THE
SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY NEWS Volume 49 Issue 01
Drayton, Ontario
Daily Interest 1.00%
638-3328
Friday, January 8, 2016
www.jackfinancial.ca
Mapleton looking at 5.75% increase as budget process nears completion
Local youths KidsAbility ambassadors by Caroline Sealey DRAYTON - Two Drayton residents have been chosen as ambassadors for KidsAbility Guelph-Wellington. Brother-sister duo Troy and Emma Clemmer began their duties in September 2015 and to date have enjoyed many memorable experiences as ambassadors with the organization. Troy, a twin born two months premature, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 12 months of age. His parents Dean and Heather Clemmer say the physiotherapy and occupational therapy Troy received at KidsAbility proved remarkable. “With the help of KidsAbility, Troy learned to crawl, to go on his knees, stand up, use a walker and then to walk independently,� said Heather. Dean praised the centre by saying, “The staff is really amazing. Troy seemed to learn everything at KidsAbility. Watching your son learn how to walk and peddle a tricycle for the first time in the halls of the organization is something I will never forget.� Continued on page 3
1 Year GIC - 1.82% 3 Year GIC - 2.00% 5 Year GIC - 2.40%
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - With the budget process set to move into the final stages and work still to be done, Mapleton council is currently looking at a 5.75 per cent tax rate increase for 2016. That would translate into roughly a $215 increase in the total tax bill (including county and school taxes) on a residence assessed at $300,000 said Mayor Neil Driscoll. Council was to hold a special meeting for final budget review on Jan. 6 (results were not known by press time). As currently configured, the draft budget would increase the township’s total levy require-
ment by 20.3%, or just over $1 million from $5.01 million to $6.03 million. An open house to present the draft budget to the public is scheduled for Jan. 14 at 6pm at the Maryborough Community Centre in Moorefield. Around $6.5 million worth of projects aimed at improving water and wastewater capacity, long a stumbling block to growth in Mapleton, and upgrading the Maryborough Community Centre and numerous road and bridge projects are among the capital items under consideration. Continued work on the new municipal maintenance facil-
ity will also factor into capital spending plans. Availability of federal and provincial grant funding to offset project costs will also factor into decisions on the capital program. The draft budget is projecting about $9.08 million in expenditures against $3.05 million in revenue, leaving $6.03 million to be raised by taxation. An asset management plan prepared in 2014 projected the township should plan for a 5.8% levy increase every year for the next 10 years and 3.4% per year after that to generate enough funds to eliminate the municipality’s “infrastructure deficit.�
Local churches plan to sponsor refugees
Well inked - Bailey Allard of Glen Allan is one of the participants who shared the story behind their tattoos for the My Story, My Tattoo exhibit at the Wellington County Museum and Archives. Photographs, videos and audio recordings of about 30 Wellington County residents’ tattoos are featured in the exhibit, which runs from Jan. 9 to March 27. See article on page 8.
photo by Caroline Sealey
DRAYTON - Local churches are making plans to assist victims of the Syrian refugee crisis. “Over the course of 2015, we all watched as the Syrian crisis escalated and people began to flee their homeland in droves,� said Janelle Zwart of the Refugee Committee of the Drayton Christian Reformed Church (CRC). “Many people, myself included, feel the urge to help - an urge that has grown ever stronger as the scale of need
has become more and more apparent.� The Drayton CRC is in the process of sponsoring a refugee family to bring it to Drayton through World Renew. Church officials expect the family will arrive some time over the next month or two. For the Drayton CRC, it all started in November 2015 at the church’s annual general meeting, when a council member raised the idea of sponsoring a family. His suggestion was met with strong, imme-
diate endorsement from the congregation. Within a week a committee was formed and plans were underway. “Since then we have been blessed with overwhelming support,� stated Zwart. The estimated cost for sponsoring a family of four is $30,000, and to date the committee has raised more than two-thirds of that amount. “Other churches who are part of the ministerial group in Drayton have indicated their Continued on page 5
New fire radio system will improve communication across county by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Council here has approved the purchase of a new $34,000 radio system that will simplify communication between fire departments in Wellington County. Fire Chief Rick Richardson explained in a report at the Dec. 22 council meeting that for the past 12 years, Wellington County fire departments have been trying to renew their old paging/radio system to get all departments using an inclusive system with fewer dead spots and the ability to communicate between stations throughout
the county. “This has been an ongoing thing – (the) county has tried to get a radio system going, but nobody can agree on which one to use,� Richardson told council. “With the decaying system failing, Minto, Mapleton and Wellington North received an extra frequency to get the northern stations off the paging system, allowing us to have a separate tactical channel for use among seven stations,� Richardson explained in a written report. “If we get called to help or
get help from Minto, all we do is switch to the Minto channel,� said Richardson. With other municipalities, he explained, firefighters had to exchange a radio with the other department in order to communicate. Subsequently, the report states, Puslinch, Rockwood and Centre Wellington went to the same Motorola 400 series system, to which public works departments in several municipalities have also changed. “This system appears to work well throughout the county and has got-
ten Puslinch, Rockwood and Centre Wellington communicating with each other,� stated Richardson. This left only Erin on the county paging/radio system. Richardson explained equipment supplier MRC has offered Erin a 10 per cent discount for 2015, plus $126.50 trade-in value for all of their old portable radios, and the opportunity to avoid a 10 to 15% 2016 price increase. “Erin has received quick approval to do this and MRC has offered the same deal to the rest of the county to bring
everyone together. On Dec. 18 Minto decided to take advantage of this mass purchase deal which leaves Mapleton and Wellington North remaining,� the report explains. Delaying purchase to 2016 would have resulted in the loss of the special discount and trade-in offers and increased cost to Mapleton of $9,470 for the same system, Richardson pointed out. Richardson also pointed out the switch will simplify operations for the communications centre in Guelph, which now has to deal with five different
systems. “If this went through they would have two, one for the city and one for the country.� Mayor Neil Driscoll asked why the equipment had to be purchased through MCR, rather than the township’s usual provider. Richardson explained the current supplier sells a Kenwood, rather than Motorola brand system that would not be compatible with the MCR 400 series system. A recommendation to purchase the system was approved unopposed by council.
Fire destroys barn in Mapleton by Advertiser staff MAPLETON - Firefighters from four stations responded to a fire that destroyed an unoccupied dairy barn on Dec. 23. Drayton, Moorefield, Palmerston and Arthur fire stations were called to the blaze at Hessel Farms on Wellington Road 7 between Sideroads
16 and 17, starting at around 7:45am. Mapleton Fire Chief Rick Richardson said the barn contained only 100 large round straw bales and some old wagons. However, he noted nearby diesel fuel tanks, a generator and a feed room were a concern to firefighters, who also
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worked to ensure the fire did not spread to an implement shed housing hay and large farm equipment. There was also a house and some chicken barns in the vicinity. Drayton firefighters remained at the scene for the balance of the day to monitor the situation.
Barn blaze in Mapleton - Firefighters from Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North were called to a barn fire on Wellington Road 7 in Mapleton on Dec. 23 at around 7:45am. photo by Caroline Sealey
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