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The Citizen, 2018-03-08, Page 21PAGE 20.THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018. World Day of Prayer Members of the Belgrave Women's Institute participated in the World Day of Prayer event on March 2. Above, Doreen Marks makes a presentation in costume about Suriname, the area the event focused on this year. (Denny Scott photo) New travel agent now in Blyth Blyth resident Jeff Nesbitt is turning a long-time passion into a new part-time vocation, but he hopes that, given time and effort, it could grow into even more. Nesbitt, who has a full-time job and runs a part-time demolition business, recently finished his Travel Insurance Council of Ontario (TICO) certification and has partnered with Ship2Shore Holidays to become trained as a travel agent. Nesbitt works with Ship2Shore Holidays, sometimes out of its Mildmay office, which is set to move to Wingham shortly, as well as out of his Blyth home. He offers all kinds of vacation planning options, but says that what drew him to the business is his specialty: fully -planned, short-term trips. "It's something I enjoy doing," he said. "I've been booking trips for friends and family for awhile so I decided to pursue it." Nesbitt said he loves travelling and doing research for trips, so it was a natural move for him to get his certification and start working towards being a travel agent. "I love finding the best places to see and to eat," he said. "The people I've done it for before think I'm good at it. I have had friends say I should branch out into this and, in their minds, I know where to find the deals and where to go." He said that kind of planning, providing a full itinerary with events, transportation and accommodation, seems to be an under -serviced area. "It's good for anyone really, but it works well with groups of couples looking for a long weekend trip; people looking to go to a sporting event like a Toronto Blue Jays game in Boston or other small groups that want to travel together." He said he has planned events like a couples' retreat to Nashville and a girls weekend in Miami, as well as family vacations to Washington state. Certified Jeff Nesbitt is tackling a new project by becoming a Travel Industry Council of Ontario -certified (TICO) travel agent. (Denny Scott photo) "The more I looked, the more I noticed no one was doing these shorter trips as a specialty," he said. "No one sits down to offer a full itinerary for two- or three-day trips." Nesbitt said those kinds of trips are needed these days because it can be difficult for people to find the time and resources to be away from home for a week or two. He also said that Blyth and the surrounding area is in a unique position that makes the trips more attractive. "We're fortunate that we live in an area that has a lot of destinations close -by for a weekend," he said. While his eventual plan is to be his own agent with an affiliation with Ship2Shore, currently he is working through the company to get started. "This helps with the training," he said. "I wanted to jump into my own thing and hit the ground running, but this lets me learn and lets them have a bit of an expanded service. It's a win-win." Nesbitt was certified in December and has been training ever since then and getting ready to offer his services. "I wanted to make sure the customers would be happy," he said. "I wanted to take that time to get ready." Ship2Shore has three specialties, thanks to Nesbitt. He offers short- term trips, like weekends away, while his fellow agents offer expertise in all-inclusive vacations and cruises. While each agent has their own strength, Nesbitt said they all offer full-service programs for every kind of vacation. "It's nice to have those different fields of expertise to be able to bounce ideas off of and go to with questions," he said. While the job is part-time now, Nesbitt said he wouldn't mind if it became more of a full-time job. "The worst-case scenario I see here is it being a worthwhile part- time job that I enjoy," he said. "I certainly wouldn't mind getting my own space and having it be a career eventually." Currently, the best place to reach him is at home. For more information, contact him at 519- 523-4448. Poole outlines extra officer request for police service By Denny Scott The Citizen On Feb. 26, at a special North Huron Township Council meeting, Wingham Police Chief Tim Poole said keeping the Wingham Police Service may be a more costly proposition than originally presented. Poole said that if the Wingham Police Service were to remain servicing Wingham, or potentially expand to East Wawanosh, Blyth or neighbouring municipalities, a two - officer -per -shift practice, compared to the single officer shifts currently used, should be adopted. The change would result in a $400,000 increase to the annual operation budget of the service. The public meeting was held to allow Poole and the Wingham Police Association to address a difficult decision ahead of North Huron Council: Whether to stay with the Wingham Police Service in Wingham or switch to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). Poole started the meeting by explaining the history, composition and skills available to the current department, saying the Wingham Police Service Officers are similarly trained