2 • History 11 • Bridal 18 • Election 19 • Snow
The
THIS WEEK
Citizen
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Friday, February 28, 2025
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Bridal 2025 Volume 41 No. 9
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, ON N0M 1H0
HE to wipe out historic deficits By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen
Unprecedented or s’no problem? The winter of 2025 has been one that many will never forget, whether for its snowfall, frigid temperatures, the damage it caused or the fun it inspired. Read a feature on how the community has hung in there on page 19. Clockwise from top left: a roof collapse in East Wawanosh, a church in Clinton, a pig barn collapse near Benmiller, Peter Jaycock catching up on the news in his yard in Brussels and McDonald Home Hardware’s roof collapse (everyone’s safe, store remains open) in Brussels. (Photos submitted)
U9 B Heat win ‘Survive the Hive’ tourney By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Over the weekend, the U9 B Huron Heat travelled to Oakville in an attempt to “Survive the Hive” at the Oakville Hornets tournament of the same name, and did they ever. The team won the U9 B championship at the tournament, defeating the Niagara Falls Rapids in the finals by a score of 1-0. The local team’s tournament run began on Friday morning with an 81 victory over the Whitby Wolves and an 11-0 shutout win over the Mississauga Hurricanes later that day. On Saturday, the Heat beat the host Oakville Hornets by a score of 3-1 before besting the Etobicoke Dolphins by a score of 9-1 in the semi-finals, leading to the championship game showdown on Sunday with Niagara Falls, which the Heat won by a score of 1-0 to win the gold. Also over the weekend, the U15 B Huron Heat made it all the way to
the semi-finals at the 43rd annual Walter Gretzky Tournament in Brantford, falling to the Norfolk Hericanes by a score of 2-0 in the semi-final round last Sunday morning. Tournament play for the Heat began on Friday morning with a 40 win over the Hamilton Hawks, followed by a 2-1 loss to the host Brantford Ice Cats later that afternoon. The next day, the Heat beat the Haldimand River Cats by a score of 3-2 that afternoon before shutting out the Ancaster Avalanche that night in the quarterfinal round by a score of 3-0. That earned the Heat a date with the Norfolk Hericanes in the semifinal round, which the locals lost by a score of 2-0. The Hericanes would go on to lose in the championship game, falling to the Chatham Kent Crush by a score of 1-0 in the finals. In more local action, on Monday, Feb. 24, the U18 BB Heat lost their playdown with the Aces in Stratford by a score of 2-1. Also that night,
the U13 B Heat was scheduled to be on the road for a playdown with the St. Marys Rock, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time. In Sunday playoff action, the U13 C Heat beat the Stratford Aces by a score of 2-1 on the road, the U15 A Heat tied the Chatham Kent Crush at two in Clinton, the U13 B Heat beat the Mount Forest Rams by a score of 2-1 in Brussels, the U13 HL Heat lost to the Tillsonburg Lightning by a score of 5-1, also in Brussels, the U13 A Heat lost by a
score of 5-4 to the Windsor Wildcats on the road and the U18 C Heat lost to the Woodstock Wildcats in Seaforth by a score of 2-0. The U11 A Heat played the Kincardine Kinucks in Clinton and the Senior team played the Huron Cats in Hensall, but scores for those playoff games were unavailable at press time. In regular season action that day, the U9 HL Heat lost to the Lady Sting Black team in Sarnia by a Continued on page 3
Huron East Council returned to its 2025 budget, up for final approval at its Feb. 18 meeting, but has asked staff to bring it back, complete with some suggested changes, at council’s March 18 meeting for potential adoption. The news was largely positive, however, as it came complete with $525,000 of “found” money to be allocated within the budget. In his presentation, Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts explained that, in 2023 and 2024, a 2.1 per cent levy for asset management has been hidden within a reserve transfer line under the municipality’s general revenue budget and was, until recently, undiscovered. He noted that the levy is now unnecessary, as the annual capital levy is built into the municipality’s financial strategy. This meant levies of $225,000 and $300,000 from 2023 and 2024, respectively, had been levied, but not spent and were available within the 2025 budget. McRoberts presented council with a number of scenarios for the perceived windfall, however, council opted to use it to wipe out historic carry-forward deficits associated with the municipality’s recreation centres, predominantly in the Brussels, Morris and Grey and Seaforth and District Community Centres. Council decided to use the entire $525,000, plus an additional $21,000 to be levied in this year’s budget, to eliminate the budgets and put to rest an issue that has been nagging Huron East for many years. This will bring the centres’ budgets to break-even and any surplus or deficit will then be handled and settled at the end of that respective year. With that albatross, as one Continued on page 22
Blyth daycare moves forward By Scott Stephenson The Citizen At its Feb. 18 meeting, North Huron Council voted to move forward with converting a portion of the Blyth Campground into the new location for a proposed day care in Blyth, following the discussion of a staff report from the township’s
Director of Recreation and Children’s Services, Kelly Steiss. A 33-site section of the campground, adjacent to the arena, has now been set aside for a new daycare building. Steiss was also directed to take the steps needed to move the project forward. These steps include making a location application to the Ministry
of Education and meeting with the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association (HPTHA). The HPTHA built the Blyth Campground and donated it to the municipality with the stipulation that they have unfettered access to the campground during their annual, weeklong celebration of the Continued on page 7