The Citizen, 2015-02-26, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, February 26, 2015
Volume 31 No. 8
FIRE - Pg. 27
Fire chief looks back on
extraordinary first year
BRIDAL - Pg. 11
‘The Citizen’ presents its
annual guide to nuptials
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:
Board to explore North Huron-wide police force
Blink and you’ll miss it
For some people, skating is about spinning and dancing and performing, for others, it’s about
going fast. Some members of the Brussels Skating Club found the perfect balance when they
took Pixar’s Cars and put it on ice as part of the club’s ‘A Night at the Movies’ skate show last
week. While skaters were the stars on the ice, they were also awarded off the ice, with a
number of awards being handed out for both figure skating and power skating. From left: Owen
and Adam Ryan, Kirsten Baxter and Mitchell Terpstra. (Denny Scott photo)
County finalizes
2% tax increase
Councillors in North Huron are
curious as to how viable the
expansion of the Wingham Police
Department into East Wawanosh and
Blyth would be now that the
increased Ontario Provincial Police
(OPP) billing model has been
implemented.
The discussion started after North
Huron Council debated an
announcement from the OPP
regarding the organization’s
renewed efforts for transparency and
accountability in light of the new,
more expensive billing model.
In light of the more expensive
police service, Councillor Bill Knott
wondered if expanding Wingham
was a more appealing option now
than it had been in the past.
“I know we went through this
before, but perhaps should we not be
taking a look at expanding the
Wingham Police Force boundaries
and, if possible, look at participation
with neighbouring municipalities?”
he asked. “Is this maybe a good time
to look at this?”
Knott said he wasn’t interested in
having Wingham Police Chief Tim
Poole go through the entire process
of evaluating the option again, which
was done several years ago before
the new OPP billing model was ever
announced, but in Poole providing
his opinion to council on whether or
not servicing areas beyond Wingham
was feasible.
Councillor Trevor Seip, who
represents North Huron on the
Wingham Police Services Board
(PSB), said the board is currently in
the middle of negotiations with the
police department for contracts, but
after that, he planned on asking
Poole that exact question.
“Once the contracts are done, the
expectation is, I will have Poole’s
previous study and we’re going to
look at it again,” Seip said. “The
PSB is going to look at the options
again and make the report as current
as possible and then, following a
meeting with council, let us decide
what their best position is going
forward. That is in the works and it
will come to council through those
channels.”
Knott stated that neighbouring
municipalities had talked about
creating their own police force in
response to the increased OPP costs
and he felt that it could be an
opportunity for North Huron to look
at expanding its existing police
service to them.
“It seems that there is some
interest from councillors in Central
Huron and Morris-Turnberry to do
that,” Knott said. “I’d like to see
[Poole] respond to that. We don’t
need a detailed report, but just his
opinion on whether it is feasible or
would benefit us and the
municipalities as far as a budget is
concerned.”
Seip said the board likely wouldn’t
want to pursue that option unless a
request came from those
municipalities.
“The study can be regurgitated
into whatever form it needs to be,
but my concern, from the standpoint
of the Police Services Board, is that
I suspect they won’t want to go
through a lengthy conversation if we
haven’t seen anything official from
those councils that says, ‘please
consider this.’ If this is ratepayers’ or
brief remarks from council, we
shouldn’t be deciding to pursue it.
All I know is what we can do within
this municipality.”
Councillor Brock Vodden said he
was satisfied with the police
coverage in Blyth.
“I’m happy about the service we
receive, but I’m not sure about the
new pricing,” he said.
Vodden also voiced some concern
regarding the level of service
necessary to maintain a police force
in the areas of East Wawanosh and
Blyth, as well as the other
municipalities that may or may not
be interested.
“As far as I know, you can’t go
down in the service provided,” he
said. “You have to go up.”
Vodden said maintaining service
in Blyth would likely not be an
issue, but Central Huron, for
example, has a contract with the
OPP to provide more than basic
services provided to Blyth and East
Wawanosh, could prove tricky.
Council made no motion, however
Seip indicated having the PSB
review the option for an expanded
coverage area for the Wingham
Police Force would be discussed
sooner, rather than later.
Huron County Council has
finalized this year’s budget with a
two per cent tax levy increase – all
that’s left is for the multi-million
dollar budget to be confirmed with a
bylaw early next month.
The process began earlier this year
when Treasurer Michael Blumhagen
first presented the budget to
councillors with a proposed tax
increase of 5.47 per cent. Unhappy
with the large increase, councillors
urged Blumhagen and department
heads to whittle down their budgets
until they reached what councillors
felt was a more reasonable increase
to the tax levy.
Blumhagen was authorized to use
the county’s 2014 surplus, a figure
that has yet to be determined, to try
and bring the proposed tax increase
down, but there were still a number
of grant requests that had to be dealt
with.
He suggested that the request of
$60,000 from the Huron County
Food Bank Distribution Centre be
approved, but only for 2015, not
$60,000 per year for 2015 through
2018, as had been requested.
In an effort to track whether or not
the centre is becoming more self-
sufficient, Blumhagen said, council
should request that centre
representatives return this fall and
submit another request for 2016
funding.
Blumhagen also suggested that the
$5,000 request from the Coalition
for Huron Injury Prevention (CHIP)
and the $20,000 request from the
United Way Perth Huron Social
Research and Planning Council both
be approved. He suggested that all
three grants be paid by way of the
county’s “unforeseen” account,
which had a balance of $100,000.
Council approved Blumhagen’s
suggestions pertaining to the grants,
but not without first suggesting a
tightening of the purse strings where
grant money is concerned.
“With these grant requests, we’re
giving everybody exactly what they
asked for,” said Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van
Diepenbeek. “There’s a rumour
going around the county that if you
need money, [council] will give it
you. They never say no.”
Van Diepenbeek said he was
concerned about the budget and its
sustainability going forward.
Blumhagen agreed, saying the
county was travelling on a path that
could not be maintained.
“This budget is not sustainable,”
Blumhagen told councillors. “We
need to seriously look at service
levels.”
Both Blumhagen and Van
Diepenbeek were concerned about
the utilization of reserves, saying
that continuing to deplete reserves
without raising taxes to cover
increasing costs isn’t something the
county can maintain for long.
In Blumhagen’s budget, as
directed by council, the county’s
reserves were utilized to the tune of
$4 million, being reduced from $42
million to $38 million, a rate he
stated is completely unsustainable.
“We haven’t cut a penny from this
budget, we’re just taking it out of
reserves,” said Van Diepenbeek.
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 7
By Denny Scott
The Citizen