HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2006-05-11, Page 1Inside this week
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Playground set at
Brussels school
Anthony Peters to
play in OHL
A Couple reflects on
Ps,. 1 A Couple
day
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11 Cooler heads
prevail at M-T
2 Locals' work in
Pg. Bruce exhibit
Down ramp?
The Citizen W E LC .0 MO;C:P
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Bjyth aadiawasels_ond northern Huron Count
Volume 22 No. 19
Local
churches
will
close
In June 2007 Blyth Catholics who
chOse to attend St. Joseph's-Church
in Clinton or St. Augustine Cintreh
when St. Michael's, Blyth closed,
face another upheaval.
On...April 28 and 30, Bishop
Ronald -Fabbro of the London
Diocese, announced the closing of
five Huron County churches. Two,
St. Augustine Mission, St.
Augustine, and English Martyrs
Mission, Bayfield are slated to be
closed in September 2006. St. Mary
MisSion, Lucknow; St. Joseph
Parish, Kingsbridge and St. Joseph
Parish, Clinton are scheduled to be
closed in June 2007.
In 2001, 200 Catholics celebrated
the 100th anniversary of St.
Michael's Church.
Just a few years later, Christmas
2004 marked the last service held at
St. Michael's Church. It was closed
and the congregation was combined
wit)' St. Joseph's congregation in
Clinton. Approximately 20 people
regularly attended mass at St.
Michael's at the time.
Denise Dalton, Huron-Perth
regional co-ordinator for the diocese
stated that although St. Joseph's was
St. Michael's sister church. in fact.
upon the closure, Blyth area
Catholics were welcomed into the
congregations in Wingham,
Brussels, and Lticknow, as well as
Clinton.
In discussing the criteria for
closure, Dalton said regarding the
issue of accessibility that "no one
need to travel more than one-half
hour by car in good. weather."
She also indicated that the number
of masses each priest was having to
celebrate weekly was another
consideration, as were whether or
not the church was holding weekly
masses, and how full the church was
during the mass.
"There is an expectation that the
Continued on page 6
By Carol Burns
Citizen staff
The tearing apart of a face .of
Memorial Hall, the ramp and the
surrounding landscaping beside it is
a symbol of a community group and
local government working together.
"We received a Trillium grant of
$35,000 at the beginning of the year,
and Feb. 1. we had a meeting with
North Huron Twp. staff and some
councillors to plan -how to meet
health and safety standards,
maintain accessibility and -minimize
disruption to the building's tenants,"
said Jane Gardner, Blyth Festival
general manager. -
North Huron is contributing
$100,000 to the renovations.
Gardner added that staff has been
increasingly concerned about the
safety of the Festival's patrons for at
least three years.
Water has been pooling in places
on the ramp, making . walking
treacherous especially in the winter.
Bricks have been falling from the
surface of the building onto the
ramp area. Water has been leaking
into the men's washroom.
"So far no one has been hit by a
brick." Gardener said.
The ramp was built by the theatre
during the 1970s to improve access
to Memorial Hall for seniors and
people with mobility difficulties .
Gardner said that rebuilding the
ramp to meet current standards
would require extending the ramp
out onto the public sidewalk.
"This was not a satisfactory
Coutinued on page 6
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
North Huron council is looking at
ways to lighten the load for Belgrave
residents who have to pay capital
costs for water on vacant lots.
Steve Delisle expressed his
frustration at the May 3 meeting of
council. Delisle said he had
purchased the lot adjacent to his
property as an extended yard for, his
children, with the intention of selling
some day.
Delisle said he had contacted the
township on numerous occasions to
verify that there would be no levy on
the empty lots until a building permit
was issued and had been told that
was the case..
"I thoughtl could call for accurate
information but apparently not."
Speaking on behalf of other
Belgrave residents in North Huron
facing the same situation, Delisle-
said, "Some of us with empty lots
feel a little railroaded."
