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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-03-30, Page 9Bluewater Council update Valerie Gillies Clinton News Record There were four delegations to present at the March 21 meeting of the Bluewater Council. The first presentation was by Barbara Leavitt and Rita Marshal of the the Huron County Health Unit (HCHU). The HCHU wanted the oppor- tunity to show ways that their services intersect with those of the municipality and to look into ways to develop syn- ergies of the services, rather than be duplicating. A pam- phlet was developed to illus- trate how services intersect department to department, pointing out that many of the services of HCHU tend to be invisible. A slide presentation showed many ways in which residents interact with the HCHU throughout their life- time. The HCHU asked how Council sees themselves strengthening the services between them. One of the sug- gestions was for the municipal- ity to develop ways to inform residents of how to access the services of HCHU. It was acknowledged that Bluewater had asked HCHU to study the health effects of wind turbines and are glad that the right thing is now happening with the pro- posed study being put into place. The next presenter was the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB). Mayor Hessel commended the ways in which AMDSB and HCHU are already col- laborating and would like to see that relationship built upon. AMDSB informed Council that they are in the fourth year of their four- year strategic plan. There will be small changes going forward with three goals: maximizing student out- comes, creating positive and inclusive environments and researching impacts of the plan. The Student Accomoda- tion Review was updated in 2015. The report will be released in May or June. Council commended AMDSB on their iPad program which has improved reading, writing and math skills. They were also commended on recog- nizing that children learn dif- ferently and that this needs to be addressed. Council asked howAMDSB is addressing the issue of getting kids to come back to the area after they have left to pursue higher education. AMDSB is aware of this problem and is working on ideas to fix this. One idea is to create ways to have the stu- dents more connected with the area which will encourage them to return to create home-grown businesses to address problems and meet needs identified by them as opportunities. Concerned Citizens of Huron County (CCHC) gave a presentation regarding the health and wellbeing of resi- dents surrounding wind tur- bines. They asked for a resolu- tion to support the decision of HCHU to conduct their study. Council was asked to develop a user-friendly process to track calls received by the municipalities concerning health concerns. CCHC urged the municipality to contact federal and provincial ministers, Huron Bruce MP and MPP as well as the Asso- ciation of Municipalities of Ontario to help lobby for fur- ther studies and laws sur- rounding health concerns and wind turbines. Councillor Gillespie agreed that Bluewa- ter should have a system to log complaints that come in as well as making residents aware of who they should get in touch with as this has not been done in the past. It was acknowledged that there will most likely be an outpouring of issues reported one the sea- sonal people start to ask ques- tions and log complaints about the health concerns and noise issues when they return and begin experiencing the differences. Mayor Hessel commented that HCHU is already logging the issues, therefore the municipality would be duplicating their work. He advised relying on the data from HCHU. A motion was passed to get a report back from staff once they have reviewed the infor- mation in the presentation. CONTINUED > PAGE 13 Wednesday, March 30, 2016 • News Record 9 Submitted Photo Some employees at Ausable Bayfield Conservation donate money each pay cheque to support charities and so they get the privilege to dress down on Fridays. The Staff Dress -Down Day Fund donations were presented to local charities at the annual Conservation Awards evening held on Thursday, March 17, 2016. Shown in photo are, from left to right, Bob Radtke, Chairman of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation; Brian Horner, General Manager and Secretary -Treasurer, Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA); Tracey McPherson, GIS/IT Coordinator, ABCA, and Vice -President with Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Huron; and lan Jean, ABCA Forestry and Land Stewardship Specialist. The Conservation Foundation received $750 in staff donations towards the South Huron Trail Pedestrian Bridge project. Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Huron received $750. The Carbon Footprints to Forests program (footprintstoforests.com), to plant trees locally and capture carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, received $750 for local tree planting. The staff also donated $700 towards the cost of sponsoring two youths to attend the Ontario Nature Youth Summit. ientrad Hum Everyone is Welcome Meet the NWMO and Learn More About Phase 2 Preliminary Assessment Studies The Municipality of Central Huron is learning more about Canada's plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel and the next step in the site selection process: Phase 2 Preliminary Assessment Studies. We welcome you to drop by the open house in Clinton to meet NWMO staff, learn about the project and share your thoughts, views and questions about potential next steps. Light refreshments will be provided. We look forward to meeting you. nwmo NUCLEAR WASTE SOCIETE DE GESTION MANAGEMENT DES DECHETS ORGANIZATION NUCLEAIRES The open house will be held at: Central Huron Community Complex 239 Bill Fleming Drive Clinton, ON Tuesday, April 12, 2016 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2016 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.