HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-05-05, Page 1The Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 21 No. 18 Thursday, May 5, 2005
NH i
| NORTH HURON PUBUSHING COMPANY INC. |
Inside this week
Pg. 7
Pg-8
Pg. 10
Pg-13
Residents hear First
Impressions
Time with the
Stanley Cup
AMDSB revisits
French immersion
Home and Garden
section begins
D 2% North Huron passes *5* W budget
Board
begins
spending
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The Avon Maitland District School
Board began to spend its $1.1
million share of the provincial
government’s recently-announced
Good Places to Learn initiative, with
the approval of five projects at a
regular meeting Tuesday, April 26.
“A window of opportunity for
infrastructure improvement has now
been created,” statedjin update about
Good Places to Learn, provided for
the meeting by business
superintendent Janet Baird-Jackson.
“(Under) Stage 1, we can use the
$1,145 million in funds to finance
approximately $15,737 million
worth of work in our schools.”
At the meeting, tendered contracts
were approved for the replacement
of air handling units at elementary
schools in Brussels and Belgrave,
and of boilers in Clinton Public
School and F.E. Madill Secondary
School in Wingham. And the most
costly of the five was the planned re
roofing of about half of South Huron
District High School in Exeter, at an
expected price of $570,000.
According to Baird-Jackson, more
tendering processes were expected to
conclude in the days following the
meeting, including a major roofing
project at St. Marys DCVI.
At South Huron, Exeter-based
Smith Peat Roofing was the
successful contractor, out of five
bids.
Cliff’s Plumbing and Heating
submitted the low bids in both of the
air handling unit projects — both of
which will renew equipment serving
the respective school’s library and
computer lab. At Brussels Public
School, the projected cost is
$48,283, while the work at East
Wawanosh Public School is
expected to cost $44,356.
The same contractor was also
successful in the F.E. Madill
tendering process, submitting a bid
of just over $242,000 for the
replacement of the boiler. At Clinton
Public School, meanwhile. Turner
Continued on page 12
To mark a season
Blyth Festival artistic director Eric Coates unveiled the 2005 season poster on Saturday
evening during a reception prior to the 3x3 art draw. The original oil painting, The Broad Gold
Wake of the Afternoon, by Willem Verhulst, is the central image of the poster and brochure.
Coates, who saw the painting at an exhibition in Stratford, said he knew at once that it would
represent Blyth. (Jim Brown photo)
Residents diseuss village needs
By Jim Brown
Citizen staff
Improved entrance signage, a
bakery/lunch room and walking
trails are just three of the things
Brussels residents want to revitalize
their downtown area.
A seniors’ centre/meeting place, a
pharmacy/medical clinic and a
flower shop are among other
establishments that are desired by
residents.
Brussels and area residents were
given the opportunity to learn about
the village’s trade area and the area’s
demographics at a presentation last
Wednesday evening at the
Mennonite Community Church.
Nancy Ross of the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and Housing
(MMAH) opened the evening by
asking those in attendance what they
felt was needed in Brussels.
They came up with a list of
approximately 20 items, including
those already mentioned. Other
establishments desired were a
licensed eating establishment,
window displays in the vacant
stores, a large agricultural business
such as a killing plant to anchor the
revitalized downtown core and a
seasonal farmer’s market among
others.
Norm Ragetlie, program lead for
municipal development of the
MMAH, then presented an overview
of the general trends impacting
downtowns and the small rural
communities are coping with the
challenges.
He indicated the small rural
community may have a long list of
businesses they would like to attract,
but they should learn to prioritize to
determine which would be the most
beneficial and which would be the
easiest to accomplish or attract.
According to Ragetlie, some
common drivers for downtown
revitalization are a demographic
change and an aging infrastructure.
There is also the regional context of
businesses and the local context.
In the regional context,
communities in the Greater Golden
Horseshoe are dealing with
population growth and new
development while at the same time
fighting loss of identity and urban
sprawl.
