HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-03-01, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018.
New tanker, renovations set for local fire halls
Continued from page 1
beginning the year with a deficit of
$81,078 and reducing the hole by
nearly $20,000 over the course of the
year, which began with a deficit of
over $100,000.
The Seaforth centre began 2017
with a deficit of $118,711 and it
increased over the course of the year
to $126,060. With the deficit
reduction levy, the centre is
projected to end 2018 with a slightly
lower deficit of $125,871.
The Vanastra Recreation Centre
ended 2017 with a surplus of over
$13,000 and is projected to end 2018
with a deficit of just over $4,000.
The Brussels division of the Huron
Some daring fashion choices
The Wingham Golf and Curling Club hosted its annual
ladies bonspiel on Feb. 24 in memory of Ange Chester, who
passed away due to cancer. Proceeds from the event went
to the Wingham and District Hospital Oncology Department
and Tealpower, an organization dedicated to beating
cervical cancer. Above, the Haines Beef Farms team plays
during the event's early draw. (Hannah Dickie photo)
East Fire Department is due to
purchase a new tanker this year for a
total of $353,150. The truck had
been slated for purchase last year,
but was shifted to 2018 due to
delivery delays.
Council had budgetted $300,000
for the equipment purchase in 2017
and now has to budget an additional
$53,150 to buy the truck this year.
The Grey division of the Huron
East Fire Department will receive an
additional $85,000 in this year's
budget for building renovations at
the Ethel fire hall building. This
work will allow for the construction
of a meeting room, after originally
being included in last year's budget
but being deferred to 2018.
Council will be paying $90,000 to
the Seaforth and District
Community Centre for the
replacement of its ice machine,
while the Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre will receive
$60,000 for the replacement of its
condenser. Funds to the Seaforth
centre will be paid from its
Northland Vibrancy Fund and the
Brussels project will be funded from
the St. Columban Vibrancy Fund,
both of which are paid for the
municipality's participation in local
wind energy projects.
The Public Works Department has
also requested a number of new
pieces of equipment in 2018, which
raised a few eyebrows around the
council table.
Director of Public Works Barry
Mills is requesting a new backhoe
(which was trimmed from the budget
in both 2016 and 2017), a one -tonne
Building an accessible Huron
As I have said many times before,
you can take the teacher out of the
classroom, but you can't stop her
from teaching. I'm so excited about
what's next I've been having a hard
time falling asleep!
On March 23, 1-4 p.m., Lorie
Falconer and I will be hosting a free
workshop for contractors, building
officials and those interested in
building or renovating their own
home. The topic, of course, is
accessibility and barrier free design.
"Building an Accessible Huron" is
our first workshop and hopefully
more will follow.
I recognize that I am not an expert
on accessibility (not yet - stay
tuned) but I certainly have the lived
experience that makes me able to
talk about it. That, and I am not the
only one going to be talking. There
will be a variety of people with
different types of lived experience as
well as experts in the fields of
architecture, building code,
accessibility equipment and barrier -
free landscaping.
In the past two -and -a -half years I
have made contact with a wide
variety of people with different
needs - and I have tried to learn
from them all. My goal is to share
that learning with those who are
doing the building or looking for
ways to make their own homes
barrier -free. The other key thing I
want to share is that it doesn't have
to cost much more than a regular
build or renovation - in fact there are
tips and techniques that can be done
to help save costs, especially down
the road.
There is a lot to think about...
"New Table 3.8.2.3.A. specifies a
minimum number of required
universal washrooms based on
Subsection 3.7.4" (Ontario Building
By Julie Sawchuk
Code, 2012)... but it doesn't have to
be that complicated. Permanent
mobility disabilities are what we
usually think of first, but we also
need to consider vision or hearing
loss, reduced dexterity, strength,
sensation and even reduced
cognitive function. Thinking ahead
to our future there will always be
some type of disability that you or a
family member will have to prepare
for even if it's temporary like broken
limbs, hip replacements or cataract
surgery - we are all aging. Improved
accessibility makes life better for
everyone.
With all of this to think about, why
am I so excited? Because of the
response from our community.
