HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-03-18, Page 1Vol. 14 No. 11
Wednesday, March 18, 1998
lox4-5xGST 750
Citizen
The North Huron
N. Huron Group waiting for county Reaching her constituents
With the help of Huron County Warden Jack Colemen,
left, and Wingham Mayor Don Carter, Huron MPP Helen
Johns cut the ribbon for the official opening of her second
constituency office, this one located in Wingham.
Numerous dignitaries and business people were in
attendance to welcome her to the community. The office
will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.
Turning the tables
Brussels PubliC School Grade 4 student Devon Josling had the unique opportunity to be
principal for a half day after winning a draw. Aside from his duties of patrolling the
playgrounds, reviewing library books and disciplining fellow students, Josling took great joy
in jokingly scolding Principal Howard Morton as he took Josling's place in class.
Sports
Blyth Bantams, Midget
Bulldogs advance to
OMHA finals
See page 8
Farm
Special section focusses
on Huron County's No. 1
industry
See inside
Entertainment
Local family set to do
concert on Blyth
Memorial Hall stage
See page 20
The time has come to see what
the county can do about the restruc-
turing issue.
With the county's strategic plan-
ning committee preparing options
to be presented at a meeting at the
end of March, the North Huron
Municipal Review Committee took
a "sit back and see" position at its
March 12 meeting in East
Wawanosh.
A motion was made, however, to
send a letter to the county re-
affirming the North Huron commit-
tee's support of a two-tier system.
The committee had also reviewed
responses from the 10 North Huron
municipalities regarding which
restructuring option they prefeTred.
Option 1 is a grouping of all
municipalities, while Option 2 is
two groupings of five.
Responses were received from
Brussels, Grey, Tumberry, Morris,
East Wawanosh, West Wawanosh,
Wingham and Blyth. Howick and
Ashfield did not respond.
Secretary Brad Knight saidafter
the meeting that all the municipal
reps present respected the respons-
es and positions. "They could rec-
ognize the reasons each had for
making their decision. It was very
positive that way. There was no
polarization against any of the the-
ories."
Grey and Brussels were the only
ones of the eight to support Option
2. However, Grey also suggested
the township boundaries should be
not be considered absolute. They
said that grouping of municipalities
around urban areas should be
investigated to reflect communities
of interest.
Rosemary Rognvaldson, the
Howick representative said that
while her council had not made a
formal reply, it was her understand-
ing that they preferred the smaller
groupings. Like Grey Twp., she
noted that Howick had a significant
community Of interest, Perth Coun-
ty, outside of Huron.
Tumberry expressed a preference
to a grouping based on the Wing-
ham and Area Fire Board, while
Morris selected neither option.
They stated they would wait for the
county study.
West Wawanosh said they had
some preference for a grouping of
East and West Wawanosh, Ash-
field, and Colborne, the latter of
which has not been included in the
terms of reference.
A motion to amend the terms -of
reference did occur to include Hul-
lett Twp. The original terms of ref-
erence had defined the study area
as the 10 municipalities north of
County Road 25. Hullett, however,
had said they would like to be
included in the group because of
their existing ties with Blyth.
Before adjourning the committee
reached a consensus that they
would like the county's strategic
planning committee to make a pre-
sentation of any options to the
North Huron group.
Until that time, "we are in a hold-
ing pattern," said Knight.
From a $50 million fund set up
by the Ontario Government, Huron
County received an additional
$1,348,422 in funding for
highways in a presentation by
Helen Johns, MPP for Huron
March 12.
"This funding will ensure that
Huron County and other affected
municipalities across our province
have the resources they need to
maintain their local highways," said
Johns. "The money is part of a $50
million fund that our government
has set aside to help municipalities
look after highways that have been
transferred."
"Huron County now has control
over local highways and the funds
needed to make that transition
easier. The province will be able to
focus its resources on highways
The issue of a new air condition-
ing/heating system for the Brussels
Morris Grey Community Centre
came before Grey council once
again at the March 16 session.
After hearing responses from the
affected municipalities, Deputy-
Reeve Alvin McLellan, community
centre board member, said the
board would like the three munici-
palities to agree to leave the
$18,000 in reserves for the present,
but put the air conditioning/heating
After years of planning and
preparation, construction of a new
walking park in Belgrave will soon
be underway.
The Belgrave Kinsmen will be
creating a respite area, the Memory
Lane project, on the site of the old
hotel and the adjacent lot to the
south, donated by the Graham
Anderson estate.
unit plan as a priority for next
year's budget.
"We understand municipalities
don't know how much money they
are going to have, but a lot of
money is made (through renting the
arena/auditorium). We need to keep
it updated," said McLellan.
Councillors Graeme MacDonald
and Lyle Martin agreed that the
project was important as it would
be good for business, particularly
Continued on page 6
With construction to begin in hue
May, the Kinsmen plan to incorpo-
rate a walkway with contributors
names carved in the stones, flower
beds, shrubs and benches.
Open houses will be held at the
Belgrave Community Centre
March 29 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and
March 30 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to
showcase the idea.
MPP announces funds
for highway transfers
that serve the broader provincial
interest."
The $50 million fund enhances
the amount of compensation
previously announced for bridge
construction requirements, enriches
the bonus for municipalities
receiving a disproportionate share
of highway transfers and includes
an additional two-year maintenance
allowance.
The government has provided
$385 million in total compensation
to municipalities, enabling them to
address the additional
responsibility.
"When Huron raised concerns
about maintenance needs, the
government and myself listened
and made sure those concerns were
addressed," said Johns. "This
announcement is good news for
Huron County."
Grey discusses arena again
Belgrave Kinsmen to create park