The Citizen, 2017-06-29, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
RURAL TALKS - Pg. 8
Blyth's CCRC hosts first
`Rural Talks' event
LIONS - Pg. 11
Auburn Lions Club marks
40 years of service
HOMES - Pg. 22
Huron County approves pipe
replacement for homes
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, June 29, 2017
Dedication to a nation
The Brussels Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion was out in full force on Sunday, celebrating
its annual decoration service for Brussels Cemetery, which is just south of the village. Legion
President Jamie Mitchell, left, and Padre Sandra Cable, right, led the charge alongside the
country's colours just days ahead of Canada marking its sesquicentennial anniversary on July
1. (Denny Scott photo)
Governance review goes ahead
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Armed with an updated terms of
reference for its proposed
government service system delivery
review, the Huron County Economic
Development Board was back again
to convince councillors that a review
is needed.
Huron County Council agreed at
its June 21 committee of the whole
meeting, with many members saying
that reviewing how services are
rolled out in the county isn't a bad
thing. The only thing council would
be fearing by not going ahead with
the review, said some councillors,
would be the results.
Huron East Deputy -Mayor Joe
Steffler met criticism that the review
is a one-way ticket to single -tier
government head on, saying that if
an independent review suggests the
county would run under a better
system of governance, what's wrong
with that?
"If [the report suggests] that we go
to single -tier, so be it. There will be
a lot of good reasons for it. If it
doesn't, then so be it," Steffler said.
Other councillors were more
hesitant to embrace single -tier
government, but said they didn't see
the review having such a strong
connection to the concept of a
single -tier government.
Central Huron Deputy -Mayor
Dave Jewitt said that the review
would ensure that the county is
providing its services in the best way
it can and there isn't anything wrong
with taking a closer look at that
process.
Jewitt sees the service delivery
review as just that: a review. If critics
or residents jump to the most
extreme possibility, which in this
case would be a single -tier
government, he said, he can't help
that.
"Are we running Huron County as
optimally as we can? I don't know
that," said Jewitt.
He also added that no matter the
results of the review, because
council commissioned it, council
would have the final say before any
changes, drastic or not, were made.
"It will come back to council and
if we don't like it, we don't vote for
it," Jewitt said, adding that if council
puts potential extreme conclusions
out of their minds, it's a very simple
question that sits before them.
Councillors asked Chief
Administrative Officer Brenda
Orchard for her opinion and she said
that in order to establish context for
the review, she looked back to the
very genesis of the Economic
Development Board and why it was
created.
"I don't think we've got our act
together," Orchard said, "and you've
got entrepreneurs telling you that
you don't."
She said that the whole reason the
Economic Development Board was
created was to get an outsider's point
of view of how the county is
operated. Whether it be the projects
being funded by the county or how
Continued on page 18
Extreme flooding
tests preparedness
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
the flow exceeded the capacity of the
dam, it would go over a berm on the
south side of the dam and go into an
The Blyth Creek was at its highest emergency spillway."
level in 40 years as the village saw Thompson said that was exactly
the second-highest amount of what happened. The berm was
precipitation in the Maitland River gradually worn away and the water
watershed during a flood -causing, flowed into the emergency spillway.
intense rain event on Thursday, "The good thing in all that
June 22. happened was that the dam worked
Maitland Valley Conservation as expected and the berm was slowly
Authority (MVCA) Communica- broken down by the water," she said.
tions Director Jayne Thompson "Thanks to that, there was not a
explained that, on Thursday, June sudden burst of water. The water
22, a storm started that would see slowly made its way down the
communities in the MVCA's area Maitland and got held up at Victoria
experience as much as 180 Street in Gorrie before making its
millimetres of rain overnight. way through Wroxeter and
"We had a significant, intense rain Wingham."
storm that came through the area That huge surge of water was a
overnight on June 22," she said. significant concern for the MVCA,
"Depending on location throughout Thompson said. `Although the level
the area, the storm hit between 10 did certainly rise... the flood plain in
p.m. and 5 a.m. Harriston then Wroxeter was able to handle and
received more rain between 5 a.m. absorb some of that water and slow
and 7 a.m. on June 23." it down as it made its way to
Thompson said the storm Wingham."
presented a very narrow, but intense Flooded areas, roads and homes
band of rainfall and that Harriston could be found throughout the area
was the hardest hit with areas in the and, locally, the Blyth brook was at
community receiving between 160 the highest level it has been in 40
and 180 millimetres of rain. years of data collection, Thompson
"That was a huge amount for that said, while the Brussels dam was
short period of time," she said. completely under water.
Other communities also saw "It was interesting for us to see
significant rainfall including Blyth that height in Blyth," she said. "The
receiving 130 millimetres of rain, creek bottom varies so much, so we
Wingham receiving approximately can only measure by looking at how
102 millimetres, Wroxeter receiving far it came out of the banks and into
70 millimetres and Bluevale the flood plain. It went higher onto
receiving 90 millimetres. the plain than ever before."
"When we see that amount of rain, For the MVCA, the flood may be
we get really fast run-off into the over, but the work is just beginning.
river system," Thompson said. "The "As the levels are dropping over
bulk of significant flooding as a the next couple days, MVCA staff
result of that was in the north will be visiting the dams we are
Maitland Branch" responsible for; Gorrie, Brussels and
The water overwhelmed dams and Bluevale," Thompson said. "We will
taxed flood plains throughout the be having a look at the damage that
area, including the Gorrie dam, may have been caused."
which Thompson said worked The MVCA is aware of damage
exactly as designed. that the Bluevale dam suffered. The
"What happened in Gorrie was the boards that hold the water back will
dam did what it was designed to do," need to be pulled out.
she said. "That may sound odd, but "We will be looking at the dams,
it was designed in such a way that, if Continued on page 18
Blyth Festival alumni
honoured with Doras
The Dora Mayor Moore Awards
for excellence in Toronto stage
productions were handed out
Monday night, and Blyth Festival
Associate Artistic Director Severn
Thompson was one of the winners.
Thompson, who directed Peter
Pan for the Bad Hats Theatre
Company, was honoured by the
Toronto Alliance for the Performing
Arts (TAPA), taking home the Dora
for Outstanding Direction in the
Young Audiences division.
The play swept the division,
winning Doras for Outstanding
Production and for its ensemble
cast. The play toured to various
Toronto breweries and Toronto's
Soulpepper Theatre this year.
Thompson is back at the Festival
this year to direct The Pigeon King,
a collective creation that will be the
Festival's second world premiere of
2017 when it opens in August.
Philip Akin, who directed The
Continued on page 23