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The
THIS WEEK
Citizen
Huron County’s most trusted independent news source Volume 37 No. 3
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
Servicing feud looms over budget process By Denny Scott The Citizen
A new friend No doubt Charlotte, left, and Harvey Jutzi had a little help making their new friend – or at the very least a step-stool – as the snow allowed for perfect snowman-building conditions. The family, which lives near Wingham, has taken advantage of the wintery conditions, but without the bitter cold of a typical Huron County winter, as temperatures have hovered around -1ºC for much of the last few weeks. (Photo submitted)
As part of its first budget meeting of the year, Morris-Turnberry Council held several discussions related to ongoing negotiations with North Huron or an unidentified “other party” in regards to its funding levels. The meeting, which was held on Jan. 13 via Zoom, saw several “priority” issues discussed by council, including funds typically given to North Huron for recreation grants, contributions to the cemetery and contingency grants, as well as the water rate for users of the Belgrave water system, all of which are connected to North Huron. BELGRAVE WATER While no action was taken that would differentiate North Huron and Morris-Turnberry users of the Belgrave water system, several council members suggested considering making a change that would charge some users more going forward. Treasurer Sean Brophy suggested increasing all users’ annual bill by 1.45 per cent to cover increased costs. He suggested council move ahead with the new cost so North Huron, which buys water service from Morris-Turnberry for North Huron Belgrave residents, could have bills prepared for users before they are issued to residents. The increase would result in an annual rate of $1,180.24 per user, Brophy said. Councillor Jamie McCallum asked when the agreement for crossborder servicing with the Belgrave
Water system was up. While an exact answer wasn’t available, the consensus was that it would be renegotiated in 2024 or 2025. “I’d like further discussion at a future budget meeting in regards to moving forward with this rate,” he said. “The stuff we’re seeing in current negotiations with another party [makes me] think we need to look at our [services] a bit harder.” He suggested that wording be added to the increased rates to make it only applicable to existing users, opening up the option to charge more for new connections. Chief Administrative Officer Trevor Hallam pointed out that, in the existing agreement, all Belgrave water system users would pay the same amount, regardless of whether they lived in Morris-Turnberry or North Huron. “Could we defer this to a later time in the budget and get a little more information on this?” DeputyMayor Sharen Zinn asked. Brophy said that dealing with the issue sooner, rather than later, made more sense because it would prevent North Huron from having to adjust billing later in the year. Mayor Jamie Heffer said he felt the discussion was a matter of two issues: setting the water rate for the year and then dealing with potential new hook-ups. McCallum said he had concerns about the Belgrave water system since negotiations started with North Huron regarding cross-border servicing. “We’re seeing things not played fair,” he said. “I feel things should Continued on page 2
Huron-Perth tops 1,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases By Denny Scott The Citizen Huron County hit a dubious record over the weekend, breaking 1,000 cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began early last year. As of Monday, there were 1,032 confirmed cases, including 126 active cases, with 51 cases being added between Saturday and Sunday alone. That marks a 144-case increase across the county since last Monday. During an online press conference hosted by Huron Perth Public Health on Monday, Dr. Miriam Klassen, the Huron and Perth Medical Officer of Health, said there are numerous active outbreaks in the area including one recently identified at the Stratford General Hospital surgery unit. This marks the second outbreak for Stratford General Hospital, with the first occurring in December of last year. Currently, four staff have
tested positive for COVID-19. Now in its second outbreak since the pandemic started, Caressant Care Nursing Home in North Perth has 40 confirmed cases in its long-term care wing: 27 in residents and 13 in staff. In the retirement home wing, the facility has 25 confirmed cases, 19 in residents and six in staff. Aside from two recovered staff members in the retirement home and one fatality among residents in the long-term care wing, all cases are considered active according to Klassen. Exeter Villa’s long-term care wing is still in outbreak with 47 confirmed cases – 36 in residents and 11 in staff. In the retirement home wing, the villa has one confirmed COVID19 case in a resident and two in staff members. Other long-term care facilities in outbreak include Fordwich Village in Howick which has had two confirmed cases found in staff. Greenwood Court in Stratford is now in its second outbreak with one staff member having tested positive.
Knollcrest Lodge in Perth East is in the midst of its fifth outbreak with two staff members having tested positive. Spruce Lodge in Stratford has a single confirmed case in staff, as does Wildwood Care Centre in St. Marys. Aside from the two retirement home wings listed above, the only other retirement home outbreak is Livingstone Manor in North Perth with four total cases (two in residents and two in staff). As for specific areas, spikes have been recorded in both Stratford and North Perth, with the two accounting for more than half of the area’s 144case increase. In Huron County, South Huron continues to have the most cases with 85, 10 more than last week. Morris-Turnberry and Central Huron both increased to 36 confirmed cumulative cases from 25 and 26 last week, respectively. North Huron increased from 32 to 35 cases over the past week, while Howick
increased from 30 to 32. Bluewater increased from 24 to 25 while Huron East increased from 17 to 21. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) increased from nine to 12 cases while Goderich stayed at 10 cases. In Perth County, North Perth overtook Stratford for total cumulative cases by increasing from 205 to 268 cases over the past week. Stratford increased from 236 to 263 cases. Perth East increased from 125 to 128 cases. Perth South remained at 29 cases while West Perth increased from 20 to 24 cases. St. Marys increased from 24 to 28 cases. Household contact and outbreakrelated exposure continue to be the driving known infection forces in Huron and Perth Counties, accounting for 26.6 and 25.2 per cent of acquisition. Close contact accounts for 18.5 per cent of cases while travel is cited as cause in 1.6 per cent of cases. Of all cases, 28.2 per cent are linked to an unknown vector.
As far as active cases, all municipalities in Huron County except for Goderich have active cases. South Huron has eight cases, while Morris-Turnberry and Central Huron have seven each. ACW has three active cases while Howick, Huron East and North Huron have two each. Bluewater has one active case. In Perth County, North Perth has 67 active cases while Stratford has 20. West Perth has four active cases while St. Marys has two. Perth East has one active case. As far as monthly totals, January is now tied for the second-most cases in Huron and Perth with 232 since Jan. 1, the same number of cases in November of last year. With just under 13 cases per day on average, however, Huron and Perth Counties are on track to have fewer cases in January than the 405 cases confirmed in December. For more information, visit hpph.ca.