to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). Poole explained that, since Wingham's incorporation in 1879, the community has been serviced by the Wingham Police Service. "At that time, there was a chief constable for the town and that was it," he said. "There was no Ontario Provincial Police at the time. The Wingham Police was the only option." The service grew from one officer to the current seven -member service. "All the officers have completed the general investigative techniques course," Poole explained. "Currently, no other service in Ontario [has all their offices trained like that]. The course is reserved for investigative teams in larger services." Poole said that having the training will be helful in the event that a large case needs to be investigated in Wingham. Between the seven members of the force, Poole explained they have all the skillsets necessary for policing Wingham including three breathalyzer technicians, one "scenes of crime" officer, two officers trained in interview techniques, one in fraud investigation, two in obtaining search warrants, two sexual assault investigators, two major case management investigators, one domestic assault investigator trainer, one drug investigator, one forensic investigator, two front-line supervisors and one officer that is trained as a police leader. "All of this training is the exact same as provided by the OPP and is transferable if the township should chose to go with the OPP," he said. "It will be a benefit to the officers in the case of that amalgamation." Poole also explained that the police service was slated to be disbanded during municipal amalgamation in 2001, a decision that was derailed by a lack of needed information. "Council said we were to be disbanded," he said. "Our officers all applied to the OPP at that time. They were all ready to go." Poole said that, as part of any disbanding procedure, a hearing is required and, during that hearing, the Ontario Civilian Commission on Policing Services ruled that the OPP hadn't provided all the information requested. Poole went on to say that, had that decision been appealed, the Wingham Police Service likely wouldn't exist today. In the case of the Wingham service being disbanded, Poole said not all the local officers may find a place with the OPP. During previous meetings, it was said that officers would be offered the opportunity to work with the OPP, though they would have to go through a hiring process. Poole, however, pointed to Midland, a community that recently went through this practice and said that 14 of the community's officers did not get hired. While the bulk of Poole's presentation was about the capability of the Wingham Police Service, he did say that he would prefer to see a significant increase in funding for the department that was not part of the previous price comparison of the Wingham and OPP pricing. "We have one officer on at any given time," he said. "Several of our calls, however, require two officers. It's very challenging for us. We have to incur overtime for this type of call." He also said the department incurs overtime when officers are sick or injured because they are working from a limited pool. "The Wingham Police Association [representing the officers] is asking for a minimum operation of two officers at all times," Poole said. "This is the norm across the province. We are the only police service that does not have this. It will add $400,000 to the current budget if approved." Poole said the only feasible way to fund such an increase is to service all of North Huron or increase the cost of the service to Wingham ratepayers dramatically. Poole also addressed claims that Reeve Neil Vincent had made that neighbouring municipalities might be interested in buying police service from North Huron's Wingham Police Service. "Unless one of those townships is Morris-Turnberry, we wouldn't be permitted to go into another area," Poole said. "We cannot skip over Morris-Turnberry and police Howick, for example." Poole was referring to a policy that states police services must be contiguous, meaning their service area must be completely connected. Current and former members of North Huron Council, for example, said there was some interest in having the Wingham Police Service provide policing in Blyth during amalgamation. However, East Wawanosh wasn't interested, so any level of interest from Blyth couldn't result in a change. Poole also said the department is likely facing significant capital expenses in the near future, such as cruisers that need to be replaced and computer systems and security systems that require upgrading. Those costs alone could run the municipality $52,000. Poole said the costs were high, but as a ratepayer in Wingham, he felt the Wingham Police Service was the best option for the area. "As a ratepayer for the town of Wingham, I want to keep our police service," he said. "I'm more than willing to pay extra taxes to increase our size and increase our police services. I want to consider the safety of my officers. I do support them in their quest to have two officers on duty." Poole went on to say he doesn't envy council having to make this decision. "It's an emotionally -charged decision for our ratepayers," he said. "No matter what you decide, someone will not be happy." For more coverage on the meeting, visit northhuron.on.ca.