Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-02-26, Page 1 The Ci etizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 20 No. 8 Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 I NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC. Inside this week Pg. 2 Pg. 3 Pg. 6 Madill robot ready to Pg. 24 compete Pg. 9 Biyth Atoms WOAA champs Brussels man celebrates 95th MVCA holds annual meeting Ladies Auxiliary donates Concerns over 911 numbering for M-T By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff During the Morris-Turnberry council meeting on. Feb. 17, councillors reviewed and deferred a letter expressing concern regarding the 911 numbering system in urban areas. Jason Dodds, 911 co-ordinator for the County of Huron, submitted a letter requesting authorization from the council, to get the urban data for future review to ensure the best 911 service to all residents. The information is needed because there are problems in some urban areas with duplicate road names making it difficult for emergency response vehicles to the find the right location. The review is to correct any such problems within the county. When 911 commenced, the policy was established that there could be no duplicate road names in a municipality, but now it is the opinion of the 911 committee that there be no duplicates within the county. Pending approval of all municipalities, a new policy and procedure manual will be proyided. "This will be difficult for people too. They will have to change the address on their driver's licence," said Dorothy Kelly, mayor of Morris-Turnberry. The letter included steps that will be taken to resolVe the issue which are a comprehensive review of the numbering within the urban areas as it relates to the 911 database, assessment information and emergency mapping and to validate all geographical data including street names and addresses with all the organizations involved with 911. "The information provided from these tasks will be critical to the Continued on page 10 Dairy producers meet in Brussels farmers after the discovery of BSE last May. "We are dealing with low prices (or no prices at all) for cull cows, no export market for our heifers, a questionable veal market for our bull calves and in some cases, too much milk. It still amazes me that one sick animal can have such an impact on so many individual farms," said deBoer. She continued . the meeting by acknowledging her appreciation of Caroline KHaver's excellent job as the new dairy educator, who took over for Tammy Sparling in September. Klaver said she has been having a lot-of fun as a dairy educator. She said there are 31 schools in Huron County and she has been to 13 of them, informing students of dairy production and safety. Among the different schools, she has made 45 presentations with 25 left to go and in September, she hopes to have many more presentations set up. This summer, Klaver said she and other committees will attend a meeting called Meetings of Minds, a 10-year review of the program to see (Elyse DeBruyn photo) By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff The Huron County committee for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario held its annual meeting last Thursday which included guest speakers, award presentations arid raising $400 for a donation. The meeting took place at the Royal Canadian Legion in Brussels and as outgoing chair of the committee, Jocelyn deBoer gave her speech. She said she realized "its been quite a year for the dairy industry," after first dealing with the WTO decision that made it clear "our export milk was not in compliance with world trade rules." She said many dairy farmers had to adjust their production to comply with the decision made by the WTO and are still dealing with those who are unwilling to make needed adjustments. "It is obvious we are producing for the domestic market and we must do whatever we can to develop those markets." She explained the effects on dairy what can be made better and what can be removed. Bill Wallace informed everyone that he attended the Perth-Huron Dairy Day meeting in December and learned that other dairy farmers in the area had been donating cows that are of little value, to local food banks. He said Huron County dairy farmers showed interest in donating their animals and in total, 11 cows were donated and processed. About two tons of hamburger was given to the eight food banks in Huron County. "Businesses were good to donate the processing and the farmers were good to donate the cows. The food banks have said to hold off a little bit because they have enough for now. I guess that's, the good part, that they have enough and don't need to feed more," Said Wallace. Wallace and deBoer passed around a hat for donations towards processing another cow. They said they wanted to raise about $250, which _would cover the cost for a cow and a half. In total, about $400 Continued on page 14 $1 (93c + 7c GST) Huron East has message for county By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor Huron East council had news for the county, and they're hoping the rest of the municipalities feel the same. At the Feb. 17 meeting councillor Mark Beaven presented a resolution essentially telling Huron County councillors that a big increase on the county share of the levy is not acceptable. His recommendation asks county council, "to demonstrate leadership in regards to fiscal responsibility and urges county council to make some difficult decisions to keep any tax increase to an acceptable level." It is being circulated to local municipalities for endorsement and being sent on to the county. Though" at a meeting last week, county councillors sent back a proposal suggesting a 35 per cent hike in taxes, the "rumours" Beaven has heard since don't alter his view. In a phone interview Friday, Beaven said he has heard the latest proposal is for a 25 per cent increase. "It seems the county is not willing to- make tough decisions." Making the recommendation, Beaven said, was prompted by his concern for his rural municipality. "The agricultural community is under a tight strain right now. Even a 25 per cent increase at the county level is going to do a lot of harm to rural Huron." Taking the fall isn't popular with Beaven either. "When John Q Public gets their tax bill and it's jumped from $1,400 to $1,900 he's fuming. And who does he hold responsible? Local government." Beaven notes that Huron East council has been making tough decisions in order to get their budget down to show a 4.5 per cent hike. "We are under the same pressures as the county in terms of downloaded services and it's not affected our road maintenance or similar services." "It's unfair that the county jacks up the taxes while we at the local level have gone painstakingly through our budget and shown responsible leadership in my opinion." What he wants from the county is that they put everything "on the table". "It's time to pull it apart like a straw dog and consider everythint. then make some tough decisions. Heave, Hoe These firefighters from the Grey Fire Department are not making a rescue, but trying to beat °` about 50 kids in a tug o' war during the second annual Ethel Community Snowfest on Feb. 22. After much deliberation of who was cheating and who wasn't (somehow each end got tied to a tree or log) the kids walked away with the victory.