The Citizen, 2019-10-24, Page 1 CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, October 24, 2019
Volume 35 No. 40
HOME - Pg. 13
‘The Citizen’ presents fall
home improvement guide
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INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
Fire hall construction progressing despite cost jump
Fourth
term for
Lobb
While North Huron Director of
Public Works and Facilities Sean
McGhee reported that the Blyth Fire
hall and Public Works Garage
construction “is progressing well”,
council needed to approve several
change orders for the facility.
In total, the changes to the
building have cost $59,357.50. With
the exception of a purchase of a
generator and switch gear ($55,600)
for the site that was funded through
alternative means, the additional
costs have been paid for out of the
$80,000 contingency fund for the
project. The contingency fund has
been reduced, as a result, to
$20,642.50.
During Monday night’s council
meeting McGhee outlined the most
recent changes to the site:
• Addition of showers ($19,257):
McGhee explained that the number
of planned showers for the
firefighters was insufficient,
resulting in two more being added to
the design. The showers are used
after service calls to reduce
contaminates picked up by the
firefighters.
• Eye-wash stations ($3,300): As
construction progressed, McGhee
said a lack of eye-wash stations
resulted in their addition to both the
public works and fire department
side of the structure.
• Exterior conduit ($2,645): With
plans to build a salt and sand shed,
conduit needed to be buried to run
services to the facility.
• Air conditioning upsizing
($1,166): McGhee explained that the
mechanical room, which includes
hardware necessary for the operation
of the facility, was going to run
hotter than anticipated, requiring a
stronger air conditioning unit.
• Gear racks ($15,000): While
plans had originally called for the
fire department’s gear racks to be
removed from the Emergency
Services Training Centre and placed
at the new site, the two-sided racks
won’t work in the new facility. The
existing racks are also not designed
to be separated to allow them to fit
the space. New racks will be
necessary and the municipality may
be able to sell the existing racks in
the future.
• Tower installation ($15,350): A
communications tower at the ESTC
was going to be moved to the new
site, McGhee said, however moving
the 65-foot tower was going to prove
so expensive it made more sense to
purchase a new tower.
The tower is a critical piece of
infrastructure for the communication
systems in the new facility.
• Phase converter ($2,700): The
system the fire department uses to
fill its self-contained breathing
apparatuses utilizes three-phase
power, which the new site doesn’t
have. The converter will take the
single-phase power at the new site
and “bump it up,” McGhee said, to
three-phase, allowing the continued
use of the unit.
Councillor Chris Palmer was
surprised by some of the cost, and
asked if there were other expenses
expected.
McGhee said these items would
hopefully be the last “big ticket”
expenses associated with the facility.
He said that the tradespeople had
moved in to the structure, so any
further changes should be minor.
That said, McGhee did warn
council it’s impossible to predict all
the contingencies on a project.
Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip
reminded his fellow council
members that all the changes had
been requested by the municipality,
not the contractors.
“I’m not excited about this, but
given the turn-around, it makes
sense,” he said, referring to the fact
that the municipality had a very
short time frame from the time the
ESTC was sold to when this new
structure needed to be complete. “If
the ribbon is cut and the firefighters
are happy, that’s the goal. At the end
of the day, this facility is there for
the ratepayers.”
Council approved the changes to
the site.
Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb is
back in Ottawa for a fourth
consecutive term after voters turned
out in very strong numbers to
support him in Monday night’s
election.
Lobb was declared the winner of
his riding just before 9:30 p.m.,
when only a quarter of the polls had
reported. Over 29,350 people cast
their vote for Lobb once all 259 of
Huron-Bruce’s polls had reported
(according to Elections Canada as of
Tuesday morning) which constitutes
48.7 per cent of the vote in an
election that saw voter turnout of
over 70 per cent in Huron-Bruce.
This happened on a night that
Justin Trudeau was elected Prime
Minister for a second straight term.
This time, however, he will operate
in a minority government capacity,
with the Liberals winning 157 seats
and the Conservatives gaining up to
121 seats. This election also saw a
surge in the Bloc Quebecois, which
earned 32 seats, more than tripling
its previous seat count of 10.
The Liberals won 33.1 per cent of
the popular vote across the country,
while the Conservatives garnered
34.4 per cent of the votes, putting
Canada in the rare position of the
After being hosted in Listowel for
four years, an annual elite-level
women’s bonspiel called the Part II
Bistro Ladies Classic is being
moved by hosts Katie and Shawn
Cottrill to the Wingham Golf and
Curling Club.
The event, which was founded five
years ago, has become too big for
the Listowel club, which resulted in
teams being turned away last year
and the push to relocate the event. It
is set for Nov. 29-Dec. 1.
“The event had outgrown the
Listowel Curling Club,” Shawn
explained.
In its first two years, there were
between 10 and 12 teams, with a
high of 15 to 16 after that.
“Last year we had 20, and we had
Elite bonspiel now in Wingham
Balancing act
Life is just a little more interesting when you’re hanging
upside down. Molly Bolinger, left, Loralei Gross, centre, and
Leah Boven, right, gave it a try on Monday morning at
Hullett Central Public School. With a nip in the air and cool
temperatures in the forecast, the students took the opportunity to
be outside before this year’s Huron County winter takes hold.
Perhaps the shift in focus provided the young ladies a new
perspective on things. (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 3
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 11
ELECTION - Pg. 2
Thompson to assess future
after second election loss
OBITUARIES - Pg. 8
Long-time Stanley Cup
engraver dies at 86