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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2018-02-22, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: OLYMPICS - Pg. 9 Daltons meet Peterses after pivotal Olympic hockey game ScoUTs/GUIDES - Pg. 10 Local Scouts and Guides celebrated in community LEO CLUB - Pg. 19 Brussels Leo Club celebrates achievements Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 Citiz Volume 34 No. 8 WELCOME TO BLYTH ESTABLISHED 1877 $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, February 22, 2018 Digging deep The Belgrave snow volleyball tournament over the weekend, hosted by the Belgrave Kinsmen, brought out 10 teams, twice the number the club attracted last year, to compete and have fun. Above, the Veggies, shown, took on the Vincent Vikings in one of the earlier games of the day and posted a win. There were four fields in play for the tournament, and everyone was having a good time. The event was just one of many Family Day activities orchestrated by local community groups throughout the area. (Denny Scott photo) North Huron Council cuts back recycling By Denny Scott The Citizen As part of reducing its 2018 levy increase from 14.49 per cent to what council members hope will be closer to a five per cent levy increase, North Huron Township is slashing recycling collection in Wingham and Blyth in half. During a budget meeting on Feb. 8, North Huron Council approved reducing recycling in Blyth and Wingham from weekly to bi-weekly. The change will save an estimated $18,226 annually. Councillor Yolanda Ritesma- Teeninga took the opportunity to also suggest bi-weekly garbage pick-up and a municipal composting program to try and further cut costs, saying that her family generates more recycling than garbage. "I put out one bag of garbage every other week by composting, but we put out four blue boxes every week," she said. Ritesma-Teeninga's suggestion was made nearly seven months to the day that council, after debating the same suggested change, decided to stick with weekly garbage collection in Wingham and Blyth. Councillor Brock Vodden questioned the savings, saying he wasn't sure how making recycling bi-weekly could result in any efficiencies."I don't see how this is going to be much of a savings," he said. "It's the same trucks that pick up the recycling [and] garbage. It's the same vehicle, the same driver." Director of Finance Donna White said that by changing routes, the municipality's waste collection company could find efficiencies. Council approved the change, however details as to when the switch will be made were not discussed at the meeting. Ritesma-Teeninga, after the motion was carried, said when the full contract for garbage and recycling comes up for renewal, she would like to see bi-weekly pick-up and compost options, as well as wheelie bins, explored in order to cut costs even further. LANDFILL HOURS Later in the meeting, a proposal came forward to limit the hours of the Wingham Landfill Site. While Councillor Trevor Seip said he didn't feel comfortable cutting the landfill hours at the same time as recycling collection was being reduced, other council members felt it made sense to investigate it. White said reviewing the landfill's operations could provide an opportunity to close the site during low -use periods, however Seip stood his ground. "I don't want to ruffle a lot of feathers," he said. "I think we've had some significant service discussions today. The conversation about bi-weekly recycling could directly impact this as well." Seip went on to say that people may need to access the landfill more with recycling moving to bi-weekly pickup. "If we change one side of the service, I want to see the impact before we rock the boat too much," he said. Reeve Neil Vincent didn't agree, however, saying that if there is a time period with "hardly any traffic", temporary closure could save the municipality money. Council challenges staff to trim levy increase further By Denny Scott The Citizen North Huron Township staff worked hard to reduce the proposed 2018 budget from a 14.49 per cent levy increase to a 7.11 per cent increase, however council has requested even further cuts. During a special budget meeting on Feb. 8, council was presented with final numbers from departments that weren't available early in the budget process, as well as changes that could be implemented to further cut costs. FINAL DIRECTION After lengthy debate on multiple issues, some members of council still felt that the budget needed to be tightened up. Director of Finance Donna White explained that she was hoping to see an increase between $120 and $150 on residential property taxes. Councillor Trevor Seip said that was reasonable and that North Huron residents need to be ready for these increases. "The sooner ratepayers understand the service they have costs them money, the more palatable potential changes in service level may be," he said. Seip said that as much as council is elected to listen and follow the wishes of ratepayers, council members also have a fiduciary responsibility to the municipality as a whole. "Over the past few years, we have cut our budget too low and risked financial stability on reserves," he said. "I'm happy we haven't changed anything [going into] reserves yet. I think that, at this point, [whatever increase] comes is the number that comes up. We asked staff to do a lot of work." Deputy -Reeve James Campbell didn't agree with a wait-and-see approach, however, and told White he would like to see an increase of approximately five per cent. White said she would take the changes from the Feb. 8 meeting, some of which are outlined below, and work them into a new draft budget. "We'll converse and come up with a new date for another council meeting," White said. "Hopefully, at that meeting, we will be at the last stage of the budget process and get it wrapped up in principle." COMMUNITY DONATIONS One of the first cuts considered by council was to the municipality's annual donation list. White explained that, under the municipality's policy for donations, five requests had come in by the Nov. 1, 2017 deadline. The Wingham and District Horticultural Society had requested $2,500 for a project at the Alice Munro Literary Garden, the Belgrave Elementary School Fair requested $300 for its operation, the St. John Ambulance — Grey/Huron/Bruce chapter requested between $250 and $1,000, the Huron County Plowmen's Association requested $125 and the Huron Residential Hospice requested $2,000. North Huron had already pledged $50,000 to the Wingham and District Hospital Foundation for the ongoing expansion project. The total budget allocated for the 2018 donation list, based on the 2017 list, was $53,335, which meant, for council to stay in budget, $3,335 was left to split among the requests which totalled $5,175. White also reminded council that completely spending the remaining $3,335 would leave nothing for future requests. Council decided to donate $1,000 to the horticultural society and $500 to the hospice. The decision leaves $1,160 in the budget for any requests council entertains throughout the year. BLYTH FESTIVAL The Blyth Festival, earlier this month, requested $15,000 for its joint marketing initiative from North Huron. The initiative includes North Huron being advertised within the program, brochures, posters and other media produced by the Festival. Originally, council had suggested the Festival make the request to its new Economic Development Committee, which was formed last year. Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt agreed, however between the Feb. 5 meeting when the request was made and the Feb. 8 budget meeting, Garratt explained the timeline wouldn't work. During the Feb. 8 meeting, North Huron Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Dwayne Evans explained Continued on page 11