The Citizen, 2019-01-03, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 3, 2019
Volume 35 No. 1
YEAR IN REVIEW - Pg. 9
‘The Citizen’ looks back on
the eventful 2018 that was
BUILDING - Pg. 18
Local details building of
accessible home in Blyth
LEGACY - Pg. 8
Architect pens piece
on Brussels Library
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:
North Huron signs fire agreements
BMGCC
cuts into
its deficit
North Huron Township has signed
fire service agreements with Morris-
Turnberry and Central Huron that
include changes to the way fire
service will be billed for the
municipalities.
After working with North Huron
staff members and their counterparts
in Morris-Turnberry and Central
Huron, North Huron Fire Chief
Marty Bedard announced the
agreement had been finalized at
council’s final meeting of 2018.
The agreement has changed the
way municipalities are charged for
the operational costs of the
department, relying on weighted
assessments, while charges for
individual calls will be borne by that
specific municipality.
Bedard said that he had taken the
calls from the previous five years
and that expense worked out to
approximately $500 per call.
Bedard said that equipment
reserves will also be capped at a
contribution of $100,000 per year,
down slightly from previous years,
and if further funds for equipment
are necessary, the municipalities will
be approached for funding.
While Central Huron and Morris-
Turnberry have signed on for the
service, Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh’s protection agreement
remains in effect until 2020. At that
point, Bedard said he would
approach that council with the
updated agreement.
North Huron Council approved
the new agreement.
MORRIS-TURNBERRY
Morris-Turnberry Council was
pleased with the changes that were
made to the agreement to share fire
services with North Huron.
Administrator Clerk-Treasurer
Nancy Michie said that the changes
were in favour of Morris-Turnberry,
featuring clearer wording, a change
in the billing model and other
modifications. She recommended
that council pass the agreement,
which will see North Huron provide
fire service in portions of Morris-
Turnberry for the next five years.
Council did approve the changes,
with Mayor Jamie Heffer saying he
was happy that the agreement
included all council’s requested
changes.
He said that, after previous
negotiations regarding fire with
North Huron, he was satisfied with
the outcome of these negotiations.
During the previous negotiations
for fire coverage, North Huron found
itself at odds with Morris-Turnberry,
Central Huron and ACW, whose
councils originally balked at price
increases for the service.
Huron East Treasurer Paula
Michiels says the municipality is on
track for a small surplus once the
book is officially closed on 2018’s
finances.
While she said there have been
few financial surprises for Huron
East, some developments made for
pleasant reading for council at its
final meeting of 2018.
The Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre, she said, was on
track for a deficit of approximately
$35,000 by the end of the year. She
told council that the municipality
had budgeted for a deficit of over
$70,000 for the centre, meaning that
the money budgeted, but not used,
made it a good year for the centre.
The unspent money could then be
put towards the community centre’s
accumulated deficit in an effort to
help pay it down, she said.
Nearly $87,000 from the sale of
the Moncrieff Hall and park will be
transferred to the working capital
reserves for future projects,
Michiels said, while $45,000
budgeted for the purchase of a new
one-tonne truck will be deferred to
2019 due to a lack of trucks being
available.
Under the revenue and
expenditures portion of the budget,
Michiels told councillors that the
municipality was in a surplus
position of just under $660,000.
She did say that with some wages
and small expenses remaining to be
paid, that would be reduced slightly,
but that she expected the
municipality to end the year in a
healthy, surplus position, which was
good news to end the financial year.
Huron East Council has decided to
wait and see on retail cannabis
locations, deciding not to exercise its
right to opt out of permitting
cannabis retail locations in the
municipality.
Chief Administrative Officer Brad
Knight spoke to the issue at
council’s final meeting of 2018,
presenting some facts that would
make Huron East’s downtown cores
unique, given the circumstances.
He said, for example, that retail
cannabis locations will not be
permitted to open within 150 metres
of a school. With St. James Catholic
School just off of the main street,
those regulations would “sterilize”
the vast majority of Seaforth’s
downtown core, Knight said.
There could be opportunity south
of town hall on Seaforth’s main
street, but there are limited retail
buildings available, so he felt
Seaforth wouldn’t be conducive to a
retail outlet.
“Council should acknowledge
both that recreation cannabis has
been legalized and that the potential
retail locations are somewhat limited
with respect to the impact of St.
James School on the Seaforth
commercial core,” Knight said in his
report to council. “Given the limited
potential, it is questionable if the
opting out provisions would be
necessary even if council decided
to prohibit retail locations.”
Other downtowns in Huron East,
however, could host retail outlets,
such as Brussels or Vanastra.
However, due to the limited number
of outlets being rolled out and the
method by which those locations
will be chosen, Mayor Bernie
MacLellan felt Huron East didn’t
stand much of a chance of landing an
outlet.
The outlets, he said, will be
chosen by a lottery system and, at
least for the time being, will be
limited to population centres with at
least 50,000 residents, which would
rule Huron East out.
Knight said that if council does
want to eventually opt out of
HE defers on cannabis outlets
The battle for London Road
In a special game just before the holidays, the Central
Huron Secondary School Phoenix girls’ hockey team faced
off against the F.E. Madill Secondary School Mustangs
on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at the Central Huron Community
Complex. The Phoenix beat the Mustangs in a very
tight game by a score of 1-0. The match was special in that
the Central Huron Secondary School student body was invited to
attend, as were Grade 7 and 8 students from the secondary
school’s feeder schools, Clinton, Huron Centennial, Hullett
Central and Seaforth Public Schools. The event, part of the
secondary school’s spirit week, included the school concert band
playing Christmas songs in the lobby. (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 2