Brussels on the other hand is
dealing with its distance from the
large urban centres. It’s also looking
for new residents and seeking
investment while dealing with that
greying demographics. Ragetlie
added that centres like Owen Sound,
Delhi and Simcoe are in the same
situation.
While they are different there are
also some similarities. These include
brownfields or vacant properties,
second storey ghettoes and the
opportunities for adoptive reuse and
some incentive programs.
Rural communities have to
recognize the demographics of their
trade area by knowing who the
shoppers are and what they are
looking for. They also have to
understand what services are being
supplied on a regional basis and
which are being provided locally.
MMAH community economic
development analysis specialist
Stephen Morris said the trade area is
that which generates the majority of
consumers (60 to 80 per cent) for a
community, business district or
downtown.
He noted it usually extends
beyond the municipal boundaries of
a community and different
businesses have different trade areas
depending on their products.
Ragetlie said the rural
communities have to understand
regional competition by identifying
their local strengths and the entre
preneurial capacity to evaluate niche
opportunities.
He said the communities have to
look beyond the retail component of
the demographics. They have to
realize there is a sense of place,
some unique qualities of the small
town and the experience economy.
Morris indicated six students
completed a shopping survey during
the March break in an effort to
determine the size of the Brussels
trade area.
The survey noted the Brussels
primary trade area consists of
approximately 3,775 people and
1,345 households or about 2.95
people per household, which is
lower than the provincial average of
3.02
Morris said the household income
of the Brussels region is $55,754 and
of the Brussels trade area is $50,852
while the provincial average is
$67,015.
He said the 4.41 per cent
unemployment in the Brussels
region and the 4.51 per cent in the
Brussels trade area is lower than the
Ontario average of 6.28 per cent.
The immigrant percentage in the
Brussels area is well below the
provincial average of 26.9 per cent.
Ragetlie said that as the role of
downtowns continues to evolve,
small rural centres have to realize
the downtown core is more than a
retail and service business district.
While the business core has always
Continued on page 7
Woman
attends
rally
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
A Brussels woman will be part of
a rally at Queen’s Park May 11
along with an anticipated 2,000
others, in the hopes of drawing
attention to a very personal issue.
Barb Fritz is a member of
Huronia Helpers, a group of parents
and siblings who are fighting to
keep the Huronia Regional Centre,
in Orillia open for their loved ones.
The Centre has been slated for
closure by the end of 2008, though
Fritz said some have been told their
family members could be moved by
October. “Time is running out for
them and those families are in a
panic.”
Huronia and two others, Rideau at
Smiths Falls and Southwestern in
Chatham are the last regional
centres following an initiative,
which began in 1985 to integrate
developmentally disabled people
into the community.
While all three governments have
proceeded with this through the
years, said Fritz, the world has
changed. “They need to go back and
re-assess.
Fritz’s sister, Shirley, who was
born with Down’s Syndrome 52
years ago and who suffers from
multiple developmental disabilities,
has lived at Huronia since January
1958. “This is her home. To be
moved at this stage will be
extremely distressing for her.” (See
story page 12.)
The belief that moving the
residents at this time in their lives
would be more detrimental than
beneficial, and the government’s
apparent determination to stay the
course, has prompted strong action
from the Huronia Helpers.
Psychologist Lyz Sayer, who has
a sister at Huronia, met with the
Minister of Community and Social
Services, Sandra Pupatello in
February. In an e-mail Sayer stated
that Pupatello had stressed that the
government was against
“warehousing” these people. Yet,
“the government is building and
supporting residences such as
Huronia for seniors and students,
but won’t let the disabled live in this
type of housing.”
Earlier this month, Huronia
Helpers engaged the London law
firm of Siskinds, which successfully
battled the provincial government
over the E-coli outbreak in
Walkerton, to advise and negotiate.
Says Sayer, “If they can’t succeed
by informing the powers that be of
the researched and real expected
outcome of this folly, then we will
consider litigation to stop the
outplacements.”
They are encouraging public
support for Wednesday’s rally.
Anyone interested can contact Fritz
at 887-8860. There is also a petition
which can be accessed on the
website at savehuroniacentre.com