Grand River
GRAND RIVER TRUCK and TRACTOR PULL 2019
UCK AND
August 23 & August 24
TR TRACTOR PULL 2019
RD
th
FRIDAY NIGHT SATURDAY NIGHT
6:30pm Start Local Farm Tractors, 7445 Wellington County Rd 21, at Local 4x4 Trucks, Elora, ON N0B 1SO the EkotuningCom King Vol 23 | Issue 30 of the Pull www.grandriveragsociety.com
Grand river raceway
6:00pm Start OTTPA Circuit Pullers Bobtail & Straight Truck Show at 10am
ARTS
Young performers get ready to take to the stage People. Places. Pictures. Profiles. Perspectives.
PAGE 17
CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITIES. W E L L E S L E Y TOW N S H I P
Donations get the ball rolling for a new rec. complex in Wellesley
FRI.
SAT.
SUN.
280
330
360
250
270
280
AUGUST 15, 2019
Exemption for fence nixed Elmira Timbertrail walkway to double up on fencing sticking with township policy BY STEVE KANNON
vreiner@woolwichobserver.com
skannon@woolwichobserver.com
DONATIONS | 04
32
WO O LW I C H C O U N C I L
GETTING OUT TO THE FAIR IN DRAYTON
BY VERONICA REINER
Plans for a new Wellesley recreation complex got a boost last weekend, with the township receiving two separate donations for a combined total of $33,600. The money was the first of what the township hopes will be a flood of community support for its plan to replace the Wellesley arena. Having recently come up with a temporary fix that will avoid shutting down the arena this year, municipal council is still looking at a new facility, for which it has allocated up to $150,000 to start the design and engineering stages. Local fundraising of as much as $5 million could be needed to advance the project. The township is looking for the federal and provincial governments to each cover a third of the total cost, with Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris having indicated a grant opportunity may be available in the fall. Last weekend’s donations get the ball rolling on the community fundraising portion that will be required. The project received $30,000 from the Don Green Memorial Fund and another $3,600
VOLUME 24 | ISSUE
There was sunshine aplenty over the weekend at the 163rd Drayton Fair, which offered up activities for the whole family to enjoy. Tiger Paws Exotic Pets stopped by, showcasing a variety of adorable animals including the cockatoo pictured above and a honey bear being fed a banana. Top right, cousins Caleb Lockhurst, 11, and [ANETA REBISZEWSKI] Harvey Lockhurst, 9, were waiting in anticipation for the demolition derby to kick off.
LOOSE CABOOSE
RIB DAY
Faced with a less-thanideal situation, Woolwich council is sticking with its good-fences-make-goodneighbours policy. Though admitting plans to erect a chain-link fence along a township walkway just inches away from a wooden fence already installed by an adjacent homeowner, councillors meeting Tuesday night had no appetite for making an exception to township standard operating procedure. Timber Trail Road, Elmira residents Brenda and Allen Schneider were in council chambers August 13 to ask the township to forego the installation of another fence, pointing to potential maintenance issues and poor aesthetics of the plan. The couple built a wood fence just in from their property line. The installation of a chain-link fence six inches away would create a trap for weeds and debris that would be dif-
ficult to maintain, argued Brenda Schneider. “It would be physically unmanageable,” she said of the remaining strip of land between the two fences. She added the couple had done extensive landscaping since moving to the new home two years ago, work that would be somewhat undone by the utilitarian fence and the weeds that might sprout. “A chain-link fence would be out of place.” Township officials, though somewhat sympathetic to problem, opted to stick with their policy. Usually, fencing would have already been built before the homes were constructed. An exception was made in the case of this Southwood neighbourhood, and that lead to the current issue, noted planning director Mark Pomponi. The subdivision agreement calls for the developer to install chain-link fences on both sides of the walkway there. Dropping that requirement would FENCING | 04
SATURDAY, AUG 17!
ONLY
COME VISIT US AT
122 Church St. W., Elmira