The Citizen, 2018-04-19, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
ARENA - Pg. 8
Residents want improvements
to Brussels comm. centre
TRIPS - Pg. 10
Blyth girl returns from
third volunteer trip
IPM - Pg. 18
County calculates final
costs for hosting match
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Volume 34 No. 16
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, April 19, 2018
A noteworthy performance
Local choir, the Men of Note, held its 20th anniversary
celebration at the Clinton Christian Reformed Church last
Friday evening, playing to a full house at the church. The
choir performed a number of songs over the course of the
evening, all paying tribute to its Christian roots. The choir
also welcomed the Hiller Family from the Brussels area as
special guests to open the night of music. The event benefited the
Huron County Food Bank, with guests able to make a free-will
offering. It was also one of the last events held in the county over
the weekend before wild winds and a spring ice storm glazed over
fields and shut down roads for most of the weekend, resulting in
mass cancellations and postponements. (Denny Scott photo)
Bishop,
Garratt
get nods
Several locals are among the
finalists for this year's Huron
Cultural Awards, which are handed
out annually by the Huron Arts and
Heritage Network.
Blyth Festival Artistic Director
Gil Garratt is among the nominees
in the Individual Artist category. He
is joined by photographer Devin
Sturgeon and Elizabeth Van den
Broeck of Elizabeth's Art Gallery.
Bluevale's Jacquie Bishop, who
served as chair of last September's
International Plowing Match in
Walton, is nominated in the
Community Contribution category.
Bryan Morton and the Four Winds
Barn and Event Centre in Brussels is
also nominated for its community
contribution, as is Marcie Riegling
of Miss Marcie Media and the
Alzheimer Society of Huron
County.
The Blyth Festival Art Gallery's
2017 Student Show is nominated in
the Cultural Event/Organization
category alongside the 2017
International Plowing Match, the
Foundation for Education, LP
Productions and Events, St. Joseph's
Kingsbridge Community and
Thatotherchoir.
David Yates, Colleen Maguire and
Marian Zinn are nominated for the
award in the Heritage
Individual/Organization category.
The winners will be announced
and on Friday, April 27 at the awards
gala at Memorial Hall in Blyth.
Tickets are $18 each and can be
purchased at eventbrite.com.
Huron East, North Huron to share fire chief services
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Pending approval for Huron East
Council, North Huron and its fire
department will be guided by the
seasoned hand of Huron East Fire
Chief Marty Bedard.
The move comes after North
Huron has been without a fire chief
for the majority of the time since
Ryan Ladner vacated the position in
September, nine months after being
named to it.
At the Monday night meeting,
council passed several bylaws
naming Bedard as fire chief and
setting up a shared servicing
agreement that would see North
Huron purchasing Bedard's service
from Huron East and, in return,
providing the services of newly -
appointed Fire Prevention Officer
Michael Roess.
North Huron Chief Administrative
Officer Dwayne Evans explained
that the process leading to Bedard's
hiring was a long one. It began
late last year after North Huron
named then -Vice -Principal of the
Emergency Services Training Centre
Mark Alderman as chief following
Ladner's resignation.
The announcement resulted in the
majority of the fire department
resigning their positions for several
days until the situation could be
worked out.
Council responded by rescinding
the move and leaving the fire
department in the hands of Deputy -
Chiefs Matt Townsend and Chad
Kregar, two long-time members.
Council charged the two deputy -
chiefs to work with staff and the fire
department to help find someone the
fire department could get behind as
chief.
Evans said that was exactly what
happened as staff worked with
Kregar and Townsend, who are
responsible for operations of the
department. Alderman has since left
the municipality.
"We received a positive response
from Huron East [to have Bedard]
provide managerial fire services for
North Huron," he said.
Bedard will provide, among other
services, budgeting, reporting and
presentations for the municipality as
far as fire services are concerned
while operations will be left with
Kregar and Townsend.
Evans said that Morris-Turnberry,
which owns a partial share of the
Brussels portion of the Huron East
Fire Department and is covered by
both Huron East and North Huron
was in favour of the move, as were
Central Huron and Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh, who purchase
service from North Huron.
Council members were pleased to
be making the decision, with
Councillor Trevor Seip saying it was
an important step forward.
"I just want to make the comment
that this is an excellent opportunity,"
he said. "Our transition between fire
chiefs, as well as the circumstances
around our fire department in the
past, [are well documented and] I am
very impressed that... we've come to
a mutual understanding of what the
municipality needs in a fire chief."
He went on to say he was happy
the municipality could move
forward with the support of the
Deputy -Chiefs and the firefighters
"in good spirits."
Provided Huron East Council
approved a similar motion at its
Tuesday night council meeting,
the agreement comes into effect
May 1.
Central Huron approves budget
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Central Huron Council passed its
2018 budget on Monday night with a
zero per cent overall increase to the
tax rate.
This is the sixth straight year there
has been no increase to the tax rate
after five straight years of a
decrease, said Treasurer Terri Rau.
There was little debate on the
budget at Monday night's meeting.
The document was unchanged from
council's last full budget meeting,
which was held in late March.
Central Huron's portion of the tax
levy will increase by 4.07 per cent,
while the county portion will
decrease 3.41 per cent and the
education rate will increase just over
five per cent.
While the tax rate is not
increasing, spending is on the rise
with levy requirements going up
nearly 10 per cent in this year's
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