The Citizen, 2006-12-21, Page 1Singing up a storm
These Grade 1 students at Brussels Public School as the whole school pulled together for one grand
sang their hearts out at this year's Christmas concert. performance. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
The costumes were elaborate and the songs were great
Trustees, staff to work on policy
I Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 22 No. 50
Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006
$1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST)
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A committee of trustees will work
with administrative staff and seek
input from communities over the
next few months, in an effort to
bring the Avon Maitland District
School Board's accommodation
review policy in line with new
provincial guidelines governing
school closures.
"We have to have the policy in
place by the end of March,"
explained education director Geoff
Williams, following a regular
meeting Tuesday, Dec. 12.
As is the case each year, the nine
trustees decided who will serve on
the board's standing committees:
finance, audit, director's review,
special education, school year
Blyth Festival Board president
Deb Sholdice announced a 2006
season surplus on operations of just
over $5,200 at annual general
meeting on Dec. 14.
"This is the third year in a row that
we've earned a surplus, said
Sholdice. "Over 24,600 people saw
a show at the Blyth Festival last
summer — an increase of seven per
cent over last year. 2007 plans are
calendar, student's advisory, joint
health and safety, and- Supervised
Learning for Excused Pupils (which
deals with cases of extraordinary
discipline).
As chair, newly-acclaimed Jenny
Versteeg has a seat on every standing
committee.
This year, in addition, there will be
an ad hoc committee looking into
what changes are needed to bring the
board into compliance with the new
accommodation guidelines. Serving
on that committee, besides Versteeg,
will be Tina Traschel of Perth East,
Meg Westley of Stratford, Al
Sygrove of Goderich/northwest
Huron, and Shelley Kaastra of
Huron East/Central Huron.
According to Williams, it's likely
the new provincial guidelines will
force changes in two main factors
falling into place and season tickets
are selling well for next year. Our
amazing staff, committees and
volunteers are gearing up to promote
and raise funds for our 2007
activities. Two of our plays from the
2006 season will be produced by
other theatres."
Schoolhouse opens at 4th Line
Theatre near Peterborough next
summer and The Ballad of Stompin'
affecting potential school closures:
timelines and what's being referred
to as a "valuation process."
In a previous meeting, the
education director had noted a
review could have been started in
October under the board's old
policy, and changes could be
approved by February for
implementation at the beginning of
the next school year.
New requirements for community
involvement and time between
decisions, he suggested, probably
mean "an accommodation review is
(now) going to have to take place
over two years in order to implement
for the beginning of the school year."
The valuation, meanwhile, is an
entirely new element in the
province's concept of
accommodation review. The
Tom opens in Gananoque in May
2007 before it returns to Blyth in
September. New events and
traditional favourites are on the
agenda for the New Year.
A new board was elected that
includes: Deb Appleby (Wingham),
Cass Bayley (Hensall), Doug Elliott
(Seaforth), Wendy Hoemig
(Benmiller), Alison Lobb (Clinton),
Alf Ross (Seaforth), Keith Roulston
guidelines stipulate each school
board must set out a generalized
approach to determining the value of
a school on various levels:
economic, cultural, community-
based, etc.
Then, if a particular community is
targetted for potential
accommodation changes, that
generalized approach must be
adapted to refer to that particular
community.
Trustees on the Avon Maitland ad
hoc committee will begin work
immediately, but it's expected
requests will be sent out soon for
community members also to join the
committee.
By February, they will be called
on to assist the trustees in adding the
valuation process to its
accommodation policy.
(Blyth), Deb Sholdice (Clinton),
Annie Sparling (Blyth), Trish
Trenter (Wingham), Margaret
Webster (Wingham) and Bruce
Whitmore (Walton).
Retiring after an extensive
commitment to the theatre are: Joe
Wooden, Dave Scott, Ila Mathers
and Ron Lavoie.
Artistic director Eric Coates
Continued on page 3
N. Huron
compares
taxes,
services
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
The reality of North Huron's high
tax rate was rationalized by council
at Monday night's meeting
following a report from economic
development officer Kern Herrfort.
The EDO provided a financial and
service comparison of the township
with municipalities of similar size.
The findings were pretty much what
was expected.
"You are probably not going to
find a municipality like North Huron
in Ontario," said clerk-administrator
'Criss Snell, noting that it offers more
services than similar municipalities.
The information was gathered as a
result of a petition from ratepayers in
the spring, expressing concern about
North Huron's high taxes. In
response a survey was distributed.
Of the 1,963 mailed, 312 were
returned, said Herrfort.
The next step was a review of the
concerns, which included a full-time
fire chief for Wingham, policing in
Wingham, the museum, day care and
airport.
Herrfort then asked for compari-
sons from 40 municipalities that had
a similar population, number of
households and assessment. "I didn't
get a very good response, however,
they are still coming in."
The comparison for Monday night
included nine muncipalities. While
there were some differences, the
results were fairly clear. "From the
information gathered, it's pretty easy
to see that we do offer more
services," said Herrfort. "That can be
a pro and it can be a con."
Now facing the decision of what to
do with the information, Herrfort
said, "If we just wanted to justify
that yes we have high taxes, but
there's a reason, then I think we've
done it."
Snell also reminded that one
reason for the high tax rate is that
North Huron's assessment is low. He
suggested that services could be
broken down and examined. "I think
that's the next step we need to go to."
Final
reminder
A final reminder that the
deadline for the Jan. 4 issue of The
Citizen will be early.
The Blyth and Brussels offices
will be closed on Monday, Jan. 1,
New Year's Day. Deadline for
advertising and editorial copy must
be into Blyth at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec.
29 or 2 p.m. that day in Brussels.
Blyth Festival announces surplus