SERVING MAPLETON AND MINTO
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COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 52 ISSUE 18
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THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019
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Mapleton Township applies for funds to improve Concession 8 By Aryn Strickland
Trees and Quackers - The Clifford Rotary Club and the Clifford and District Horticultural Society team up to present Trees and Quackers each spring in Rotary Park in Clifford. On April 27, the ducks were released into Coon Creek and raced to the finish line, where Carolyn LeMay’s first place duck earned her the $200 top prize. From left: Phil Baumgarten and Bruce Kaufman collect the ducks corralled in the net at the finish line and hand them off to Nick Oleksandriw, Joey Schouten and Randy Ruetz, while Zoey, Deacon and Nathan Coulas look on. Prior to the duck race, community members planted seedlings in the park and also took some home. Additional coverage on page 6 Photo by Bonnie Whitehead
Town of Minto applies for funding to reopen bridge By Patrick Raftis
SHOWING MAY 3-5
Bridge closed - This bridge on Brunswick Street in Palmerston has been closed by the Town of Minto due to structural concerns since Oct. 31, 2018. The town plans to apply for federal and provincial funding to replace the structure. tions on what you can apply for,� said Harrow. “It’s a grant program that doesn’t really allow us to apply for a project or projects that we think is our number one, two or three priorities ... you have to find a project to almost fit the grant program.� Harrow added, “It’s too
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bad that you couldn’t have a more flexible grant program to be able to find our greatest needs and help it.� Harrow noted wastewater, water and sewer portions of any project are not eligible under the program, meaning that for any road project in an urban area, the program would only cover the road
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WEEKLY WAG
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MINTO – The Town of Minto will apply for funding from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to replace the Brunswick Street bridge in Palmerston. Acting CAO Chris Harrow explained to council on April 16 the new federal and provincial funding program is designed to support improved and/or more reliable roads, bridges or air and marine infrastructure. The fund is designed for municipalities with populations under 100,000. With an application deadline of May 14 looming, Harrow said staff was looking for direction from council on a preferred project. While not a top priority, Harrow said the Brunswick Street bridge, which has been closed since Oct. 31 due to structural concerns, matches well with criteria for the grant. “It’s another grant program that has a lot of restric-
portion. “So the rest would all be on our ticket ‌ so it’s really not the best bang for our buck,â€? said Harrow. However, he added, “We don’t want to lose out on it because its an 83 per cent grant.â€? Of the pending projects in Minto, “The one that best fits this program is the Brunswick street Bridge,â€? Harrow stated. “There are other ones that are higher priority. It is still a high priority in the town; it is a bridge that is closed in our urban area and there’s no getting around that.â€? Harrow also noted Brunswick Street provides an alternative route to the Palmerston and District Hospital, in the event of a closure of White’s Road. Noting the grant criteria favours joint projects between municipalities, councillor Jean Anderson asked if roadwork on the Minto-Normanby Townline,
“A failure is like fertilizer; it stinks to be sure, but it makes things grow faster in the future.� - Dennis Waitley
MAPLETON - Council here has decided to apply for funds from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) to improve Concession Road 8. Announced by the province on March 12, the ICIP is a cost-sharing program between federal, provincial and municipal governments that provides funding for infrastructure projects like roads, bridges and “air or marine infrastructure� in rural communities with a population under 100,000. Fifty per cent of the funding will come from the federal government, 33% from the provincial government and 17% from municipalities. According to an April 23 report from public works director Sam Mattina, “The maximum value of the project to be considered is $5 million per application, and the project must be completed by Oct. 31, 2026.� Mattina wrote that Concession 8 (from Wellington Road 11 to Sideroad 15) has a high commuter usage for Mapleton: 1,220 vehicles per day. The reconstruction of the road would include adding a double overlay of asphalt, repairs to the bridge, potentially pulverizing and providing a double lift of asphalt, and adding a guide rail along the road and bridge. “If we pick this project, it has a potential value of $1.5 million and through the funding program, if it is chosen, the project will end up costing the municipality about $250,000, I believe,� Mattina later explained. He presented council with seven projects, from within the township’s 10-year capital forecast, that the municipality could possibly use for its ICIP application (four roads and three bridges): - Sailing Club Road (Wellington Road 11); - Concession Road 8 (Wellington Road 11 to Sideroad 15); - Sideroad 17 (Wellington Road 86 to Wellington Road 45); - Sideroad 15 (Wellington
Road 8 to Concession 12); - Sideroad 6 bridge just south of Highway 109; - Sideroad 17 bridge north of Wellington Road 8; and - Sideroad 21 bridge, south of the 14th Line. “I used the criticality of the projects and some of these projects are also way out there on our capital forecast,� said Mattina. “The reason they are way out in our capital forecast is due to funding. So some of these roads, the projects that are identified are in bad shape so with the intent of bringing them forward, that’s the reason for identifying these and they are conformists to the criteria.� Councillors Dennis Craven and Marlene Ottens were in support of choosing the reconstruction of Concession 8. “I have had three comments in the last three or four weeks about how Concession 8 is getting bad, so it’s a good thing it’s there because it’s not good anymore, with the amount of traffic it gets especially,� Craven said. Ottens said, “I will say when I just looked at the list just off the top of my head, instantly I said [option] two because Concession 8 and the lack of guard rails along that one section has always bothered me. “I’ve never understood why there weren’t guard rails because it’s a straight drop off into water and I’ve always thought that was extremely dangerous, so if that can be remedied that would be great.� Ottens also asked, if part of the criteria was to choose a project based on criticality, why there were not earlier items from the capital forecast on the list. “So the idea of this is to take advantage of this program and bring something that is in bad need such as Concession 8 and bring it forward,� explained Mattina. After some further discussion, council unanimously voted to use the Concession 8 reconstruction for the township’s ICIP application (councillor Michael Martin was absent).
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