THE
SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY NEWS Volume 48 Issue 40
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 1.99% 3 Year GIC - 2.21% 5 Year GIC - 2.30% Daily Interest 1.00%
638-3328
Friday, October 2, 2015
www.jackfinancial.ca
Mapleton approves extra hours for bylaw enforcement/property standards officer
Cancer fighters - On Sept. 12, this group, including 10 present or former residents of Mapleton, joined 4,500 other people in Toronto for a 25km walk for the Shoppers Drug Mart One Walk to Conquer Cancer. The team walked under the name Theresa’s Team of Hope in honour of Theresa Scholten and her cancer journey, which began 13 years ago. Together the team of 12 raised more than $22,000 which they have designated to breast cancer research. In total the event raised more than $7.5 million which will all go to cancer research at the Princess Margaret Hospital. Participants offered, “A big thank you to all those in the community who supported Theresa’s Team of Hope.” From left: front, Liane Bults, Trish Murray, Tracy DeWeerd and Betty Bults; back, Theresa Scholten, Pam Scholten, Lisa Geerlinks, Lori Klopper, Julie Redekop, Kristie Walraven, Alissa Bults and Rachel Vandenberg, submitted photo
Mayor wants discussion on proposal to amalgamate Wellington hospital boards by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Council here has directed staff to prepare a report on local hospital amalgamation discussions. Mayor Neil Driscoll suggested on Sept. 22 that Mapleton council should have a discussion on the situation at a future meeting. “I have received a few emails (on the topic) that I have forwarded on to local hospital board and to staff and I would like to set aside some time at the next meeting to discuss this issue,” said Driscoll. “I really want to know what’s going on
… I’d like to know the ins and outs of it because I don’t understand the process.” In the course of preparing the report, acting CAO Brad McRoberts has been directed to talk to CAOs of other Wellington municipalities to get their take on the issue. The Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) has directed the boards of Wellington County’s two hospital corporations to amalgamate by Nov. 30. The LHIN has appointed a consultant from KPMG to act as facilitator for amalgamation dis-
cussions between the board of Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus and North Wellington Health Care, which operates Palmerston and District Hospital and Louise Marshall Hospital in Mount Forest. The two corporations have operated for over a decade under an alliance that includes sharing of a CAO and key staff members. The LHIN wants further governance integration and Groves board has expressed a preference for total amalgamation while NWHC supports the concept of a “more robust alliance.”
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Township council will give notice it plans to terminate a three-way service sharing agreement for the services of a bylaw enforcement and property standards officer. The municipality plans to utilize more of the employee’s time in Mapleton. Since June of 2014, Mapleton has been sharing the services of bylaw enforcement and property standards officer Maurita Boyle with North Perth and Perth East. Shared costs include wages (based on each municipality’s usage), cell phone, laptop, training courses, memberships to professional organizations, clothing and other equipment costs. Mapleton will continue to share Boyle’s services with North Perth. She will work up to 24 hours a week in the township and up to 10 in North Perth. The current allocation is for her to work up to 14 hours in Mapleton. A report presented at the Sept. 22 council meeting indicates Mapleton chief building official Patty Wright feels the township would benefit from additional hours from Boyle, who would be cross-trained to assist in other areas. “The bylaw enforcement officer would be trained for septic inspection in preparation for a possible septic re-inspection program and to provide additional support to the building department,” Wright stated. “At present there are bylaws and records to update, and the additional hours could be utilized for these administrative duties.”
The report also notes the building department is a “financially self-supporting” department. “As the wages are paid from building department revenue there will be no adverse effect on the tax base,” Wright stated. She said keeping up with paperwork and getting files up to date are among the key areas where the local building department could use additional hours. Councillor Lori Woodham suggested council hold off on any staffing changes until after a new CAO is hired. Former CAO Patty Sinnamon was let to on July 2. The township has hired the consulting firm of Bellchamber and Associates to assist with the recruitment process, which is expected to be completed by late November. “I would like to defer this report. I think we are in a transition,” said Woodham. She also said township staff received a memorandum from Mayor Neil Driscoll on Aug. 25 indicating there would be no changes to staffing “until our CAO has had a chance to realign responsibilities.” “I didn’t say there would be no changes ... my letter to staff meant there would be no more firings in my mind,” replied Driscoll. “That’s not to say if someone grossly didn’t do their job that council couldn’t very quickly change their mind.” In October of 2014, four public works management positions were eliminated and three new positions were created as a result of a previous round of restructuring facilitated by Bellchamber. The
same consulting firm assisted with the process that led to the June 20, 2014 hiring of public works director and acting CAO Brad McRoberts to replace former works director Larry Lynch, who was terminated in December of 2013. Councillor Michael Martin asked “is there a sense of urgency” to the need for the additional manpower? “Do we have a backlog of work that would be detrimental to the department if it’s not done?” “We are behind on our paper work and we are behind on our files. Is that detrimental? Is that an urgency? In all fairness, no,” said Wright. However, she added, “I don’t want it to get too far behind.” Comments from Driscoll indicated a problem in terms of scheduling the employee’s time between the three municipalities. “Two municipalities are cooperating very well with the calendar and there’s one that unfortunately doesn’t understand the calendar,” he stated. Driscoll said he felt additional hours allocated to bylaw enforcement could be well utilized. “We are getting a lot of complaints about the illegal businesses running out in the municipality and it’s been a long time since anyone looked into it,” he stated. “I think this is a promising recommendation from the building department.” Martin suggested Mapleton could learn from the experience of a neighbouring municipality that, “took it in-house and made a full-time position then quickly realized there is Continued on page 3
Township to reimburse Optimist Club for work on meeting hall in Moorefield
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Township council has agreed to reimburse the Moorefield Optimist Club $3,644 for work done by club members on the Optimist Hall in Moorefield. On Sept. 22 council approved a motion by councillor Michael Martin to pay the funds to cover the cost of a peak roof addition. The township will also pay the cost of a building permit.
In March, council declined to pay for the work on the municipally-owned building because it was done without a building permit or prior township approval. The work has since undergone a full inspection and a permit has been issued by chief building official Patty Wright. “I did speak with a member of the building committee from the Optimists and they were very happy with the interaction Main St. W. Palmerston
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. SHOWTIMES: Friday and Saturday 8pm and Sunday 7pm Rated PG and 116 mins
Ladies Night: Oct 7th, 7pm. Featuring “Miss Congeniality”. Admission: Donation
For more info call 519-343-3640 or visit www.norgantheatre.com
they had with the township CBO and are fully prepared to adopt the township’s policy,” said Martin. “Hopefully it’s resolved now.” Councillor Marlene Ottens asked if the funds for the roof work would come out of $5,000 budgeted for hall maintenance “or is this over and above that?” “In my mind it comes out of the $5,000,” said Mayor Neil Continued on page 3
Car show contribution - Mapleton Custom Rodders recently presented Palmerston and District Hospital Foundation (PDHF) development officer Dale Franklin with a $500 donation from the proceeds of their 19th annual car show held in June. This is the club’s eighth donation to the hospital, bringing the grand total raised for the PDHF to $4,000. Mapleton Custom Rodders expressed their thanks to all of the participants and spectators who attended the car show for making the donation possible. submitted photo
Weekly Wag
at home, s in g e b ty ri a Ch ot end there but should n ller - Thomas Fu
BILL’S
PAINT and COLLISION Specializing in... Collision and Complete Re-Finishing, One Mile East of Moorefield.
519
638-2048