The Citizen, 2003-08-27, Page 1sThe Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 19 No. 33 Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 75 Cents (70c + 5c gst)
NH
[ NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC, j
Inside this week
Pg-3
Pg-8
Pg- io
Cheap Amazing
Racers donate
Blyth girls team
scores
championship
Grey farmer makes
move to solar
D . . Community comes
* A? out to support beef
industry
p ^2 Stratford’s
* ‘Laughter’ hilarious
open
Monday
The weeks have flown by and the
final long weekend of summer is
upon us.
While area folks take .advantage of
the extra time off there will be no
leisure time for the staff at the Blyth
office of The Citizen. The office will
be open Monday from 9 a.m. until 5
p.m. Deadline for advertising and
editorial copy will be moved
forward, however, to noon.
The Brussels office will be closed,
but any information to be included in
the Sept. 3 issue can be put under the
door to be picked up at noon,
Monday.
Questions bring Threshers back to council
By Mark Nonkes
Wingham Advance-Times
Several members of Blyth’s
largest and longest celebration stood
before council last week and
repeated a request they made in
early spring.
Steve Tiffin, treasurer of the Blyth
Threshers, asked council to consider
sharing campground fees from those
staying at the Blyth Fairgrounds.
In the past, the Threshers have
helped purchase extra land for the
fairgrounds, installed hydro and
water on several sites and built
sheds on the property. More than
1,000 campers come every year.
With the campground completely
booked during each Reunion, Tiffin
said the group needs to purchase
more land and increase the number
of serviced sites.
This summer, several other groups
stayed at the fairgrounds, as did a
number of private campers. While
the municipality can easily track the
large groups, those people who stay
just one night often don’t pay
because there is no place to deposit
money.
Tiffin suggested council install a
drop box where those overnight
campers pay on the honour system.
He said that the deposit box should
Extra work
Rick White, left and Dave Beirnes of the Huron East works department had a little extra work
on Friday morning clearing up the damage caused in Brussels by the Thursday thunderstorm.
The village was without power for seven hours and high winds littered the streets with
branches. (Sarah Mann photo)
be in Thresher Shed #3 which could
not easily be vandalized.
After Tiffin’s presentation,
councillor Jeff Howson said he was
a little confused why the Thresher
group was back before council when
a similar suggestion was made in the
spring. Howson said he recalled the
group asking to set up kiosks to
deposit campground fees and the
municipality supported the
recommendations.
Deputy-reeve Murray Scott said
that council agreed to give 50 per
cent of the money from the
campground.
“Nobody ever came back to us
with that information,” said Edgar
Daer, a Thresher’s committee
member.
“It was a done decision at that
time.” Howson said. Clerk
administrator John Stewart admitted
there was no communication from
the municipality on the matter and
explained the 50 per cent split was
only on unexpected overnight
campers, not groups.
“Could you read the motion
then?” asked Daer.
“WeTI have to dig it out,”
responded councillor Archie
MacGowan.
Councillor Murray Nesbitt
reminded the group the township
takes care of grass cutting and yard
work.
John Stewart said if the
municipality starts taking money out
of user fees the township will have
to look for other ways of raising
funds such as raising taxes. He told
the group that they couldn’t look at
the money as going from Blyth to
Wingham.
“We’re one municipality now,”
Stewart said.
But the group didn’t go away
empty handed. Council re-affirmed
that the Threshers will receive 50
per cent of the funding from
unexpected campers.
Next weeks crucial
in WNv situation
The next two to three weeks are
the high risk time for contracting
West Nile virus from mosquito bites.
The virus has been confirmed in
dead crows in all but one of the 37
Ontario Health Units including
Huron County.
While no mosquito pools have
tested positive in Huron County, the
following five Ontario areas have
reported finding mosquitoes
“Keep in mind you guys have
done a wonderful job ... somehow
or another we have to be cost
effective in here too,” Nesbitt said.
With the communication
confusion cleared up, Tiffin said a
few details needed to be ironed out
and didn’t expect the drop box to be
ready until next year. He said he was
glad to hear council was willing to
help pay for some of the projects and
the major thing that needs to be
looked at in the next few years is
land purchase.
The group was instructed to make
a five-year capital plan and submit it
before next year’s budget.
carrying the virus - Durham Region,
Haldimand-Norfolk, Halton Region,
Peel Region and the City of Toronto.
A human case of the virus has been
confirmed in an elderly man in
Ottawa and a 54 year old male in
York Region.
In 2002 the majority of human
cases of West Nile virus in Ontario
Continued on page 6
Storm
knocks
down
lines,
trees
By Janice Becker
& Sarah Mann
Citizen staff
For the second Thursday in a row,
parts of Huron County went dark.
However, this time, a wild summer
storm was to blame.
With powerlines down in several
areas and trees blocking roadways in
Ashfield, Goderich, Central Huron,
Huron East, and Bluewater Twps.,
Hydro One and municipal work
crews were kept busy while police
officers and emergency workers
answered numerous calls.
Huron East fire chief Marty
Bedard said they got their first call at
approximately 11:05 p.m. Thursday
evening when a hydro pole snapped
in Harpurhey.
The public works crew were called
out around 12:30 a.m. to close a
section of the road and were still out
late Friday afternoon cleaning up
debris.
The fire department was called out
again at 5:30 a.m. to downed lines on
Hydro Line Road, between North
Line and Roxboro Line.
Bedard believed the northern part
of the municipality was hit harder as
much of Seaforth did not lose power.
Brussels, Cranbrook and Ethel had
suffered strong winds and large
hailstones with Huron East public
works superintendent John Forrest
saying much of the damage was
localized in that area as well as from
Walton to Kippen.
“There were a lot of hydro lines
down,” said Forrest, “especially in
Grey.”
A power line down across St.
Michaels Road and another in the
Ethel area kept power out until after
5 p.m. Friday.
With the second power outage in a
week, Jason Rehkopf, co-owner of
Brussels Village Market, estimates
he lost anywhere from $5,000 to
$10,000 worth of food.
“We lost all of our fresh and frozen
meat, everything in the deli counter,
and some milk. We lost a lot,” he
said.
Brussels resident Janice Forsythe
recalled hearing a “roaring noise just
when the storm was hitting good.”
Upon inspection, it was realized
that part of the weeping willow tree
that once stood tall in their back yard
was now lying on the ground, partly
covering her neighbour’s yard as
well. The only damage done was to
their clotheslines.
“It makes you wonder what they
did without electricity.I was making
my husband’s lunch at Eve in the
morning with a candle and a
flashlight,” she laughed.
While only one municipal worker' >
was on duty in Grey throughout the
Continued on page 6