When we decided to take on this
little project, right away, I had
support from Cowbell Brewing
Company with space, food and
drink. Ontario Home Health, Med-
E-Ox Mobility in Motion and
Watson's Home Hardware are
sponsoring and attending as experts
of home equipment and barrier free
building supplies. Allan Avis
Architects will be helping us learn
about building code and
Lawnmaster and Unilock are
showing us barrier -free landscape
design. Did I mention free pizza and
a beer for those who register in
advance? Thanks to all the sponsors!
The response from those wishing
to attend has also been amazing. The
workshop is more than half full and
with a mix of builders, building
officials and homeowners. When I
sat down with Karen Stewart from
14/19 who offered to help me plan, I
told her I'd be over the moon with 20
participants. We are already past
that! To quote one local contractor
"I'd like to bring my whole crew, I
think there is a lot of valuable
information we can learn!"
I've got a great collection of
photos to highlight what not to do
and I know that we will have many
meaningful conversations about
universal design and building
barrier -free for the future.
If you are interested in attending
please e-mail Lorie Falconer
workshop@juliesawchuk.ca or call
her at 519-523-4897. I promise
not to make you read the building
code!
truck, two pickup trucks, a lawn
mower and a combination lawn
mower/sidewalk snow removal
machine. The total cost of the
proposed equipment purchases is
$330,000.
Several councillors spoke up,
saying they didn't feel the
municipality needed to buy all of
that equipment when it was
cutting numerous road repair
projects.
Councillor David Blaney said he is
becoming increasingly
uncomfortable with the state of the
municipality's roads. Looking at risk
reports provided to the municipality,
he felt council could no longer
afford to keep putting off paving.
At the rate of repaving four roads
per year, Blaney said, it would take
Huron East nearly 35 years to pave
just the high-risk roads in the report.
Over that period of time, Blaney
estimated that another 49 roads
would enter the high-risk
designation, further compounding
the problem.
"There is absolutely no way we
can leave the next group of
councillors or the next group of
ratepayers with this kind of bill," he
said.
He said he felt that council has
been "kicking the can down the
road" for far too long and that
repaving just four roads per year just
wouldn't cut it.
Chief Administrative Officer Brad
Knight said that while Blaney wasn't
wrong, the municipality has done a
great job of keeping up with its
bridge maintenance. He lauded the
decision of the council of the day
that decided to dedicate its
provincial gas tax funding to the
municipality's bridge reserve, which
ensured a steady stream of funding
for a maintenance issue that wasn't
going away. Huron East, he said, is
in much better shape with its bridge
maintenance than many of its
neighbouring municipalities because
of that decision.
In regards to the overall budget
and the $1.6 million in cuts proposed
by staff, Mayor Bernie MacLellan
said he had concerns. Whether staff
was inflating the budget in order to
then cut it later in the process or if
staff was cutting items the
municipality shouldn't be delaying,
he was worried about the budget
process. He said the municipality
shouldn't handicap itself by keeping
taxes too low and not being
able to provide services to its
residents.
Cutting too close to the bone, he
said, may put council in a tough
position in the future.
If the first draft of the budget were
to be adopted, Michiels said that the
overall tax rate, when factoring in
increases at the Huron County and
local school board levels, would
increase by an average of 4.88 per
cent across the municipality. Broken
down, Brussels would see a tax rate
decrease of 0.3 per cent, while the
tax rate would increase in Seaforth
by 0.5 per cent, five per cent in
Tuckersmith, 7.5 per cent in Grey
and 8.7 per cent in McKillop.
In regards to the two surpluses,
one of which has yet to be finalized,
several councillors said they felt they
should be used in order to reduce the
tax rate even further.
With the exception of further
review of the public works
equipment purchases, council didn't
give Michiels any further direction
on the second draft of the budget,
which will be presented at a future
meeting.
BLYTH SOCCER fi
BASEBALL REGISTRATION
March 8 & March 22
7 pm - 8:30 pm
Blyth Legion
For more information call:
For Soccer - Dianne Siertsema 519-523-4705
or email - blvthbrook@hurontel.on.ca
For Baseball - Heather 519-530-8965
•
Winter Sports
Pages
Coaches and parents
we need your team's picture
and players' names
nd
ook,
hon
dY
a
• Broomball
1. Please submit team photo
A.S.A.P.
2. Please include players' and
coaches' names for under
the photo.
Please help us get ALL the
Winter Sports teams published.
413 Queen St., Blyth
519-523-4792
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519-887-9114
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