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The Citizen, 2015-01-22, Page 1CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 22, 2015 Volume 31 No. 3 HONOURS - Pg. 18 Locals honoured at MPP’s New Year’s levee BIRTH - Pg. 10 Walton couple welcomes Stratford’s New Year’s baby Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0 INSIDE THIS WEEK: Clean-up crew Whether it’s a snowman, a snow fort, or just a great big hill to slide down, winter provides some of the best natural building blocks for recess fun, a lesson well-learned by students at Hullett Central Public School. Shown hauling pieces for an upcoming snow-fabrication are, from left: Jake Cullen, Connor Dale and Caden Mason. (Denny Scott photo) County budget proposes 5.47% tax increase ESTC makes case for county grant In the face of another tough budget year, Huron County Treasurer Michael Blumhagen has proposed a 5.47 per cent tax increase at the county level as a starting point for the 2015 budget, which would increase the budget by $1.95 million. Because of the rise in assessment, Blumhagen said, a 5.47 per cent increase wouldn’t look like an increase to ratepayers. On $100,000 of assessment in Huron County, however, he said taxes would rise $22.50, just from the county portion of the taxes with the municipal portion still yet to be factored in. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek said he was immediately concerned with the proposed increase. With the average Huron County home assessed at approximately $250,000, the county portion of taxes will likely result in about a $50 increase in 2015. With similar increases likely to come from lower- tier municipalities, he said, the average Huron County resident could be facing taxes $100 higher than they were last year, he said. Any conversation about the budget, Blumhagen said, would have to begin with the county’s loss of Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) money, which will be over $700,000 this year. To cover that loss alone, he said, taxes would have to rise two per cent. He also told council to expect similar cuts in the coming years. It was Blumhagen’s estimation that the OMPF funding would be completely gone in five years, so it would be wise for council to plan for that possibility. Most departments, he said, are proposing a slight increase in their year-over-year budgets. Under current proposals, Blumhagen said, Huron County Emergency Medical Services is proposing a 1.72 per cent increase in its budget, administration’s budget is expected to rise 1.3 per cent and the public works budget is proposed to rise by 0.79 per cent. It is expected that the Huron County Health Unit’s budget will go down one per cent, the Huron County Planning and Development In The Citizen’s communities, the snowmobile trails tell two very different stories, with trails in North Huron needing a lot more snow, while trails in Brussels and its surrounding area open with limited availability. As of early this week, trails from west of Brussels to as far east as Monkton were open. Trails along that east-to-west area then continued to be open as the map stretched north through Wingham, Gorrie and even as far north as Teeswater, Walkerton and Paisley. Trails in Blyth, however, and further west were all still closed. Adrian Salverda, president of the North Huron Trail Groomers, says the area will need at least two more feet of snow before the trails in his jurisdiction will be able to open. Over the weekend, he said, his organization completed the vast majority of the staking process (staking and marking the trails), but going forward the only action members will be able to take will be a snow dance (in hopes of pulling snow from the heavens), since that is the final hurdle standing in their way. He is encouraging snowmobilers in Blyth, Central Huron and further west to stay off of the trails until they’re officially open. He says it’s important to maintain a good relationship with the Trail Groomers’ partner landowners, because without them, the group has nothing. In the Brussels and Walton areas, however, Wayne Bennewies of the Brussels and Walton Trailblazers Snowmobile Club says that staking has been done in the Huron East/Morris-Turnberry area for weeks now, which has enabled the club to be ahead of the game. “We did a lot of preparation work in the fall before we had any snow,” Bennewies says. “We have a very good working relationship with our landowners.” While the weather warmed slightly over the weekend, Bennewies says he’s looked at the forecast for the next two weeks and doesn’t see any reason for concern as far as the trails potentially closing. Bennewies acknowledged that many surrounding areas are not yet able to open their trails, which he says may contain swampy areas, which then need more snow to be available to snowmobilers. The Huron East/Morris-Turnberry area, he said, is lucky in that it doesn’t have many of those requirements. To check the status of all of Ontario’s snowmobile trails, visit the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs’ website at ofsc.on.ca and click on the interactive trail map of the whole province. Blyth’s Emergency Services Training Centre (ESTC) is asking Huron County for nearly $300,000 in sustainable futures funding to help the centre become one of Canada’s leading sources for emergency training. The centre’s principal and Fire Department of North Huron Chief David Sparling made the case for the application to Huron County Council at its Jan. 14 committee of the whole meeting. Sparling is asking for $284,600 over the next three years, the bulk of which, $175,000, would come in the first year with $63,800 planned for the second year followed by $45,800 in the third. The funding, Sparling said, would address a number of the centre’s needs, highlighted by software that will enable online registration and payment, a business consultant who would then prepare a formal business plan and an investment in specialized equipment that will help the centre offer more diverse programs. Several self-contained breathing apparatus to be provided to those training at the centre, would account for nearly one third of the funding at a proposed $84,000. None of the funding requested would go towards wages or remuneration. With changing regulations regarding the training of firefighters, Sparling told councillors that the number of graduated firefighters in Ontario has dropped significantly, showing that there is a need in the sector. The centre, he said, also aims to be the first in Ontario to offer National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) industrial fire brigade training. He also said that after several meetings and a tour of the facilities, the Ontario Fire Academy (OFA) would like to create a Huron County campus at the ESTC. Sparling says he also hopes to re- ignite the marine emergency training program that had once been offered in Ontario, but was shut down due to environmental concerns. The first three months of the year, Sparling said, would likely be when the centre would roll out industrial fire brigade training, a historically slow time at the centre. A whole system would have to be installed, he said, that would ensure proper water drainage to eliminate a slip and fall risk at the centre during training sessions. “The future is now,” Sparling told council, saying that the centre will need specialized knowledge and supplemental equipment to roll out these programs in order to service a need that may get filled elsewhere if they wait too long. “There is a need. We know there is a need,” Sparling said. “If there’s no The Citizen Celebrating 30 Years 1985~2015 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 9 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Brussels trails open, most still need snow By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 20