The Citizen, 2019-06-27, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019.
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building project. He said he felt that
if the renovation and expansion of
the current building wasn’t at least
considered that council would be
missing a significant opportunity to
preserve county history in Goderich.
He said he had considered
Bailey’s proposition, but truly felt
there was history and heritage to be
preserved in Goderich.
Bailey remained steadfast in his
push for a more central location for
the office, saying that in Goderich,
due to Lake Huron, there are only
three points of entry, where there
would be four with something closer
to the centre of the county.
He also pointed to the economic
spinoff that could be created for
Huron’s northern municipalities
which don’t have the likes of
London, Stratford and Kitchener
from which to draw.
Bailey told councillors they had a
chance to make history with the
decision, bucking the trend and not
proceeding with the “same old”
decision that had been made in
Huron County for generations to
centralize everything in Goderich.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Mayor Glen McNeil, however, said
he had conducted some research of
his own, stating that Huron would be
a substantial outlier if it were to
move the operation from Goderich.
Looking at surrounding counties,
he said, none of them located their
administration centrally. Most were,
like Goderich, located in the most
populated area, pointing to examples
of Grey County’s offices in Owen
Sound and Wellington County’s
offices in Guelph.
He said that not only were those
examples of best practices, but if the
county is to be viewed as a business,
always seeking efficiency, it simply
makes sense as well.
Central Huron Deputy-Mayor
Dave Jewitt said he was still
undecided, but was leaning towards
the Goderich option. He did say,
however, that councillors should
refrain from framing the debate as
one that pits urban areas of the
county against rural or certain
geographic communities against one
another.
When he sits at the Huron County
Council table, Jewitt says he makes
decisions based on what is best for
the entire county and that other
councillors do the same, so he would
be mindful not to turn the placement
of the administration building into a
competition with winners and losers.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Deputy-Mayor Roger Watt said that
the office, wherever it’s built, will
have its own gravity, bringing people
and business to where it’s located, so
he felt that concentration of
population shouldn’t be a factor in
council’s decision.
Warden Jim Ginn said that one of
the factors that should be paramount
is that all advice suggested that the
building be constructed on land the
county already owns. If it is to be
located on privately-owned land,
that decision would easily add
hundreds of thousands of dollars to
the cost of the multi-million-dollar
project.
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan said that staff, especially
those working in the county’s social
services department, made their
recommendation of a Goderich
location for a good reason and that
council should trust their expertise,
even as a more central location is
debated.
Wark told council that there’s no
way around it – that the placement of
the administration building is a
political decision and council needs
to approach it that way.
Council directed staff to prepare a
report considering numerous
potential locations for the office,
including Goderich, Blyth, Clinton
and the renovation and expansion of
the Huron County Courthouse. That
report would then be presented to the
administration building committee
for a recommendation to then be
presented to council.
Blyth, Clinton being considered for building location
A-OK
The Brussels Tigers Squirt Girls team recently won the “A” Division championship at the
annual June tournament hosted by the Exeter Extreme in South Huron. The team opened the
tournament with a 13-3 win over Stratford, followed by a 15-5 win over Wilmot. The team
closed out its championship run with an 8-4 win over Walkerton in the championship game to
seal the deal and earn them the “A” Championship. (Photo submitted)
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