The Citizen, 2010-03-18, Page 1A rezoning application that will
allow for the construction of a new
school in Wingham was approved by
Huron County’s committee of the
whole at its March 10 meeting and
will return in April for final approval
from Huron County council.
The rezoning application and
amendment to Huron County’s
official plan will designate the
property earmarked for the Avon
Maitland District School Board’s
new school in North Huron as
acceptable for a school. The
recommendation by the committee
of the whole, however, was not
unanimous, as several councillors
felt more information was required
and that other options had not been
exercised.
Huron County planner Scott
Tousaw prefaced the discussion
about the application by
acknowledging that the construction
of the new school is a controversial
topic and politically divisive and he
urged councillors to approach the
application from strictly a planning
perspective.
Joe Seili, however, said that from a
planning perspective, due diligence
had not been done by the applicants
(the school board) and several of the
standard pieces of a pending
construction project were still absent
in the application.
In an effort to get the answers he
was seeking, Seili asked for the
application to be tabled until a traffic
control study and an environmental
impact study, among other things,
had been done.
Seili was also concerned about the
economic impact school closures
would have on the main streets of
Blyth and Brussels and what would
happen to the agriculturally-zoned
land around the property that would
be designated for the new school.
“If you do this, you’re restricting
agriculture further out than it already
is,” Seili said. “I think there are other
areas that the board hasn’t explored
yet.”
His motion, however, was
defeated.
Neil Vincent, reeve of North
Huron, however, defended the
application, which had been
approved by North Huron council
and was going to Huron County
council as per Seili’s request when
the situation first arose. Seili was
concerned that motions regarding
the new school in North Huron
would simply get “rubber-stamped”
by the local municipality and he felt
Huron County council should have
its opportunity to weigh in.
“Site plan control is where we can
meet many of these concerns,” said
Vincent. “This has come out of the
accommodation review process from
one year ago and I think we could
lose an OMB (Ontario Municipal
Board) hearing if we don’t proceed.”
Vincent assured Seili and the rest
of the councillors that North Huron
council still has several concerns
regarding the proposal, but that this
wasn’t the time to put the brakes on
the project.
“Our council has many concerns,”
he said. “We have to deal with it
though, not just say no.”
There were also concerns with the
proposed addition to the school’s
parking lot, which would now
involve an extension of John Street,
resulting in a cul de sac, which
would allow for vehicles to turn
around at the end of the street.
The current situation at F.E.
Madill Secondary School once
school has been let out was
described as one councillor as “a
demolition derby”. This was
something he said he felt could only
get worse under this proposal.
However, Sandra Weber, Huron
County senior planner said the
The shooting of Ontario
Provincial Police (O.P.P.) Provincial
Constable Vu Pham, which occurred
on North Line on Monday, March 8,
saw several kilometers of road
blocked off for travellers.
The three-day closure gave the
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)
time to examine the scene and
interview eye-witnesses.
The SIU is a civilian third party
that investigates matters in which
police officers injure, or are injured
by, suspects or civilians.
Huron OPP officers were relieved
from active duty to allow them to
deal with the loss of a fellow officer,
and Huron County was covered by
OPP officers from Southwestern
Ontario. The majority of officers
came from Bruce and Perth
counties, but anyone familiar with
the area was considered.
Huron officers were back on duty
on Monday, 15.
From the beginning of the
incident, residents around an area
historically known as Leadbury,
which is between Winthrop and
Walton, were sequestered in their
homes and asked not to comment to
anyone regarding the issue.
“Police stopped by earlier and told
us not to say anything about [the
event] to [the media] or anyone
else,” a resident of North Line said
on the day of the shooting via
telephone.
Some residents went into hiding,
explaining that they weren’t even
answering their phones or doors due
to the calls and visits from media
outlets.
“We’ve had everyone in here, and
we really have nothing to say about
it,” said an individual in Winthrop
who wished not to be named.
Residents of North Line
commented that they really just want
to move on, according to one
unidentified individual.
“We’re all just trying to get on
with our lives right now,” the
individual said. “We’ll see what
happens later on, but for now, we’d
rather look forward.”
Walton, according to one
individual at The Walton Inn who
withheld their name, was bustling
with activity due to the events of
March 8.
“There’s been a huge social
reaction, but that’s normal in a small
town,” they said. “When big things
happen, people tend to get together
to discuss it.”
Huron East council decided to
open Hensall Road to save people
from driving two-and-a-half
kilometres to find an open road.
“It seems to be a long time to close
a road,” Huron East Coun. Bill
Siemon said. “But with the internal
affairs program involved, and with
the fact that it’s a police shooting,
they want to make sure they get
everything right.”
North Line was reopened after the
on-site investigation concluded on
Wednesday, March 10.
Pham shooting shocks community
Seili’s attempt to delay school rezoning thwarted
CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, March 18, 2010
Volume 26 No. 11EVENT- Pg. 2Brussels native in MissWorld Ontario contest FUNERAL - Pg. 12 Community mournsofficer’s deathSPORTS- Pg. 8Brussels Peewees tied inOMHA final seriesPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
A final farewell
OPP Const. Vu Pham’s wife, Heather, and children, Tyler, Jordan and Joshua, as well as several other family members and
friends follow the casket of the slain officer into the North Huron Wescast Community Complex where they would say their final
goodbyes. (more stories, photos on pages 12-13) (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 22