SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
THE
COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 51 ISSUE 12
DRAYTON, ONTARIO
1 Year GIC - 2.44% 3 Year GIC - 2.80% 5 Year GIC - 3.10% Daily Interest 2.40%*
638-3328
THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018
Police investigate possible link between Moorefield bank robbery, others in area
www.jackfinancial.ca
Fire destroys home in Mapleton Township
By Chris Daponte
By Caroline Sealey
MOOREFIELD - Police say it’s still early in the investigation, but a March 13 armed bank robbery here could be linked to other such crimes. “I will say that we are corresponding with other services in (the) region and looking at other similar robberies,” OPP spokesman Josh Cunningham told the Community News on March 16. Three days earlier, at about 2pm, two robbers wearing disguises, one carrying a handgun, stole cash from the RBC on McGivern Street. “The males left the bank and got into a vehicle that may have been operated by a third party,” police stated in a press release. The vehicle is described as a four-door black sedan that was last seen travelling northeast on McGivern Street (Wellington Road 10) towards Wellington Road 8. Cunningham did not name the other police services with which OPP officers are corresponding. On Feb. 1 three individuals wearing disguises, one carrying a handgun, robbed a Burlington Scotiabank branch. Seven days later, two men with their faces covered, one carrying a handgun,
MAPLETON - A Mapleton farmhouse was completely destroyed by fire on Mar. 17. Emergency services received a call about the blaze from a passerby in the area at approximately 8:40am. The Drayton resident who called 911 went into the home and rescued pets from the home before being forced out by smoke, fire officials state. The home, located on Concession 3 between Conestogo Lake and Moorefield, was fully engulfed when Mapleton Township firefighters from
Armed robbery - The RBC bank in Moorefield was the site of an armed robbery on March 13. Wellington County OPP officials say two males wearing disguises entered the bank and stole cash. One of the suspects was carrying a handgun and the suspects escaped in a vehicle that may have been driven by a third person. Photo by Caroline Sealey robbed a Scotiabank branch in Kitchener. In both cases, the suspects escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. Shortly after the March 13 Moorefield robbery, OPP officers were reviewing surveillance video (from both inside and outside the bank) and looking for physical evidence at the scene, including footprints left in snow.
Anyone with information regarding the incident can contact the Wellington County OPP at 1-888-310-1122. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477 (TIPS) or submit a tip online at www.csgw.tips. The Moorefield crime marked the second robbery at a Mapleton Township bank in about seven months.
The Drayton RBC was hit by armed robbers on Aug. 1, 2017. A Brampton man and woman were later charged in connection with that robbery, as well as another one in Milverton the previous week. The Moorefield RBC is slated to close on May 25 and merge with the Drayton branch. - With files from Caroline Sealey
the Drayton and Moorefield stations arrived on the scene. Two tanker trucks from Minto Fire Department’s Palmerston station and one from North Perth’s Listowel station were called in to assist. Mapleton Fire Chief Rick Richardson said, “A malfunctioning wood stove was the cause of the fire. No one was at home at the time of the fire. The family who lived in the home has lost everything in the house.” No injuries were reported and no estimate for the loss was available at press time. See photo on page 2
Mapleton township fills two key staff positions By Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – The township has filled two key staff positions. CAO Manny Baron reported at the March 13 meeting that John Morrison will be the township’s new finance director/treasurer. Morrison, a Belwood resident, has over 20 years of financial accounting and management experience, including 14 years in munici-
pal administration. He has been director of finance and operations at United Way Simcoe Muskoka since July of 2013. Between 1999 and 2013 he worked for the Region of Waterloo, first as a financial analyst and later as director of revenue. Morrison is set to join the Mapleton staff on March 16. He replaces previous finance director Karmen Krueger, who resigned effective Feb. 9. SEE NEW STAFF » 10
Township commissions peer review of wastewater capacity expansion project By Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – The township has commissioned a peer review of planning for a project to expand capacity at Mapleton’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). On March 15 council directed staff to engage CIMA Consulting Engineers to conduct a peer review of growth projections and solutions recommended in a Environmental Assessment by Exp Services, a consulting firm facilitating the wastewater project. Fees for the peer review will total $25,000. In 2015 council authorized Exp Services to undertake a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment for Wastewater Servicing for Mapleton. The EA was completed in mid-2015 and a report from CAO Manny Baron indicates some work has been done to provide a
re-rating of the plant to 900 cubic meters per day. “As of the date of this report, the township has not yet received the re-rating,” the report states. “In studying various aspects of the project, it was noted that some of the information Exp has provided could be based on outdated information, for example, we found that population growth projections were based on the old county Official Plan document. There are several other areas of concern that were noted which caused us to dig deeper and question the process.” A report from CIMA dated Feb. 7 indicates the firm undertook an initial review of the Mapleton Wastewater Servicing Class EA and associated background information. “Through this review, we have identified some opportunities to provide an
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improved long-term wastewater strategy for the township’s consideration,” the CIMA report states. “It’s our understanding that the EA may have underestimated the growth rates in the township. We’d recommend evaluating the sensitivity of growth projections against the preferred wastewater servicing strategy,” the company states. “We have an experienced team at CIMA that is already ultimately familiar with the opportunities and constraints of wastewater plants discharging into Conestogo Lake. We are currently working on the detailed design for upgrades to the nearby Arthur WWTP, which has many similar constraints and opportunities as the Mapleton WWTP.” The Feb. 5 report, signed by CIMA regional vice president Tom Montgomery, indicates the company was plan-
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ning to prepare an overview of its findings and a proposed work plan for presentation to the township at a meeting on Feb. 13. A special council meeting on Feb. 13 was held in closed session under Section 239 of the Municipal Act allowing council to go into closed session for education or training purposes. At the regular Jan. 23 council meeting Exp representatives were questioned by council members after presenting an update on the project. Exp project coordinator Jean Louis Gaudet told council the EA had been completed, with no follow-up orders received following the issuance of a notice of completion on Nov. 17, 2017, leaving the township free to proceed with the recommendations in the Class EA, including: - expanding influent capacity of the township’s wastewater pollution control
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plan to 1,300m3/day; and - expanding the discharge period (currently spring and fall) into January and February. At the Jan. 23 meeting, Gaudet said Exp recommended a two-stage process for the capacity expansion. The initial stage would see the township work toward an interim re-rating to 900m3/day (from the current 750m3/day) with ECA approval anticipated by summer, and the tender and construction of pollution control plant improvements expected to take place in the fall. After completion of initial upgrades, Exp’s timeline called for work to begin toward ECA approval for phase two, upgrading to the 1,300m3/day target. This would include continued river water monitoring and an EA addendum to revisit the receiving water impact and affirm
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the assimilative capacity of the Conestogo River. This would be followed by detailed design and construction of upgrades sometime in 2019. Several councillors questioned the proposed timeline at the Jan. 23 meeting, with councillor Dennis Craven asking, “Why is it taking so long?” Mayor Neil Driscoll asked Exp representatives why, given the relatively minor nature of upgrades for re-rating to 900m3/day, it couldn’t be accomplished by spring? Exp representatives responded that ministry approvals were still needed for some portions of the project, after which a tender process would be required. At the March 13 meeting, Craven asked how long the peer review would take. “A couple of months,” replied Baron. Councillor Michael SEE COUNCIL » 10
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