Councillor Archie MacGowan
tried to explain the difficulty the
township, was in. "We didn't realize
until a week before the final report
came in that we would have to carry
$90,000 if we didn't have the empty
lots chip in. I'm not sure how else to
handle it."
It was explained that other
municipalities have levied lots
whether they hook into the system or
not.
Delisle said that lots haven't been
Thursday, May 11, 2006
moving well in the area. "I'm kind of
stuck with a lot unless the township
wants to buy it-from me."
Saying that . the lot is fully
serviced, Delisle said he would like
to see a five year timeframe given to
him to sell the lot or as a last resort
he would merge it with his other
property.
Retiring clerk-administrator John
Stewart said that the process is in
place for deeming the two lots as
one. This could be repealed down the
road.
However, if Delisle was given five
years, council has to borrow -the
money to cover the costs. "You can't,
use taxpayers' money to subsidize
water. We'd have to borrow or jack
up the rates."
The question then was posed as to
whether Delisle would be willing to
pay the interest costs over that five
years.
"I'm open to that. It's better than
paying out a large amount now. I
don't .know where some of the
people are going to get the money."
Asked by MacGowan how many
would be in the same circumstance
as Delisle, Stewart said there were
only two or three specific cases
where the lots touch, though there-
are 14 large lots.
After Delisle left the meeting,
councillors continued their
discussion. Stewart said staff had
been talking over the issue and were
split on the best option. "If we put a
timeframe on it, we have to put
$1 (93c + 7c GST)
interest on it. It's not fair for the
neighbours to pick up someone
else's interest payment."
The new clerk-administrator Kriss
Snell who worked on many land and
deyelopment issues as clerk of North
Perth, stressed that council must
come up with terms and an
agreement. "At the end of the time, if
the money's not collected then
collect it on taxes. I know it's done."
Coming back to deeming as a
possibility, Stewart said that are
reasons why it is beneficial, but "I'm
not sure at all that the situaiton in
Belgrave is the best plan."
Snell explained that there were
two issues to consider with deeming.
"You could possibly lose
development property forever so it's
not good from a land use planning
perspective. From the ratepayer's
perspective I wouldn't want it
because you could be giving up land
use to another council." /'
Told that Delisle would also
eventually have to pay the principal,
councillor Murray Nesbitt asked,
"So' it's the same as just getting the
loan himself in the first place?"
"Sure is," said Snell.
Stewart acknowledged that this is
a difficult position and suggested
that council try to work out a
proposal. "We knew this would
happend because, there are so few
users. The upgrades we've had to put
in mean it's extremely costly for
them. I fell sorry for them, I really
do."
The Humphrey subdivision had a
new water system that had never had
a problem, said Stewart, yet, the
province set the new standards' that
had to be followed.
This wasn't helped by the fact that
the tender price came in
considerably higher. "Again this was
nothing we had any control over,"
said Stewart.
Deputy-reeve Murray Scott also
expressed sympathy for the
ratepayers and said he was in favour
of trying anything that might make it
easier for them. '
There was also some thoughts on
whether a one size fits all system for
Belgrave, which is split between two
municipalities, Morris-Turnberry
and North Huron.
"Trying to create one water system
was a good idea, but I'm not sure
we've been.going at it the right way,"
said Stewart.
The system in North Huron was a
newer one than the one in Morris-
Turnberry, he added. "I think what
should happen is the council and
people on the Humphrey side decide
how they're going to operate their
section, then make a
recommendation to the water
committee and make it work.
Council and the residents should sort
it out ahead of time, but it's probably
too late to do that now."
Scott 'agreed that they need more
time to talk the issue over.
Discussion will continue at the next
water committee meeting.
Work begins at Blyth Memorial Hall
Watching the tearing down of the Memorial Hall ramp was an awe-inspiring experience as the
equipment operator carefully, maneuvered between 437Queen St., the former library and
Memorial Hall. (Carol Burns photo)
NH council tries to find solution