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The Citizen, 2017-01-05, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: REVIEW - Pg. 9 The Citizen' looks back on the year that was PICTURES - Pg. 10 The hunt for 2016's best Photo of the Day is on CONTEST - Pg. 19 East Wawanosh opens beard -growing contest Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 4Citiz Volume 33 No. 1 n $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 5, 2017 A cool tutorial Luke, front, and his father Mike Siertsema, professionals in the world of dog sled racing, were one of the main attractions on New Year's Day as the Blyth 140th committee held the official kick-off to its 140th anniversary year at the Blyth Campgrounds. The Siertsemas showed well over 100 people just how it's done during this demonstration, while closer to between 250 and 300 people attended the event over the course of the afternoon, which included a Christmas tree burning, music and plenty of games for the kids. (Shawn Lou gntln photo) Huron East accepts 2013 turbine funds By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East now stands to make over $2 million over the next 19 years thanks to the approval of a vibrancy fund with St. Columban Energy. The agreement was approved by council by way of bylaw at its last meeting of the year in late December. Council first rescinded a motion approved at the April 2, 2013 meeting that declared the municipality an "unwilling host" to wind turbine projects and then approved an agreement with the company. The issue was raised by Mayor Bernie MacLellan at council's Dec. 6 meeting. However, he first addressed potentially revisiting the issue at council's first meeting after the 2014 election, saying it was something he hoped the new council would consider. The agreement will pay Huron East an annual base amount of $115,500 for the next 19 years (the original agreement had been for 20 at the time it was turned down) for a total of over $2.19 million. The money, said Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight, could be used on any number of community projects, as long as they are approved by St. Columban Energy. Knight likened it to the new fire truck purchased for the Seaforth division of the Huron East Fire Department. That truck, he told councillors, was purchased entirely with funds from another vibrancy fund agreement for a wind turbine transmission line that runs through the municipality. MacLellan said that while council had some concerns about potential adverse health effects and turbine placement, and voiced those concerns at the time, the turbines have since been placed and are now operational. None of the opposition from the municipality has had an impact, he said, and with the turbines now in place, the municipality would be foolish to not take money for the turbines if it were on the table. He said that some things had changed since the vibrancy fund had first been considered. He said the municipality was told that its opinions would be considered in the planning process, which turned out not to be the case. MacLellan told councillors that it only made sense to reconsider the fund to help with the cost of running the municipality given the extensive funding cuts and continued financial pressures. "With these money concerns," he said, "we need every penny we can get." At this point, with the turbines operational, he said, it wouldn't do the municipality any good not to accept money from the vibrancy fund if it were to be offered. While Councillor Nathan Marshall said he agreed with MacLellan, he asked what the company's motivation would be to provide funds to the municipality if the turbines are already up and running. MacLellan said he couldn't answer that question, but that if the money was there, Huron East would be making a positive move by taking it. Deputy -Mayor Joe Steffler agreed, saying that council should begin accepting the annual Continued on page 14 Morris-Turnberry supports Blyth traffic petition By Denny Scott The Citizen North Huron Councillor Bill Knott and Blyth resident Chris Patterson brought their efforts to have traffic controls placed at the intersection of County Road 4 and County Road 25 to Morris-Turnberry Council as the municipality borders on the affected roadway. Knott explained he wasn't representing North Huron Council, but simply presenting his case as a resident of Blyth. In his pursuit of traffic control, specifically traffic lights at the intersection, Knott said he had been made aware of several potential problems with the intersection in question. Some of the issues at play, he said, are historical information not qualifying due to increased development at the intersection, collisions being reported in multiple different ways at the intersection and the fact that stop lights would only be placed as a reaction to a certain number of collisions instead of acting in a more proactive manner. Patterson also presented to Morris- Turnberry Council, explaining that he had been involved in a collision at the intersection. Knott and Patterson met after Knott started creating a petition to have the intersection the site of traffic lights and Patterson created a Facebook group with a similar goal. Patterson explained that he didn't want to speak on behalf of 1,000 people, representing the number of members of his Facebook page, but said that through his collision and subsequent Facebook activity, he had found himself speaking out on the issue. Council was receptive of the suggestion for the most part, however Mayor Paul Gowing didn't know if stop lights were the proper solution. "I'm on board with what you're trying to do... but I don't know if we would say we want stop lights at the intersection," Gowing said, explaining traffic light effectiveness was a topic at a recent transportation and communication conference in Prince Edward Island. "Round- abouts were considered in the discussion there, and, in certain circumstances, were the most appropriate solution." Gowing said that in many locations throughout the maritime province, traffic lights were being replaced with roundabouts. "With traffic lights, there are still `t -bone' collisions at rural intersections," he said. "In rural areas, they have gone to roundabouts with many different designs and it can do a lot with traffic. It can slow Continued on page 14 Cowbell voted Ontario's best According to a poll carried out by the Ontario Beer Network, Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company is the province's favourite new brewing company. The website, which resides at momandhops.ca, ran a poll that began several weeks ago, asking Ontario beer drinkers to vote for their favourite new brewing company and, with 835 votes, Cowbell won over the province. The poll closed on New Year's Eve. Cowbell's 835 votes edged out Stray Dog Brewing Company, which garnered 718 votes. The top two companies were clear of third-place Anderson Craft Ales, which finished with 500 votes. Stray Dog Brewing Company is stationed in Orleans, Ontario, while Anderson Craft Ales is in London. Half Hour on Earth, which is situated in Seaforth, also received votes on the poll, as 131 people voted for the company as their favourite in Ontario. Over 5,000 people voted in the poll and nearly 50 Ontario craft breweries received votes. For more information, or to view the results of the poll, visit the network at momandhops.ca.