The Creemore
Echo
Friday, January 14, 2010 Vol. 11 No. 2
News and views in and around Creemore
Inside the Echo
Special Delivery
A Joyous Day
2010 Community Christmas revisited.
Underhills deliver frisbees to Africa.
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$750,000 GRANT APPLICATION FOR CREEMORE MEDICAL CENTRE by Brad Holden Clearview Township will apply for an accessibility grant from Human Resources Development and Skills Canada, in hopes of receiving 75 per cent of the cost of a fully accessible $1 million renovation and addition to the Creemore Medical Centre. The Enabling Accessibility Fund for Mid-Sized Projects, announced by HRDSC in late 2010, will give out $45 million in chunks of $500,000 to $3 million for projects that will “create or enhance accessibility for people with disabilities through retrofits, renovations or new construction of facilities within Canada that house services and programs that emphasize integration of people with disabilities.” Eligible projects will receive threequarters funding from the federal
government. If Clearview is successful in securing the grant, the additional $250,000 required to complete the project would be covered by Alliance Homes, which has pledged to provide the Creemore Medical Board with $500 for each of the 498 homes it plans to build at the corner of County Road 9 and Mary Street. As Alliance has promised to make its contributions at the time that building permits are granted, and as the development is expected to take place over an extended period of time, the Township would take out a loan for $250,000 over a period of up to 10 years, adding approximately $23,000 to the municipality’s annual debt servicing costs. In gaining Council’s permission to (See “Med Centre” on page 3)
Brewery tweaks expansion plan by Brad Holden Creemore Springs Brewery is in the process of submitting a new rezoning application to Clearview Township, this time for the two properties further to the east of the properties currently included in the brewery’s current expansion plans. While the original application for rezoning and an official plan amendment has been passed by both Clearview Township and the County of Simcoe, there has been an appeal filed at the Ontario Municipal Board by several neighbours, headed up by Paul Vorstermans. If this new application is successful, Creemore Springs executive vice president Gordon Fuller explained that the brewery would be able to meet some of the setback and parking provisions that they were tight on in the original proposal. The house on Edward Street, most recently owned by Ryan Hare, would be removed, making way for a snow removal area and a green buffer area. In
the future, several parking spots might also be located there. The house on Elizabeth Street, most recently owned by Bob Curran, would be left intact for the time being, most likely to be rented out as a residence until the brewery comes up with a use for the building. While the application has not yet been finalized with the Township, Fuller said he understood that both applications would likely be combined, leading to another round of public input and approvals. That means any OMB hearing on the subject, such as the one originally expected to happen this spring, will be delayed pending a new appeal if the entire application is approved. In the meantime, Fuller pointed out several measures the brewery has been taking to reduce onsite noise with its present operations, including installing a new malt delivery system, tweaking its loading/unloading schedule, installing slower moving refrigerator condenser fans, and applying “mufflers” to several areas where noise was leaking from the building.
A new Creemore BIA map?
by Brad Holden Indeed, Dunedin artist Steve McDonald’s work pictured above, which can be seen on display at his ongoing show at Curiosity House (running until the end of January), is in the process of being transformed into a new map of Creemore’s downtown area, to be used by the BIA in promotional material and mounted on a rejuvinated map board at the entrance to the Horticultural Park. That was just one of the developments presented to Clearview Council by new BIA president Aiken Scherberger Monday night before Council officially appointed the organization’s new executive. Also on the new board are vice president Harold Elston, who has a law office just off Mill Street, treasurer John Millar, who runs the nonprofit organization Tin Roof Global from his home in Creemore, and secretary Lily White of Creemore Springs Brewery. Scherberger, who owns the Maplestone Gallery with his wife
Suzanne Steeves, told Council about several other initiatives as well, including a successful application the BIA has made to the Ontario Tourist-Oriented Directional Sign Program, which will result in blue signs pointing the way to the “Village of Creemore” going up at five strategic locations: where County Road 90 and County Road 10 meet in Angus, where County Road 10 and County Road 9 meet east of New Lowell, on Airport Road both north and south of Cashtown, and at Highway 89 and Airport Road for cars travelling westbound from Highway 400. Scherberger also spoke of taking advantage of the ability to hang vertical banners on Mill Street’s streetlights, as was first done in the lead up to the Olympic Torch Rally. The rejuvenated BIA executive is currently trying to establish several committees that will work semi-autonomously on various other initiatives to bring shoppers to Creemore.
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