The Citizen, 2001-10-31, Page 1I NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COWAN, N7-1
Inside this week
Pg. 2
Pg. 6
`Citizen' award
presented
Trustee Smith stalls
vote
Pg 9 Pool heater fund
' gets big boost
Blyth skaters raised Pg. 10 $2,000
Historical Soc. Pg, 23 releases marine
history
Twps. talk
water system
for Belgrave
By David Blaney
Citizen staff
e. Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 17 No. 43
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001
75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
Representatives of North Huron
council met with the Morris-
Tumberry council Oct. 24 to discuss
the water systems in the hamlet of
Belgrave.
John Stewart, clerk-administrator
of North Huron said that the meeting
was the result of an invitation from
Morris-Turtibti-ry to meet and
discuss the possible upgrading of
-the systems. The hamlet currently
has three systems in operation. One
of these is on the East Wawanosh
side of London Road which divides
the community, and two are on the
Morris-Tumberry side.
The North Huron system currently
serves 23 residences and the arena.
Stewart explained that Ontario's new
requirements for small water
systems and new testing regimes are
expensive. "It costs us as much to
test the water for those 23 houses as
it does to test the water in Blyth," he
said.
Morris-Turnberry Clerk-Treasurer
Nancy Michie said that community
has 80 of its 140 Belgrave residences
on the municipal system with the
others using private wells, either
singularly or in groups. According to
Michie upgrading that system to
meet the new requirements would
cost approximately $750,000.
Representatives of both councils
instructed their respective staffs to
investigate the possibility of
integrating the hamlet's water
systems. They are to investigate the
practicality and cost of integration,
as well as the cost of future
maintenance for such a system.
Another option being explored is
a pipe from Wingham. This would
depend on the capacity of the
Wingham system as well as the cost
of a pipeline. According to Mitchie,
staff has been asked to base their
figures on 250 residences. This
figure was chosen to allow for future
growth in Belgrave.
Another meeting is scheduled to
take place at the Morris-Turnberry
municipal office on Nov. 22 at which
it is hoped some preliminary cost
figures will be available.
By David Emslie
Clinton News-Record
Improved communications
between the police and the public is
one goal of Central Huron in
forming a new police advisory
committee.
The municipality has been without
a police contract since Dec. 31,
explained Central Huron Reeve
Carol Mitchell. "The minister of
finance cancelled the contract," she
explained, in light of the
amalgamation that brought together
Clinton and Hullett and Goderich
Twps.
The whole municipality of Central
Huron is now receiving what is
known as a 5.1 level of policing,
which means, Mitchell said, that
there are no officers dedicated to
working in- a specific area.
Clerk Richard Harding added that
under the 5.1 designation, for areas
that don't have a contract with the
OPP, officers will be dispatched out
of the Hwy. 21 office to respond to
calls. Mitchell added that there is
adequate staff at that office to meet
the needs of Central Huron residents.
Despite the cancellation of the
contract, the municipality continues
to provide administrative support
and office space for the OPP in their
Clinton office.
"At this time, the police office
remains open," Harding said.
With the cancellation of the
contract, there also came to an end
the former police services board,
which was put into place when
Clinton had a dedicated police force.
And since that board was shut
down, Mitchell said, the
municipality has been missing the
process whereby it can learn about
policing issues, and share concerns
with the police.
Therefore, by working to set up a
police advisory committee, Harding
noted, 'We're trying to keep the lines
of communication open."
There just needs to be a process,
the reeve said, whereby the
municipality, its citizens and the
police can exchange information.
This process will be put into place
when monthly meetings of the
committee are held. Sitting on the
committee will be ratepayers,
students, and council and OPP
representatives.
Although the idea for founding the
committee does not arise from any
specific incidents, Harding noted
that citizens have expressed
concerns to a member of council, but
there- was no formal basis to -bring
those concerns to the OPP. On the
other side of the coin, he also pointed
out that there is no formal basis for
the police to bring their concerns to
the municipality.
"Not having a police board, I feel
the link we had has been lost,"
Mitchell said.
The municipality is now looking
for interested citizens to sit on the
advisory r board, and deal not only
with police issues, but also with the
emergency plan for Central Huron.
"What we're looking for are two
representatives from each ward,"
Mitchell said, who are willing to
volunteer their services. Student
representatives will also be sought
from Central Huron Secondary
School and St. Anne's Catholic
Secondary School, she continued,
"to bring youth concerns forward.
They can also hear the police
concerns regarding youth."
Also sitting on the committee will
be. Mitchell and Ward 3 (Clinton)
Councillor Bill Colquhoun, along
with members of the police
community.
Those interested in dealing with
police matters and the municipality's
emergency plan are invited to write
to the community at Box 400,
Clinton. Mitchell said that letters of
interest, expilssing why persons are
interested in sitting on the
committee, and what they will bring
to the table, will be welcome.
The names will be considered, and
a decision made during the Nov. 19
session of Central Huron Council.
"Hopefully we'll get a good
response," the reeve stated.
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A vote to progress further towards
potential school closures was
postponed by one week, due to time
limitations and the lack of full trustee
support for extending a regular Avon
Maitland District School Board
meeting past 11 p.m.
Huron County Trustees Charles
Smith and Butch Desjardins opposed
a motion to continue past the three-
hour mark of the Tuesday, Oct. 23
meeting's open session. At that point,
only five of nine trustees had asked
questions of Education
Superintendent Bill Gerth, whose
lengthy staff report had taken up
about 1 1/2 hours. Under the board's
constitution, unanimous trustee
support is required for an extension
past 11 p.m.
Gerth presented through occasional
heckling from the audience, largely
consisting of representatives from
some of the 46 schools mentioned in
his report. In a series of
recommendations asking for further
study into potential changes, ranging
from boundary alterations to the
relocation of Grades 7 and 8 students
into secondary school settings,
closure is suggested as an option for
10 elementary schools as well as
Seaforth District High School
(SDHS).
The audience was generally much
more supportive of two presentations
—one announced and one
unannounced — during the public
delegation portion of the meeting.
Colin Pritchard, representative for
the Parent. Action Committee at
Holmesville Public School, told
trustees he appreciated their efforts to
lobby for alterations to the Ontario
government's educational funding
formula, which has been at least
partly blamed for the need for school
closures.
But he urged them to consider both
the costs of running the school
between Goderich and Clinton, and
the evidence of academic
improvement shown by recent results
from provincially-standardized tests.
In last year's tests from the
Education Quality and Accountability
Office (EQAO), Pritchard said,
Holmesville "scored better than the
(Avon Maitland) board average in
100 per cent of categories, and better
than the provincial average in about
50 per cent of categories."
Father to four children aged seven
or less, he suggested he considered
supporting the Huron-Perth Catholic
District School Board but was
heartened by the apparent EQAO
improvements at Holmesville.
The applause Pritchard received
was rivalled by that given to Huron
East Mayor Lyn Steiner. whose
commanding voice and demeanor
were more than enough to
compensate for her relatively short
stature as she stood at the front of the
Continued on page 6
ay we give you a tour?
You could tell these guides were definitely not from the Huron County Tourism Department at
Brussels Public School's haunted house this last weekend. The event was put on by the Grade
8 class with the help of friends and parents to raise funds for their end of school trip. (David Blaney
photo)
CH sets up police committee
Vote slows
move to
school
closures