The
THIS WEEK 2 • Dance 4 • Editorials 8 • Sports 19 • Theatre
Citizen
Huron County’s most trusted independent news source Volume 40 No. 29
Friday, July 19, 2024
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ACW to licence short-term rentals By Scott Stephenson The Citizen
Race to the finish Sunday was another great day at the races for the Clinton Raceway. In addition to the action on the track, the Huron Heat girls’ hockey association was on hand to raise funds for the upcoming season, which promises
to be another good one for the organization. Next week is a big one at the Clinton Raceway, as it’s time for the Vic Hayter Memorial Trot for the ninth year. It’s always a day that many circle on their calendar. (John Stephenson photo)
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) is beginning the process to develop a licensing program for short-term rentals (STRs) in the township. At a meeting last month, council discussed data collected from a survey on STRs conducted by township staff, revealing significant community concerns. As a result, staff received direction to investigate the possibility of setting up a regulatory process. (You can read that story on page 16.) In a follow-up report presented on July 16, Clerk Florence Witherspoon provided council with two options for consideration: establish a licensing program for STRs or maintain the current status quo. In the report, Witherspoon emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach, suggesting that any regulations should apply township-wide, despite the majority of STRs being situated in the lakeshore area. Witherspoon states in the report that bylaw enforcement and related STR expenses are currently funded by the tax base. A consensus amongst council members Continued on page 11
NH reverses course on Columbus Centre charge By Scott Stephenson The Citizen North Huron Council reversed a decision made last month regarding an unpaid invoice for $74,145.92 from the Wingham Columbus Centre. The issue came back to council on Monday, July 15 through a Motion to Reconsider put forth by Reeve Paul Heffer. While Heffer was making his argument for reconsidering the decision, DeputyReeve Kevin Falconer took over as the meeting’s chair for the second time that night. Heffer began by reminding council that he had voted in favour of not paying the invoice last time around. “After getting new information,” he stated, “we can deal with this in a very positive way. They’re going to pay us the $74,000-plus, and it will go into the [recreation] reserve. Out of that money, we’re going to pay the invoice for the work that was done. And the monies that are paid - it
comes off the pledge of the Knights.” Heffer did not offer any insight as to what the new information was, or from whom he had received it. The pledge Heffer refers to is the outstanding balance remaining
of the $550,000 the Wingham Knights of Columbus promised during the construction of North Huron’s Wescast Community Complex. The pledge was originally intended to be fulfilled within 10 years of the initial
promise of funds in the year 2000. Council voted in favour of reconsidering the decision, and began discussing the merits of Heffer’s proposed plan. Councillor Anita van Hittersum, who voted against paying the bill initially,
began by asking some questions. “Why can’t the Knights just pay the bill? Why do we have to go through the process of putting it here, putting it there, and why do they want to put it in the recreation Continued on page 20
By Shawn Loughlin
knew about it for years and remained with Fremlin. The most notable story was with The Canadian Press, in which Ginn said he couldn’t foresee making changes to or removing a monument bench in front of the Central Huron municipal office intended to honour Munro, who will always remain a Nobel Prize winner, but said that if there were growing calls from the public to make changes, then council could consider it at that time. He also praised Skinner for her bravery in telling her story and wished her the best, while also hoping that the revelations would
not tarnish Munro’s literary legacy. At the Monday night meeting, Ginn said he was clear in all of the interviews he did that he was only speaking for himself and not on behalf of council. Deputy-Mayor Marg Anderson and Councillor Alison Lobb agreed with Ginn and said they didn’t feel any changes to existing infrastructure should be made. Ginn added that he received many nasty e-mails on the subject going both ways, with some suggesting that people would be very upset if the bench were to be removed, while others pointed the finger at Munro and said the bench
had no place in the town. He said he has continued to protect the identity of the group that commissioned the monument, noting that it was not a municipal initiative, in order to shield the group from that kind of feedback. Anderson then asked about the status of the Alice Munro Book Walk, an initiative that was being prepared by the economic development department. Ginn said he has advised Community Improvement Co-ordinator Angela Smith to press pause on that project, feeling that no new projects should go ahead, at least for the time being.
No plans to remove Munro bench: CH The Citizen
Central Huron Council discussed the issue of honouring Nobel Laureate and former Clinton resident, the late Alice Munro, at its Monday, July 15 meeting analyzing past honours and reconsidering new ones. During his mayor’s comments for the meeting, Jim Ginn said he had conducted a number of interviews with the media after the revelations made by Andrea Robin Skinner that she had been sexually assaulted by her stepfather Gerry Fremlin and claimed that her mother, Munro,