The Citizen, 2017-01-26, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
SPORTS - Pg. 8
Local teams come up just
short at Silver Stick
FIRE - Pg. 9
Sparling decides to
leave fire department
IPM 2017 - Pg. 18
McGavin, Walton history
key to IPM 2017 story
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. 4
n
$1.25 GST included
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 26, 2017
He's right behind us, isn't he?
With temperatures on the rise for a brief, but refreshing period in January, students at Hullett
Central Public School didn't have to worry about getting snow in their boots, but rather,
concern shifted to getting their boots and mittens muddy. So, while some students opted for
reckless abandon, Courtney Bergsma, left, and Clara Storey, right, opted to stay put and stay
clean, while Rylan Brown, back, snuck his way into the picture. (Denny Scott photo)
Single -tier concept
broached at county
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
At least one Huron County
councillor feels he and his peers
should be discussing what they have
been dancing around for some time
now: single -tier government.
At Huron County Council's Jan.
18 committee of the whole meeting,
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek chimed
in on a discussion about a potential
regional recreation study, saying it
was time to say what was on
everyone's mind.
He said that councillors have been
hinting at the concept of single -tier
government with a number of
proposals in recent months, but that
no one was coming right out and
saying it.
The discussion began with Huron
East Mayor Bernie MacLellan and
Bluewater Mayor Tyler Hessel
raising the issue of a potential
recreation study for Bluewater,
Huron East and Central Huron.
The study, Hessel said, will begin
with an inventory of recreation
facilities and services in each
municipality, such as recreation
centres, parks, etc. It will then
proceed, he said, to evaluate the need
in each community and collect data
to help councillors make more
informed decisions.
With changing demographics and
recreation needs, Hessel said that
minor sports facilities like arenas are
not as much in demand as they once
were. With the aging population, it's
important to offer recreation options
to older residents.
He said he's not suggesting the
closure of arenas, but partnerships
between neighbours to provide
services to all residents as efficiently
as possible.
"The key is knowing what your
neighbours have and the lifespan of
those facilities," Hessel told
councillors.
With local infrastructure aging in
many communities, replacement
costs and the cost of running an
arena are starting to get out of reach
for many small municipalities.
Arena facilities that once cost
municipalities a few million dollars
to build and then hundreds of
thousands of dollars to maintain will
now cost $10-$12 million to build
new and millions to run and maintain
with the constantly -rising hydro
costs in Ontario.
He said that while studying the
recreation status and needs for
Bluewater, Central Huron and Huron
East would be a great start, it would
be ideal if all nine Huron
municipalities were to come on
board.
"We have to ask ourselves, 'why
are schools closing?' There are not
as many children as there were,"
Hessel said, adding that it's no secret
that the county is losing its young
people and welcoming in older
residents looking to retire in Huron
County.
He said that with the cost to
operate an arena in today's climate
Continued on page 6
Blyth intersection continues to concern council
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
On Monday night, North Huron
Councillor Brock Vodden reported
that the intersection of County Road
4 and 25 is not a section of `general
concern' according to Ontario
Provincial Police (OPP) and Huron
County Council representatives.
"At the CHIP [Coalition for Huron
Injury Prevention] meeting, the topic
of the intersection south of Blyth
came up," Vodden said "There was a
representative from the county and
the OPP there. In our discussion it
came out from those representatives,
who were not there representing
statistics from the OPP and the
county, but stating their own
experience... [that] they are not
aware of any general concern for
that intersection. It is not considered
one of the most serious problems in
the county."
Vodden said the two were unaware
of any fatalities there, which he
struggled with, especially after
hearing about a collision at the
intersection on Jan. 22, the day
before the meeting, which had
resulted in non -life-threatening
injuries.
"You can hardly go down the
street without someone mentioning
that intersection," Vodden said.
"Their recollection is there were two
collisions at the intersection all of
last year."
Vodden said Huron County is
getting a bad reputation because the
public believes county
representatives aren't interested in
what's happening at the intersection,
but he felt there is a disconnect
between the information available to
the county and the police and what is
actually happening.
"We need to do something to stir
things up here," he said.
Councillor Bill Knott said he will
be presenting a petition calling for
traffic control with 1,100 signatures
on it to Huron County Council
proving that the public feels
differently than the representatives
at the meeting.
"I was really disappointed with the
OPP representative at the CHIP
meeting," he said. "A year and a half
ago [that same] OPP officer stated
that, internally, it was considered
one of the worst intersections in the
county. It was the same officer then
as it is now. I find it strange his
opinion has taken a 180 -degree turn
in the last 18 months."
Council took no action as a result
of Vodden and Knott's comments.
Sparling resignation puts NH on hunt
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
North Huron Township Council
will be seeking assistance in hiring a
director of emergency services to
replacing outgoing Fire Department
of North Huron Chief David
Sparling.
After Sparling submitted his
resignation last week, Chief
Administrative Officer Sharon
Chambers prepared a report for
council's Jan. 23 meeting suggesting
that the negotiated method be used
to hire a consultant to assist with the
search for a new chief. Council,
however, felt such an important task
should not be left to a single
individual.
"David has suggested that Tony
Mintoff assist with the search,"
Chambers said, pointing out that
Mintoff was used to fill the position
the last two times North Huron
needed a new fire chief.
While Councillor Brock Vodden
espoused Mintoff's work and said he
was fine with hiring him for such a
time -sensitive issue, with Sparling
ceasing his full-time involvement
with the department in mid-
February, other councillors wanted
more options.
"I'm in favour of making the
motion to find support for the
township, but I would like to see
three quotes for the recruitment
background," Councillor Bill Knott
said. "This is a very critical area and
I'm not ready to jump in with
any gentleman I'm not familiar
with."
Before council could proceed,
however, there was a strong push
from several members to lay out
exactly what the municipality was
searching for.
Sparling has been the principal of
the Emergency Services Training
Centre (ESTC) on top of his
responsibilities with the fire
department and the workload was a
major factor in his decision to retire.
Sparling said he would not suggest
maintaining that status quo.
Chambers said there are issues
around the ESTC for council to
work out before looking to hire
Continued on page 10