HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-08-22, Page 1 CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, August 22, 2019
Volume 35 No. 33
FESTIVAL - Pg. 19
Young Company hits the
stage with ‘Eco Echo’
CNE - Pg. 20
Brussels Ambassador
learns plenty at CNE
SPORTS - Pg. 8
Local athlete earns three
national golds, new record
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:
TransCan marks another successful weekend
County moves forward with Natural Heritage Update
Huron County Council has
adopted the Natural Environment
Update (formerly the Natural
Heritage Plan) in principle, pending
ratification of the decision at
council’s Sept. 4 meeting. The
update document and corresponding
updated mapping will now be sent to
lower-tier municipalities to be used
as background information.
The long-awaited decision was
made at council’s Aug. 14 meeting
after a lengthy discussion and
empassioned pleas on both sides.
And while the contents of the update
will be circulated to the lower-tier
municipalities as a reference for
local planning matters, the actual
update itself will be implemented at
the lower-tier level as each
municipality’s five-year official plan
review comes due.
At that point, it will be up
to lower-tier councils whether
the municipality adopts the update.
Huron County Senior Planner
Denise Van Amersfoort said the
recommendation of lower-tier
implementation made the most sense
to the Planning and Development
Department in regards to engaging
residents. When a municipality’s
official plan is up for its five-year
review, there is significant public
consultation, she told council, which
makes it a perfect time to speak to
residents about the update and what
it would mean for the municipality
and for individual properties.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Deputy-Mayor Roger Watt began
the discussion, speaking against the
update. He said he felt approving the
update would be “inappropriate” at
the time because he felt some of the
language was far too vague. Until
updates could be specified, he felt
the project should be put on hold.
He said that while some of the
concerns may not be justified, the
reason they exist, including the lack
of clarity surrounding updates, are
justified. He suggested adopting the
update, which he said was good, but
that was as far as it should go in its
current state. Furthermore, he
rejected the suggestion that adoption
should be at the lower-tier level.
Being a Huron County initiative, he
felt it should be adopted at the
county level as well.
While Van Amersfoort reiterated
her position about adopting the
update locally, complete with local
councillor input and resident
engagement, Watt simply said he
didn’t agree.
Bluewater Mayor Paul Klopp,
however, felt that the update was a
lot of money spent and effort exerted
for nothing. He asked why, if
updated mapping is simply available
through Google or other connected
means, are staff putting money and
effort into the update?
He said that in Bluewater for
planning matters, planners visit
properties when changes are
requested. Updated mapping can be
accessed online at a moment’s
notice, so the update, he felt, was
unnecessary.
Huron County Warden and Central
The 2019 Walton TransCan
marked a return to success,
according to Walton Raceway owner
Brett Lee, who said the week-long
event was a hit.
“The week felt super successful,”
he said. “We know we sold around
800 camping passes, which is huge.
We probably had, on site all week,
4,000 to 5,000 people.”
Lee said that Saturday, the final
day of the competition which
included various championship
finals, there was a huge crowd,
including some newcomers to the
event.
“I think this year we did a good
job of getting local new people in,”
he said. “They were blown away by
the size of the event.”
Lee said that, after taking a year
off from the annual TransCan event
in 2017, this year’s event marked a
return to the successful show
typically put on at the grounds.
“We had that tough year where we
didn’t go, and when we came back
we had around 500 event entries,” he
said. “This year, we had over 750,
which was a huge step forward for
us.”
Lee said that, as a result, industry
sponsors have already made
commitments for next year.
“We’re right back to those really
high level events,” he said. “I was
pretty excited and thrilled with the
crowd on Saturday.”
The riders were also impressed,
Lee said, with several commenting
on the event and the condition of the
track.
Tyler Medaglia, a well-known
After the threat of provincial cuts
to municipal services like child care,
ambulances and health care was put
on hold earlier this year, Premier
Doug Ford is implementing those
cuts as of Jan. 1, 2020.
Ford made the announcement at
the annual conference for the
Association of Municipalities of
Ontario (AMO), which was held
earlier this week in Ottawa.
Ford’s new funding model will see
all municipalities in Ontario, which
includes Toronto, pay 30 per cent of
public health care costs. In addition,
municipalities will have to pay 20
per cent of the cost of creating new
child care spaces as of Jan. 1. The
province had previously entirely
funded that program. Land
ambulance funding will also
increase by four per cent under the
new plan, he said.
The Ford government had initially
hoped to roll out the new funding
model, including retroactive cuts to
municipalities, earlier this year.
However, facing immense backlash
from municipal leaders, who had
already completed their budgets for
the year, the government paused the
cuts, saying they would be revisited
Ford announces municipal cuts
Another great year
The Walton Raceway and its annual TransCan Grand
National Championship have both been described as
hidden gems of Huron County. Over the weekend, however,
thousands found their way to Walton for the event, which is
continuing to gain steam in the years since
its untimely shutdown in 2017. This year’s event was billed as “one
last ride” for champion rider Colton Facciotti and, according to
organizer and raceway owner Brett Lee, it lived up to the hype,
delivering on the track for the thousands of attendees of all ages
over the course of the weekend. (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 2
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 3
Continued on page 11
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen