Huron Expositor, 2014-04-09, Page 3Wednesday, April 9, 2014 • Huron Expositor 3
County to provide up to $1.5 million to South Huron for purchase of Huron Park
A) Recommendations
approved after long
debate by councillors
Dave Flaherty
QM! Agency
Huron County has agreed to provide
up to $1.5 million in financial assist-
ance to the municipality of South Huron
to purchase Huron Park and prepare it
for economic development
opportunities.
County councillors were presented
with a report from CAO Brenda Orchard
recommending they provide a $500,000
grant and $1 million interest free loan
to South Huron to purchase the land
from the provincial government.
The money funds provided by the
county will help the municipality pur-
chase the property and with the demo-
lition and reclamation of buildings.
ii9414er
Orchards also recommended the
county co -manage the property.
However, some members of council
weren't completely in agreement with
the report.
Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan
said he would be in favour of providing
either the loan or the grant but not
both.
MacLellan said they have received a
number of requests for support from
projects from municipalities, adding he
wanted to make sure everyone had
"skin in the game."
Goderich Deputy Mayor John Grace
said council needs to, "support eco-
nomic development opportunities
across the county:'
Bluewater Deputy Mayor Paul Klopp
pointed out that this "wasn't just about
South Huron':
He added he has piece of mind due
to the fact South Huron has pledged to
100th INTERNATIONAL
=I PLOWING MATCH E RURAL EXPO
C441 SEPT 19-23 WALTON,.13INTAIRIO
Dave Flaherty Goderich Signal Star
The logo and slogan for 100th annual International Plowing Match to be held in Walton
in 2017 were unveiled at a county council meeting last week.
Logo and slogan for 100th
IPM in Walton unveiled
QM! Agency
The logo and slogan for the 100th
annual International Plowing Match
(IPM) to be held in Walton in 2017
was unveiled last week.
The organizing committee of the
event was present at the April 2
county council meeting.
Chair Heather Logan said they
received 35 submissions for slogans
and 14 for logos.
The logo incorporates elements
from Huron County's tourism depart-
ment and the iconic tractor, which
appears in every IPM logo.
The slogan is "Huron Hosts on
Ontario's West Coast."
County Warden Joe Steffler pre-
sented a cheque for $30,000 to repre-
sentatives after the unveiling.
Logan said it is an honour for them
to be able host the 100th edition of
the event.
"Huron County knows how to
throw a party and we are planning on
hosting a pretty big party," Logan
said.
She said the committee is looking
forward to working with residents,
businesses, tourism departments and
local governments to make the event
a huge success.
The 2017 IPM will take place in
Walton on Sept. 19 to 23, 2017.
pay back the loan over a span of
10 years with payments being no
less than $100,000 per year.
Central Huron Deputy Mayor
David Jewitt and Coun. Tyler
Hessell from Bluewater both
said they weren't seeing enough
information from South Huron.
"Anytime you lend someone
money, they have a business
plan," Hessell said.
At one point, it was proposed
that the grant and loan be split
into two separate motions.
However, Goderich Mayor
Deb Shewfelt told his fellow
councillors, "if you're not going
to approve one, don't approve
either."
He said he was confident in
the opinion of the CAO on the
issue.
In her report, Orchard listed a
number of reasons why she
believed this was a worthy
project for the county to support
including;
The property is shovel ready,
which she said could lead to a
faster turn -around time for
development, which can some-
times make the difference in
successfully attracting the
business.
The aesthetics, style and type
of first tenants can influence the
future build -out of the remain-
der of the property. Given the
strategic importance of the
property (sizeable parcel of
serviced land) having a say in
the initial tenants would be
advantageous.
The proximity to London
could be an influential factor in
attracting potential tenants
She also reported that South
Huron has made investments of
more than $8.1 million in the
property since 2009.
Council passed a slightly
amended motion stating the
grant would be up to $500,000
and the loan up to $1 million.
It was passed 11 votes to five.
Warden Joe Steffler said coun-
cil talks about economic devel-
opment all the time so they
needed to show they are com-
mitted to it.
Huron East council debates third draft of 2014 budget
Whitney South
Huron Expositor
Some big ticket items were still up
for debate as Huron East council
continued to hammer out details of
their 2014 budget during their meet-
ing onApril 1.
Several future purchases, like a
new street sweeper and rescue vehi-
cle, were brought forward as council
looked at different purchase options
including cost and maintenance.
Other projects included proposed
paving of the parkinglot at town hall,
library building maintenance and
road construction on Harpurhey
Road continued to rule discussions
as council worked through the pro-
posed third draft
Tuckersmith Ward Coun. Larry
McGrath expressed his frustration at
council's lack of interest in malcing
big cuts.
"If we're not willing to cut any-
thing else, why don't we pass the
budget as is?" he said, adding there
wasn't money to do anything extra
without raising taxes. "I don't feel we
have a lot of fluff in our operations
but we have to spend within our
means. We may as well pass what
has been put in front of us and
move on
Mayor Bemie MacLellan agreed,
explaining even though council went
through the process of doing a serv-
ice delivery review, no one had
stepped up and suggested cuts.
"If you're not willing to cut any-
thing at this point the budget has
been cut to the bone as much as pos-
sible," he said. "You have to look at
what's reasonable based on with the
municipality has to work with:'
Huron East's budget was hit with a
huge loss in funding after the Ontario
Partner Municipal Funding num-
bers were released in November. For
the second year in a row, the munici-
pality saw the biggest cut at $331,100.
Coupled with the latest OPP
increase, as well as inflation, council
had already discussed the need to
look at a 9.58 per cent increase just to
break even for 2014.
In the end, council did agree to cut
the proposed town hall paving
project, saving approximately
$15,000.
A motion was also passed raising
the municipal levee to 11.5 per cent,
making the overall levee increase
5.64 per cent This means Huron East
residents may see an average tax
increase of around $9 per month.
The final budget will be decided at
a public meeting on April 15
at 7:30 p.m.
OFFICE HOURS
The Office Hours for
The Seaforth Huron Expositor is as follows
Mondays - 9am - 5pm
Tuesdays - CLOSED
Wednesdays - 9am - 5pm
Thursdays - 9am - 5pm
Fridays - 9am - 5pm
Seaforth
/Huron Expositor
8 Main Street, Seaforth ON
PH: 519-527-0240
www. seaforthhuronexpositor .com