdoor Market will
kick off tonight, Thursday, July 4,
and run every Thursday evening
throughout the summer.
The market will be located on the
new cement pad just north of the
Blyth Pharmacy, the former Blyth
CIBC branch and run from 4-8 p.m.
Thursday nights through July and
August.
Market organizer Courtney
Bachert told the Blyth Business
Improvement Area (BIA) at its
June 27 meeting that the market may
be a bit slow to start, but she has
high hopes for vendor numbers and
attendance come August.
“Basically, since we just recently
saw what the space is going to be
like, we could start slow,” she said.
“We are getting a lot of interest as
far as August goes.”
Bachert said she plans to have
fresh food at the market, to eat on
site or to take home, as well as
makers, crafters, live music and
artists plying their trades live.
For tonight’s inaugural market,
she said she has lined up live music
as well as an ice cream vendor.
Vendor spaces are still available,
she said, and cost $15 per week,
Bachert said.
BIA Chair David Sparling, who is
offering the use of the land beside
the pharmacy, said that tents will be
provided and electricity is available
through outlets on the north side of
the pharmacy.
Insurance is also yet to be figured
out for the event, Sparling said,
though if it can’t be acquired
through the BIA, he said his
company, DEAMS Holdings Inc.,
would insure the space for multiple
uses, including the market.
Sparling said that when he started
renovating the bank, he realized just
how much space was available to the
north of the structure on the site.
“When we saw how much space
was available on the property,
especially with taking down the
trees to prevent roof damage, we
saw a lot of potential,” he said.
Sparling said that last year’s
market may have suffered due to its
location, first being in an alley
behind the Blyth branch of the
Royal Canadian Legion then further
south at the Blyth Christian
Reformed Church.
“The church wasn’t as ideal a
location as we could have found,” he
said. “Hopefully the new market in
the new space will be successful.”
For more information, e-mail
blythoutdoormarket@gmail.com.
Pedestrian safety continues to be a
hot topic for the Blyth Business
Improvement Area (BIA), especially
concerning County Road 4.
During the BIA’s June 27 meeting,
Chair David Sparling said he had
received significant feedback on the
proposed crosswalk for the
community, set to be installed in the
village’s downtown core, but
pedestrian traffic from the south end
of the village was still left wanting.
“There are questions coming up
about people walking from [Blyth
Cowbell Brewing Company] into
town,” he said. “There are also
comments about people getting to
and from the playgrounds in town.”
He said he wasn’t sure how the
BIA fits into the discussion, but said
connecting the development at the
south end of the community to
existing pedestrian infrastructure
would be a “win for the village’s
downtown.”
“The bottom line is, there is a lot
of chatter and genuine concern for
the safety of people walking in our
community,” he said. “It can’t be
fixed over night. We have to work
within the rules and timelines that
Huron County and North Huron
set.”
Sparling then deferred to North
Huron Council representative Kevin
Falconer, who said that connecting
the development at the south end of
Blyth to the downtown core is a high
priority for North Huron, but not a
project council wanted to have to do
twice.
“We’re kind of waiting to not do
the work twice,” he said. “We’re
trying to push Huron County into
doing something at the corner [of
County Roads 4 and 25] because
whatever we do has to match their
layout as to what the corner will
look like.”
He said that waiting on Huron
County to make a decision on the
controversial intersection is holding
up North Huron, since Huron
County is responsible for that
intersection.
Falconer suggested that asking
about it during an upcoming
information meeting about Blyth’s
proposed downtown crosswalk
would be a good idea.
The meeting is set for July 15 with
sessions at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Blyth
Memorial Hall.
“The sidewalk is in the plan,” he
said. “North Huron is ready to do it.
It’s not a financial issue. It would be
totally within the budget, and we’re
preparing for it, but we’re waiting on
Huron County Council.”
Sparling said that several visiting
cyclists that took part in the Cowbell
cycling team’s fundraiser last month
said they felt it was odd that the
sidewalks just end a block before the
intersection at the south end of the
community so it would be good to
push the project forward as soon as
possible.
He went on to say that, in the near
future, the BIA should pen letters to
North Huron and Huron County
urging the projects to go ahead.
SIDEWALK TRAFFIC
Irene Kellins of Stitches With a
Twist also aired concerns about
people using sidewalks in the
community for motor vehicles.
She said she had encountered two
people operating riding lawnmowers
on the sidewalk in front of her store
one week last month. The presence
of those vehicles, she said, is a safety
concern.
Other members of the BIA agreed,
comparing the presence of the
riding lawnmowers to snowmobile
operators who use sidewalks to
move their vehicles through the
village.
No action was taken as a result of
the discussion.
A time to honour
On Sunday, June 30, the Brussels Branch of the Royal
Canadian Legion held its annual decoration service at the
Brussels Cemetery, just south of the village, to help honour
and remember those buried there with a focus on the
veterans who gave their lives defending Canada. As is tradition,
the Brussels Legion Pipe Band led members of the Legion,
including Padre Sandra Cable and the colour party into the
cemetery before the service began. (Mark Nonkes photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen