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NOVEMBER 14, 2019
Snow-clearing crews put to an early test in the townships BY ANETA REBISZEWSKI
arebiszewski@woolwichobserver.com
Monday brought more than just Remembrance Day, as snow-clearing crews in Woolwich and Wellesley townships were pressed into service in no small way. The at-times treacherous road conditions were something of a baptism by fire
for Woolwich’s new manager of operations, Carter Maguire, who recently took over from the now semi-retired Barry Baldasaro, the former public works superintendent. As this is the first year for Maguire in the new role, it’s also his first year experiencing a winter in the township. “Luckily, Barry is still involved in the town-
ship and so I can lean on him as a great resource.” Aside from the new manager role there will be two additional supervisors – a road supervisor and a water supervisor. Leading up to the arrival of winter weather, maintenance crews were busy ensuring the trucks and plows were ready for season. Calibration of the equipment
is especially critical to getting the mixture of pickled sand just right, Maguire explained. “We ensure that we’re applying the proper amount of salt and sand to the roadways.” Likewise the operating team in Wellesley Township also send out their vehicles for inspection before hitting the roads, says
public works technician Ryan Baker. In Woolwich there are currently eight routes that are maintained by 10 frontline staff, covering all of the townships urban and rural roads. “With the rural section there’s a mixture of the types of road services – the gravel and then the hard surface. We have two
graters in house used for addressing as much of the gravel as possible but we do put trucks out on the gravel surfaces when needed,” explained Maguire. Similarly, Baker explains that Wellesley has eight full-time staff who are dedicated to snow clearing during the season in all areas of the community. SNOW SEASON | 04
W E L L E S L E Y TOW N S H I P
WINTER WEATHER HITS THE ROADS
Wellesley rec. complex project moves into fundraising mode Much of potential new development hinges on joint federal/ provincial grant submitted by township council BY VERONICA REINER vreiner@woolwichobserver.com
Wellesley Township having cleared the way for a potential new $22-million recreation complex, the focus is now on putting together a fundraising campaign that will make it all possible. Township council last week unanimously approved submitting an application for funding from the federal and provincial governments, whose support will be needed to underwrite much of the cost
Two people were sent to the hospital following a three-vehicle collision near 7142 Line 86 in Wellesley Township Tuesday afternoon. An 84-yearold Elmira man driving a pickup truck attempted to make a left hand turn from a private driveway when he was struck by a white Toyota headed eastbound on Line 86. The pickup truck also made contact with a Dodge Journey travelling westbound. The driver of the pickup truck was airlifted to a London hospital with serious injuries, while the 69-yearold Listowel woman driving the Toyota was taken to Listowel Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the third vehicle was not in[VERONICA REINER] jured.
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of new rec. centre. The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) community, culture and recreation grant, if approved, would fund 73.33 per cent of the cost. That would leave $5,876,400 (26.76 per cent) for the municipality to cover. A decision on the funding request is expected in late-winter or early in the spring. A successful bid would still leave a sizeable chunk of change to be financed locally. How can a small REC COMPLEX | 06
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