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The
THIS WEEK • Intersection • Editorials • Agriculture • Obituaries
Citizen
Huron County’s most trusted independent news source
Thursday, August 13, 2020
$1.25 GST included
Volume 36 No. 33
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
H-P sees spike in COVID-19 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen
Assistance required Firefighters from the Blyth and Wingham stations of the Fire Department of North Huron called for mutual aid assistance from firefighters from Brussels, Central Huron, Goderich and Lucknow on Monday afternoon to help fight
a barn fire on Blyth Road between Blyth and Auburn. The barn, which was believed to be full of straw, was spotted ablaze by passers-by who called the fire department to notify them of the smoke they were seeing. (Denny Scott photo)
North Huron to sell Wingham trailer park By Denny Scott The Citizen Despite an impassioned plea from supporters of the Wingham Trailer Park, North Huron Township Council approved a recommended motion to start the process of closing the park with a single caveat. On Monday night, council approved a lengthy motion that received a report from Director of Recreation and Community Services Vicky Luttenberger regarding the Phase I and Phase II environmental site conditions assessments of the property and proceeding with Phase III of the assessment, which includes a soil remediation program for a specific part of the park costing $10,000. The motion also dictated that staff provide notice to the Wingham Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion that the operating agreement North Huron has with the group for the park be terminated as of Dec. 31 of this year. Michael Rintoul, who presented a petition to save the trailer park, spoke to council during the public input portion of Monday’s meeting. He explained that the petition presented, plus more recent submissions, totalled near 500
signatures and said that many didn’t understand why council was considering selling the park. “It’s hard to understand why the council wants to sell the park with two other subdivisions for sale,” he said. He explained that the park is full and has been for years, so it’s hard for people who support it to understand why. Rintoul also explained that the Legion branch thrives because of the park, both in the money the Legion raises running the park for the township and the money generated by people in the park visiting the Branch. Despite all the concerns Rintoul presented, only one matter was able to sway council members against development: his statement that when the town took possession of the park, it was done so with the understanding it would be a park for nearly 100 years. That statement led several councillors to say they were fully in support of redeveloping the park as residential property unless Rintoul’s claim proved true. Time was of the essence, however, as council only had until Friday to advise the Legion as to its intent with the site.
As part of Rintoul’s speech, he referred to former police chief Tim Poole, who was there to observe and speak on behalf of the Legion, saying that it was becoming difficult to find volunteers to help run the park, which is how it’s been run since the Legion took it over. “We need more volunteers to maintain it,” he said. “Some volunteers are getting tired of donating their time.” While the petition Rintoul brought had over 450 entries, council was only able to consider the slightlyless-than 90 who had signed actual papers. The other entries were provided via a Change.org form which didn’t provide enough information, according to staff. Clerk Carson Lamb explained that, if council were to follow the letter of its petition policy, none of the entries were admissible as no one had provided their full address to verify they were ratepayers. Lamb pointed to the fact that someone from Belgrave may or may not be a North Huron ratepayer, and that council should be factoring that into its decision-making process. Of the 21 pages of entry, only the first six were accepted and, as council members pointed out,
approximately one in four of those were from outside North Huron. Council was’t swayed however, with each member saying that what the land represented - shovel-ready residential developable land - was too good to pass up. Wingham has no such land, several councillors said, pointing to other developments that are months or years away from moving forward, if at all. Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip also said that he felt the municipality shouldn’t be in the business of running trailer parks, saying that the Blyth Campground hadn’t been supported properly for years and Continued on page 3
Huron and Perth Counties have seen a significant jump in new cases of COVID-19 in the region, with eight being identified since Friday, building upon the spike of five new cases last week. The total number of cases in Huron and Perth Counties currently sits at 82 and eight of those cases are being considered active. Four of the new cases are in Perth County outside of Stratford, while three are in Stratford and one is in Huron County. Testing in the region also continues to rise with over 12,000 tests having been conducted since the pandemic broke out in March. Dr. Miriam Klassen, Huron Perth Medical Officer of Health, said on Monday that there is cause for concern with the spike in cases, though at the same time there are a number of factors that can make the figures less concerning as well. None of the cases have arisen without explanation, she said, with Huron Perth Public Health being able to trace the origins of all of the cases. Three of the new cases are travelrelated, Klassen said, which is something that will continue to happen as the province reopens, people travel more and the virus remains active in Ontario. Two of the new cases have been reassigned to the region from other health units after further research, while other cases are connected to previous cases and one case had been added in the form of an asymptomatic healthcare worker. Because all of the active cases can be traced back to previous virus activity, Klassen said she’s not overly concerned with the spike, but admitted that it was the highest number the region had seen in some time, making it noteworthy. For that reason, she said, it’s important to remain vigilant and not become complacent with safety measures such as physical Continued on page 2
CH crash kills one One person has died as a result of a single vehicle collision in Central Huron over the weekend according to the Ontario Provincial Police. Huron County OPP were contacted on Aug. 9 by concerned family members after the victim, 67year-old Clayton Riley of Seaforth, failed to return home after working late in the fields. Just after 12:30 p.m., police say the victim’s vehicle was located
upside down and partially submerged in a creek off the roadway on Bandon Line in the Municipality of Central Huron. One occupant was in the vehicle at the time of the collision. Huron Emergency Medical Services and Central Huron Fire Department also responded to the scene. OPP officers attempted life-saving Continued on page 20