THE
SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY NEWS Volume 48 Issue 50
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 1.82% 3 Year GIC - 2.00% 5 Year GIC - 2.40% Daily Interest 1.00%
638-3328
Friday, December 11, 2015
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Double duty - Santa Claus made appearances at two Christmas parades in Mapleton last weekend and visited with local youngsters after both events. LEFT: Allison Raynard pondered what she wanted for Christmas from Santa while chatting at his temporary headquarters on Main Street in Moorefield on Dec. 5. RIGHT: Bentley and Jaxson Neves of Drayton met Santa and his helper Halle Detweiler at the Drayton Fire Station following the Drayton parade on Dec. 4. More parade photos on pages 4-8 and 12. photos by Caroline Sealey
Consultant selected to help develop Mapleton Community Improvement Plan by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Council has selected a consultant to assist with the development of a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for the township. At the Nov. 24 council meeting, business development and marketing coordinator Crystal Ellis reported Mapleton was successful with an application to the county’s BRE (Business Retention and Expansion) Municipal Implementation Fund for a $25,000 grant toward the creation of a CIP.
The plan implements policy initiatives toward a specifically-defined project area or areas and provides funding mechanisms geared towards those policy initiatives - for example grants to downtown businesses for façade improvements. The intent of the CIP is to encourage the rehabilitation of lands and buildings and/or the stimulation of economic development. In September, council directed staff to proceed with RFPs for a firm to assist in plan development, contingent on
the funding application being approved by the county. Ellis reported that six proposals were received and reviewed by herself and CAO Brad McRoberts based on a scoring system. Staff recommended the township accept the proposal of Meridian Planning, which scored highest in the review process although its proposed fee ($24,580) fell into the mid-range of proposals. Fees ranged from a low of $14,191 to a high of $39,129. In its proposal, Meridian Planning notes it has been
involved in the preparation of CIPs for two other Wellington County lower tier municipalities, Centre Wellington and Puslinch, and is currently advising Wellington County regarding community improvement policies and upper tier participation. McRoberts told council he feels the timing of the plan development should fit well with the township’s budgeting process. “We’re looking at a report in June or July that will feed very well into our budgeting
and that we can incorporate into our 2017 budgeting process,” he noted. Councillor Dennis Craven said, $25,000 “is a lot of money to pay these people for a Community Improvement Plan.” While stating, “I think it’s important. We should go ahead and do it,” Craven asked how long it would be before the township would see “any payback,” from the plan. Ellis said “we should start to see the results fairly quickly,” once the township has bud-
geted funds to provide incentives to local businesses. However, McRoberts cautioned, “It’s important to realize a return on your investment is not usually measured in terms of days or weeks or months, or even years, it’s more typically measured in terms of decades.” Mayor Neil Driscoll said, “It’s just a great opportunity for us to try and help our local businesses. We’ve got some great ones and we want to try and do everything we can to keep them.”
Review indicates county, township working toward emergency requirements by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Wellington County emergency manager Linda Dickson provided council on Nov. 24 with an annual update on the township’s progress in meeting municipal requirements set out in the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Dickson reported that a joint Emergency Management Program Committee meeting on March 27 included hazard identification and risk assessment training, as well as training and discussion on weather trends. On Sept. 30 township staff met to review the Mapleton’s hazard identification and risk assessment and specific township program items. Dickson also noted proposed minor changes to the Emergency Response Plan were reviewed at the March
27 meeting. She explained the changes will be considered in 2016 with other changes to the plan, including source water protection policies. The report points out several members of the township’s control group have attended provincially-mandated training for 2015, which included training and information from Geoff Coulson of Environment Canada on March 27 regarding weather trends. Training sessions on service continuity and the importance of note taking were held on Aug. 11 and Nov. 18. Township staff has also attended additional training opportunities, including: - basic emergency management course, Mayor Neil Driscoll and executive planning assistant Christine Hickey; - CANWARN Training by Environment Canada, CAO
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Brad McRoberts, Fire Chief Rick Richardson and public works manager Jim Grose; and - scribe training - business development and marketing manager Crystal Ellis, Hickey, and administrative assistant Jaclyn Dingwall. On March 25, the township held its annual emergency management exercise as part of the fire department’s training exercise. Based on a mass-causality event, it included both a field component and an emergency operation centre component. The scenario involved a natural gas explosion at the PMD sports complex, with the control group operating from the primary emergency operation centre. The objectives of the exercise were: - reinforcing the basic components of the incident management system;
- testing communication at the site and with the emergency operation centre, including radios and the use of the simplex channel, telephone, BBM chat, etc.; and - setting up a process for responding to mass causality emergency situations in the field among first responders. Dickson reported a number of key recommendations came out of the March 27 emergency management program meeting, including: - the need to pre-identify shelters/evacuation centres and promote the location to residents; - if any part of the community is in need, reception centres/shelters should be opened and where possible municipalities should avoid using fire halls for reception centres/shelters. Shelters should be opened within 48 hours of a situation
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(power outage); - a list be made of all potential shelter sites, including identification of those with back-up power and what facilities in the site are available with or without back-up power; - have a pool of municipal generators that could be moved around the county. It was suggested this could be funded through the county; or county staff could assist with bulk buying of generators; - there is a need to maintain fuel supply for generators, generally 72 hours is considered an appropriate time frame; - continue to promote 72-hour “Be Better Prepared” in public education across the county; and - there is a need for ongoing training for communication officers and spokespersons. Dickson explained the objective for the 2016 work
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plan is to look at each of the recommendations in more detail in order to determine the feasibility of implementation. Councillor Dennis Craven asked if the emergency simulation exercise in March revealed anything in particular Mapleton needs to do in terms of communications or providing overnight accommodations to disaster victims. “The thing with shelters is having the ability to accommodate people overnight” said Dickson. “The Peel Maryborough Drayton Community Centre is one of those facilities we felt suitable for that purpose. I think you’re in pretty good shape for that in the short term.” However, she noted that no local municipality currently has facilities to provide longerterm emergency accommodations.
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