THE
SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY NEWS Volume 48 Issue 24
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.15% 3 Year GIC - 2.35% 5 Year GIC - 2.55% Daily Interest 1.25%
638-3328
Friday, June 12, 2015
www.jackfinancial.ca
Consultants pour cold water on plan to increase capacity using irrigation
Clowning around- Bubbles the Clown had long lineups of children awaiting a balloon creation at Alma Public School’s open house on June 4. After getting her face painted, Autumn Brubacher was delighted to receive a balloon pony from Bubbles. A silent auction and barbecue were also part of the open house. photo by Caroline Sealey
Roundabout to cost nearly $1 million GUELPH - Wellington County council approved a tender for the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Wellington Road 8 and Wellington Road 12 in Mapleton.
The project was awarded to Steed and Evans Ltd. of St. Jacobs. Their bid of $777,000 was the lowest of three submitted. Drexier Construction bid $883,076 and the Murray Group Ltd. of Moorefield bid
$1,013,544. Professional fees of $102,000, county labour and materials of $20,000, HST of about $14,000 and a $77,000 contingency reserve bring the project cost to about $990,000.
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON The township will host a Public Information Centre on Phase 1 and 2 of a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) being conducted to evaluate alternatives to expand the capacity of the Mapleton Wastewater Treatment Plant. The event will be held on June 16 at the Mapleton Administration Centre on Sideroad 16. The study is not recommending the township proceed with an innovative program of using treated wastewater for irrigation in an effort to increase capacity, instead focusing on expansion of the current window of opportunity to discharge effluent into the Conestogo River. Mapleton’s lagoon-based wastewater treatment system has been operating at or near its rated capacity of 750 cubic metres per day for a number of years, effectively halting growth in the urban areas of the municipality. The study looks at ways to increase the treatment capacity to 1,230m3 per day in order to accommodate the township’s projected growth until 2031. In addition, the Drayton Pumping Station does not have sufficient capacity to service the village’s projected population. Arun Jain and Jean Louis Gaudet of Exp Services pro-
vided council with an update on the project at the May 26 council meeting. The study examined three alternatives for upgrading the water pollution control plant: pre-lagoon nitrification, postlagoon nitrification and extended aeration. The second option, postlagoon nitrification is listed as the preferred option for several reasons, the consultants explained, including: - best ranking for technical performance among the alternatives evaluated; - provides reliable protection of the environment; - little to no impacts on noise, air or odour or other nuisances; and - lower estimated capital and operating costs than other alternatives. A number of alternative proposals for discharging effluent from the facility are also evaluated in the study, including: - continuous effluent discharge; - expansion of the current effluent discharge window; and - the current discharge program with the addition of a spray irrigation program. The consultants are recommending the second option, expansion of the current effluent discharge window. Gaudet said the preference was based on discussions with
the Ministry of Environment and Grand River Conservation Authority indicating expanded discharge is possible based on the river’s flow and assimilative capacity. Option three involving spray irrigation, the study notes, does not allow flexibility for additional discharge into the river, presents additional operational challenges and would require additional environmental monitoring. A proposal to divert wastewater normally released into the Conestogo River for irrigation had been touted as a creative potential solution to the township’s capacity woes. Dr. Eric Lyons of the University of Guelph had been working with a local ad hoc committee on the proposal, which originally grew out of discussions with Glenavalind officials, who have proposed a subdivision and golf course development in Drayton. “We do see some challenges to that alternative. In terms of cost perspective and some operational issues it would be more challenging for the township, therefore we are not recommending moving forward with that option,” said Gaudet. The study also points out the continuous discharge option may not be practical because the MOE and GRCA are not inclined to permit discharge during the summer months.
GRCA hopes to work on river channel this fall by Chris Daponte DRAYTON – Dredging work on the Conestogo River through Drayton is expected to proceed this fall as part of Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) plans to spend $1.3 million this year on projects in the watershed. The authority recently confirmed it plans to spend $200,000 to “restructure the Drayton channel” of the Conestogo River. “We’d be very excited to see that get done,” said Mapleton Mayor Neil Driscoll, who noted township officials have lobbied since the 1990s for improvements to the river to help reduce flooding in the village, which occurs almost every year. In the past, GRCA officials stated dredging would have a negligible and short-lived effect on flooding because an eroding CN Railway abutment upstream would just fill in the excavated channel (CN officials refute there is any direct
Long-awaited work - GRCA officials are hopeful a $200,000 flood prevention project on the Conestogo River channel through Drayton will proceed this fall. Mapleton Township officials have lobbied for years for dredging of the river. photo by Caroline Sealey connection between the CN bridge support and flooding). “I’m not an engineer, but how could it not help?” Driscoll said, reiterating the sentiment expressed by several Mapleton officials over the past decade.
Main St. W. Palmerston Rated PG
SAN ANDREAS TIMES: Friday and Saturday 8pm and Sunday 7pm
Party in the Park 2015 Tickets and info available at www.norgantheatre.com.
For more info call 519-343-3640 or visit www.norgantheatre.com
The GRCA has since agreed to a cleanout of the river channel and originally including funds in its 2014 budget. The authority was forced to postpone the job due to concerns from the federal Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO), which places restrictions on when work can be done in watercourses under its jurisdiction. But last week GRCA officials confirmed the project is “moving ahead” in “late summer or early fall.” Senior water resource engineer Gus Rungis said the GRCA is still waiting on Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) approval under the Public Lands Act, but he does not foresee that holding up the project. When asked for more details about the scope and nature of the channel work, Rungis said dredging will be completed by excavators from the banks of the river. “It will involve skimming some of the sediments that are in the lower part of the floodplain out of the channel,” he told the Community News. “It does provide a little bit of a reduction in nuisance flooding ... up into the fairContinued on page 7
Weekly Wag
le the water cyc t a th t e rg fo We . ycle are one and the life c usteau - Jacques Co
Teamwork - Husband and wife Cynthia Phillipe and Dave Taylor of Drayton joined forces to make the monkey bar challenge a little easier at the Drayton Youth Centre’s Annual Mud Run on June 6. Participants included 26 adults and 25 children, with The Muddy Mammas team winning the T-shirt decorating competition. Additional photo on page 4.
BILL’S
photo by Caroline Sealey
PAINT and COLLISION Specializing in... Collision and Complete Re-Finishing, One Mile East of Moorefield.
519
638-2048