CommunityNews N O R T H
W E L L I N G T O N
Volume 53 Issue 02
Thursday, January 9, 2020
New 12-unit subdivision planned in Drayton
Community News expanding into Wellington North
BY ARYN STRICKLAND REPORTER
CHRIS DAPONTE EDITOR
MAPLETON - A rezoning application which would see the construction of six semi-detached dwellings or 12 new homes in Drayton was approved by township council on Dec. 10. The application would rezone land along Bedell Drive, off Main Street West, from low density residential to medium density residential in order to facilitate the construction by Glenaviland Development Corp. The property is approximately 1.14 acres and currently vacant. “As we move forward in our development, we’ve always got feedback from our builders that they would like to see more townhouses and semi-lots,” said Glenaviland representative Trevor Prior. “And we do have some more townhouses in the future coming on board but we didn’t have any semis.” He added, “Things we considered into this, in the current bylaws, the minimum width of a semi lot is 18 meters and we’ve gone for 20.5 (meters). “We feel this will create a nicer semi product, as well as allow for two-car garages on those units, which allow a wider driveway, which helps keep cars off the street for parking on the street. And we just think overall, it’ll be a nicer
WELLINGTON COUNTY Starting Jan. 9, the Community News coverage area will expand to include Wellington North Township, in addition to Mapleton Township and the Town of Minto, with a total circulation of over 13,000. “It is the intention of this new publication to bring people together – for local shopping, local news, local entertainment and celebrations of all things local,” said publisher Dave Adsett. The move continues a publishing evolution recognizing the increasing synergy between the northernmost municipalities in Wellington County. Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North have long been connected through affiliation with local hospitals and high schools, local sports and service groups and the three municipalities have been conducting joint economic development committee meetings since 2012. The establishment of a shared community newspaper started last year, when Ray Stanton of London Publishing purchased Metroland’s southwestern division, which includes the Independent Plus along with paid circulation papers the Listowel Banner, Wingham Advance-Times and Walkerton Herald-Times. A new company called Midwestern Newspapers Corp was formed. “Clearly I’m bullish on print and strongly believe in the importance of newspapers,” said Adsett, who served with Stanton for years
SEE SUBDIVISION » 6
New year’s baby - Jordan Beckberger, left, and Jennifer Henderson welcomed baby Miya Lee Beckberger on Jan. 1 at 5:48pm. Miya was the first baby born in north Wellington in 2020. Photo by Jaime Myslik
First 2020 north Wellington baby born in Palmerston BY JAIME MYSLIK REPORTER PALMERSTON – The first baby born in north Wellington in 2020 is Miya Lee Beckberger. New parents Jennifer Henderson and Jordan Beckberger said Miya arrived one day prior to her due date. The north Wellington new year’s baby was born at 5:48pm on Jan. 1, weighing six pounds, 11 ounces. She is 20 inches long. Henderson, a Harriston native, began feeling different in the evening on New Year’s Eve. The couple went to the
Palmerston and District Hospital just after midnight. “Because I thought she was coming, but it was only two to three centimetres dilated so I had to come back,” Henderson said. At around 3am the couple went back to Hanover, where Beckberger is from, and waited until 8am to make the 20-minute drive back to the Palmerston hospital. Beckberger noted Henderson was in labour for about 20 hours. Beckberger was with Henderson in the delivery room. “I got to cut the cord and all that,” he said.
Once Miya was born, Beckberger said it was surreal. “I was really nervous in general,” he said. The first-time parents spent a few days in the hospital with their daughter and by the afternoon of Jan. 2, both of their families had met baby Miya. She is the second baby born in Wellington County this decade. The first was Jack William Merrill, born to parents Jessie and Markus on Jan. 1 at 4:16pm at Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus. He weighed eight pounds, eight ounces and was 21 inches long.
CAO: Service sharing proposal not precursor to regional government BY PATRICK RAFTIS REPORTER MINTO – Acting CAO Chris Harrow says discussion of service sharing among Wellington County municipalities should not be considered a move toward regional government. At the Dec. 17 meeting Harrow presented Minto council with a report on a countywide study conducted by consulting firm KPMG aimed at identifying opportunities for efficiencies through municipalities working together. County council has already endorsed one of the top 20 ideas generated by the study: moving forward with a grant application to have a third party take a look at each municipality’s IT capabilities and make recommendations about working together to enhance the systems. The idea sparked a concern from Minto councillor Mark MacKenzie. “I’m scared of this thing.
I’ve been here before,” he said. “I’m really in favour of delivery of service, improvement and efficiency and all this stuff, but pooling our money to have third party delivery scares me. It’s leaning toward regional government. That’s the way I read it. We’ve got to be careful there.” Harrow replied, “I can assure you that nowhere in this discussion - and it was kiboshed at the very first meeting - there is no talk of regional government in this. And there’s no talk of governance anywhere in it.” He added, “What happens in the future? You remember what kind of spurred this on was the scare tactic the provincial government did that they were going to try and force amalgamations and they backed right off on that.” Mayor George Bridge said, “I love the fact that the government did back that off because we have been, for years, looking for efficiencies both at the
county and the local levels and we’ve worked together with our neighbours on some things and it’s worked out well.” Harrow explained a list of 150 suggestions was pared down to a list of the 20 most viable ideas by a working group consisting of Warden Kelly Linton, CAOs of county municipalities and other staff. Suggestions included a county-wide approach to such matters as municipal drains and winter control. County-wide asset management delivery was another suggestion, noted Harrow. “Is there a way to start sharing that service?” suggested Harrow, noting municipalities simply “talking the same language or using the same software” would be a major step forward. “Climate change and efficiencies, that’s going to be a huge topic,” Harrow continued. “We wanted to make sure that was in there because we have hired the climate change con-
trol person at the county, but this is going to become a huge topic in the future and probably something we can’t take on ourselves. But it’s something we could start sharing with other municipalities for sure.” Co-ordination of human resources services across the county is another way municipalities could work together, Harrow pointed out. “We use a consultant at times. Is there a way to tap into different things in the county that we could just share that service instead of using consultants all the time?” Economic development is another area of joint interest, Harrow said. “Can we work together even more, enhancing our partnerships with economic development? And what can we do to bring more to our town? The county?” MacKenzie asked if all service sharing efforts would involve working with Wellington County.
on the Ontario Community Newspaper Association board. “When the opportunity to purchase 50% of this new company came up, the answer was, ‘I’m in.’” The archives of legacy newspaper titles like the Minto Express, Arthur Enterprise and Mount Forest Confederate were retained by Adsett, who sees himself as a custodian of that county history.
“We want to move forward with a positive new product that draws on the best of what these communities offer.” - Publisher Dave Adsett “Although those titles had amalgamated into variations of the Independent Plus, they were no longer the same valued hometown papers they were under private family ownership,” he said. “These titles and publishing families deserve to be remembered.” It’s with that legacy in mind that Adsett decided to establish the North Wellington Community News. “As we remember that past, we want to move forward with a positive new product that draws on the best of what these communities offer,” he said. As part of the above changes, the Independent Plus will no longer be circulated in Wellington County.
Family fun - The Fischer family enjoyed a chance to get in some skating at the fourth annual Minto Fire and Ice Family New Year’s Celebration on Dec. 31 in Palmerston. From left: Kirby, Chad, Mya and Cara Fischer. Photo by Patrick Raftis More photos on page 12.
SEE SERVICE » 3
SERVING MAPLETON, MINTO & WELLINGTON NORTH