SERVING MAPLETON AND MINTO
THE
COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 52 ISSUE 51
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2019
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Mapleton passes multi-year budget with a 4.2% tax increase in 2020 By Aryn Strickland MAPLETON - Council here passed its first multiyear budget on Dec. 10 with an 8.91 per cent tax levy increase and a 4.18% rate increase on 2020 tax bills. Total operating expenditures for 2020 are outlined in the budget at a cost of $13,624,552 - an increase from $12,555,728 in 2019. There are seven roads and sidewalk reconstruction projects earmarked for 2020 in the capital budget. The largest project is the reconstruction of Sideroad 17 near Drayton, from Wellington Road 86 to Wellington Road 45, for $600,000. Concession 6 from Wellington Road 10 to Sideroad 6 in Moorefield is the second largest at $485,000. Water and Wastewater plan B is scheduled to cost $2,155,500 for 2020 if the RFP
Service celebrated - The Dec. 15 Minto 81’s home game was a special day, celebrating local service club members with a ceremonial puck drop. ABOVE: Participating in the puck drop were, from left: Petrolia Squires’ captain Jesse Ferguson, Lions Club member Fred Smith, Optimist Club member Kelly Hallman, Kinsmen Club member Alex Hoover and 81’s captain Mike Pleon. RIGHT: 81’s goalie Thomas Gainer with some of the food bank donations collected at the game. In the game itself, the 81’s came out on top by a 6-1 margin. After last weekend’s action, the 81’s sit ninth in the 14-team WOAA Senior Hockey League. The team’s next game is Dec. 20 in Durham against the seventh place Thundercats at 8:30pm. The next home action is Jan. 3 in Palmerston at 7:30pm versus the Shallow Lake Crushers. Submitted photos
process is ultimately unsuccessful. Council and staff have also budgeted for a couple of charitable projects, including Future 50/50 for $20,000 and Alma swings at $10,000. Other major capital projects planned for next year include a renovation at the PMD Arena that will cover toilets budgeted for $50,000, a dehumidifier for $30,000, and a renovation design and plan for $25,000. The township office, and Moorefield fire station will also be receiving updates in 2020. New carpet, blinds and flooring are scheduled for the township office for $25,000 as well as new computers, tablets and servers for $5,000. The township administration centre will be upgraded to LED lighting at a cost totalling $75,000. The Moorefield fire station will be receiving new
flooring at the cost of $10,000 as well as interior updates totalling $5,000, and software for $16,600. Another major increase in 2020 from 2019 is the revenue the township is expected to make from dog control fees and licensing. Adopting new policies around dog control and licensing has more than doubled the township’s expected revenue. In 2019 the township made $12,000 on dog licensing fees and $500 on dog control fines. In 2020, the township anticipates making $27,000 on licensing fees and $2,000 on dog control fines. As it stands the tax levy increases laid out in the budget for 2021, 2022 and 2023 are 2.72%, 2.31% and 1.9% respectively. Council passed the budget unanimously without further discussion.
Minto updates transient trader bylaw By Patrick Raftis MINTO – Updates to a bylaw designed to regulate transient traders in the municipality were approved by town council on Dec. 3. Bylaw enforcement officer Cam Forbes told council the bylaw was last updated in 2000 and the current ver-
sion does not address some issues that have arisen since that time. In addition to providing definitions to terms such as “door-to-door sales” and “refreshment vehicle,” the updated bylaw: - contains clear requirements to obtain a license; - requires traders to have
a current criminal background check and $2,000,000 liability insurance; - requires written permission from the owner of a property serving as a temporary sales location and inspections of the premise by the required authorities; - a requirement for all SEE BYLAW » 3
Draft capital budget proposes $8.1 million in spending MINTO – Town council was presented with a draft 2020 capital budget including just over $8.1 million in spending at a special budget meeting on Dec. 10. Acting CAO Chris Harrow explained staff is breaking with recent practice by presenting the capital budget ahead of the operating budget this year. “We’re doing capital ahead of operating simply because there’s a lot of changes going on in operating so we need to have a lot more of the yearend figures,” he stated. Harrow also noted, “The capital one is fairly straightforward this year … a lot of the projects you’ve approved already, simply because you’ve applied for grants and have been successful on a couple of them, which
required you to approve before we got into this budget process.” Roads and drainage, at $4.47 million, take up the largest share of proposed spending, followed by water and sewer at just over $2.66 million, economic development at $492,500, recreation at $230,000, protection and fire at $161,000, administration at $50,000 and building and zoning at $36,000. Grant funding will cover more than $2.97 million of proposed capital spending, with development charges expected to cover an additional $2.31 million and formulabased Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund providing $160,000. The spending will require about $900,000 in local tax dollars, with other revenue sources expected to provide a further $383,000.
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For the second consecutive year, no new borrowing is planned, noted treasurer Gordon Duff. “Our debt is coming down, roughly by $1.1 million,” Duff pointed out. Major projects on the schedule for 2020 include: - the Arthur Street East Connecting Link project in Harriston at $1.2 million; - Lawrence Avenue reconstruction in Harriston at $410,000; - Ann Street reconstruction in Clifford, $515,000; - replacement of the Brunswick Street bridge in Palmerston for $820,000; and - $250,000 for design work on a 12th Line culvert reconstruction project. The proposed budget also includes more than $80,000 in flood mitigation work in Harriston. Major projects looming
further into the five-year capital plan include: - reconstruction of Main Street in Palmerston; - a lift station for the Palmerston Industrial Park; - Whites Road reconstruction; - Palmerston wastewater facility upgrades; and - reconstruction of John Street in Harriston. The 2020 draft budget includes about $15,000 for engineering work on the Main Street project, Harrow pointed out. “We need to do … a big dig on the Main Street in Palmerston,” he said. “The county has it on its books for roughly 2024-25 somewhere in there… so that’s going to be a huge project that’s going to be on the books, soon.” The acting CAO also pointed out the Whites Road reconstruction project has
WEEKLY WAG
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By Patrick Raftis
“It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.” - Jim Rohn
been “pushed off and pushed off and pushed off,” but is now becoming more of a priority due to planned expansion at the Royal Terrace long-term care facility. The prioritization of the Main Street and Whites Road projects are examples of the fluidity required in five-year planning, Harrow explained. “These are projections, but it can change from year to year,” he stated. “Because quite frankly we’ve never seen this fast of growth in Minto as we have in the last few years, which is great, but it throws our five-year plan into kind of a mixer and we spin it around and pull it back out again.” Capital purchases planned in 2020 on local recreation facilities include: new tables for the Clifford Community Hall, tires for the Harriston Olympia, Palmerston ice
logos and lobby speakers. All arenas are slated to receive new computers in 2020. The Palmerston swimming pool is in need of new deck equipment (stairs, guard chairs, railing), the draft budget notes. In addition, new roofs are needed at the Harriston and Palmerston Train Stations, the underside of the pedestrian bridge in Palmerston Heritage Park is to be inspected and painted, and work remaining at the Palmerston Train Station deck is to be completed. Clifford fire hall renovations pegged at $100,000 are the largest item in the 2020 capital budget for Minto Fire. A presentation on the proposed operating budget for 2020 is planned at a special meeting on Jan. 23. The draft budget will be presented at a March 17 public open house.
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