SERVING MAPLETON AND MINTO
THE
COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 52 ISSUE 14
1 Year GIC - 2.75% 3 Year GIC - 3.00% 5 Year GIC - 3.35% Daily Interest 1.50%
638-3328
THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019
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Township backs Optimist Club application for rink roof funding By Aryn Strickland MAPLETON - Mapleton council has voted to partner with the Moorefield Optimist Club for the organization’s AgriSpirit Fund application. Council chose to lend its support on March 26 despite concern about how it could affect council’s application to the same fund for a playground structure in Alma. Farm Credit Canada (FCC) awards successful applicants between $5,000 and $25,000 through the AgriSpirit Fund for projects that “will enhance lives or contribute to sustainability� in rural cities/towns with less than 150,000 people. Moorefield Optimist Club president Jeremy Culling told council the organization installed hockey boards on the rink pad beside the Moorefield Optimist Hall. The rink has seen considerable use by youths in the community as a basketball court in the summer and ice rink in the winter. A roof structure over the rink is needed to improve maintenance of the rink and to allow residents to use the rink during and following bad weather, Culling explained.
Farm show - The 38th annual Drayton Farm Show, hosted by the Kinsmen Club of Drayton, was held at the PMD arena on March 27 and 28. ABOVE: Neil Wideman, left, of Silo-King chats with Brendan Good and Kirk Good at the show on March 27. RIGHT: Three-year-old Bohen Yantzi of Drayton tries out one of the many tractors on display. Proceeds from the show go to support cystic fibrosis research and the Kinsmen Club’s local community betterment projects. Photos by Patrick Raftis More photos on page 5
By Patrick Raftis MINTO – Town council has approved changes to the municipality’s Community Improvement Program (CIP) to make it accessible to more local businesses and to incorporate elements of a new Wellington County CIP. Minto has had a CIP since 2009. The program, which originally applied to downtown areas of Clifford, Harriston and Palmerston, was later expanded to the entire urban areas of those communities. Grants to local businesses for façade and signage work as well as building structure improvements, building permit and development charge rebates, affordable housing, land banking and other improvements are provided through the program.
In a report presented at the March 19 council meeting, former Minto CAO Bill White, now a senior planner with Triton Engineering Services, explained that while Wellington County, as an upper tier government, does not have the authority to offer incentives directly, it can fund local municipalities to offer incentives so long as they are approved in the local CIP. Local municipalities can only offer incentives outlined in an approved CIP. “The county program is set under the umbrella of ‘Invest Well,’ which includes ‘Invest Ready’ incentives package and ‘Invest Moreâ€? grant program,â€? White notes in the report. White stated the county program encourages: SEE TOWN Âť 2
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asked whether there was “harm in submitting both.â€? Township economic development officer Trish Wake confirmed the two applications would compete for funding. In the capital budget council budgeted $10,000 to be used next year for a playground structure in Alma. “That is why this application would be very good for Alma ... if we get the funding for it we could get the playground in Alma this year,â€? Davidson explained. “My understanding is there is well over a million dollars allocated in this fund ... again this is my assumption that there will be many projects that get funded by this AgriSpirit fund,â€? said Culling. The Optimist Club reached out to contractors to get a sense of how much the project would cost. “We approached somebody on a coverall building ... to get some rough numbers on what that might cost as opposed to a wood structure or a metal wood structure ... we are estimating approximately $40,000 to $50,000,â€? said Culling. As a partner, council’s only obligation to the SEE ROOF Âť 2
Four Minto employees, three from Mapleton on 2018 ‘Sunshine List’ By Chris Daponte WELLINGTON CTY. The list of area municipal employees making over $100,000 has grown to 71, a 20 per cent increase from two years ago. On March 27, the province released its annual “Sunshine List� of public sector employees with a salary of at least $100,000. The list, which has been released every year since 1996, includes provincial and municipal governments, crown agencies and corporations, Ontario Power Generation and publiclyfunded organizations. Province-wide, the 2018 list has increased by 19,131 employees, or 14.5%. “With more than half of government expenses going towards wages, we will continue to review compensation costs through the lens of sustainability,� said Peter Bethlenfalvy, president of the
province’s Treasury Board. “In order to protect public services, we need to consider new approaches to compensation and reform public services in a way that puts reliability and the taxpayer at the centre of everything we do.� In Wellington, the 2018 list includes 71 municipal employees (up from 67 in 2017 and 59 in 2016). Fortyfour of those are from the County of Wellington (up from 41 in 2017 and 39 in 2016), while eight are from Centre Wellington; five from Guelph-Eramosa; four from Minto; three each from Erin, Mapleton and Puslinch; and one from Wellington North. Among the highest paid employees in the Wellington County area are: - Bruce Lauckner, CEO of Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network, who made $347,381; - Dr. Nicola Mercer, CEO of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph
WEEKLY WAG
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Minto approves changes to incorporate county CIP into local program
“As a club this is a project that we feel is extremely important, will help our youth and we are looking to ... the township to partner with us,� said Culling. The deadline for application submissions was March 29, leaving the club “crunched for time� as Culling went before council. Culling added the club will seek $25,000 and will wait to see what, if any, funding it receives before the roofing project process gets underway. “At this point we are at the beginning stages of the actual project. We don’t have final details so essentially what we are looking for at this point is the okay that you will partner with us on a project like this,� Culling said. His request led council to question whether the Optimist Club’s application would be in competition with the township’s own funding bid for the Alma playground. “Just to let you know the township was also considering applying for this for a playground structure in Alma, so we will have to decide as council which one we want to support,� Mayor Gregg Davidson explained. Councillor Paul Douglas
“Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that who cares?... He’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes!� - Billy Connelly
Public Health, $311,498; and - County of Wellington CAO Scott Wilson, $261,937. Mapleton Township and Town of Minto employees on the list included: - Mapleton CAO Manny Baron, $124,723; - Mapleton public works manager James Grose, $106,457; - Mapleton public works director Salvatore M a t t i n a , $114,343; - Minto treasurer and acting CAO Gordon Duff, $118,761; - Minto fire chief/acting CAO Chris Harrow, $110,282; - Minto chief building official Terry Kuipers, $103,909; - former Minto CAO Bill White, $160,455;. The Wellington Catholic District School Board has 301 employees on the list, with director of education Tamara Nugent at the top, making $196,797. Martha Rogers, director of education, made the
most ($244,720) in 2018 for the Upper Grand District School Board. There are 344 employees on the UGDSB list. There are 35 workers from the three local hospitals (Fergus, Mount Forest and Palmerston) on the 2018 list, led by Stephen Street, CEO of Groves and North Wellington Health Care, at $225,438. In a press release, the province’s Treasury Board Secretariat notes the average private sector worker in Ontario makes 33.6% less than the average public sector employee. “The Treasury Board Secretariat has paused all pending compensation adjustments for public sector leaders, and all pending broader public sector executive compensation increases, while a full review takes place,� the release states. For the complete Sunshine List, visit Ontario.ca/salarydisclosure. The list is searchable by name/category.
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