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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 44 Issue 34
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.05% 3 Year GIC - 2.80% 5 Year GIC - 3.05% Daily Interest 1.75%
Friday, August 26, 2011
Council slashes extras at sewage lagoon after huge tender overrun
Steady as she goes - Helen Moffat, of Mapleton Township, has been competing at the county plowing match for many years. She is also a director of the Wellington County Plowmen’s Association. The match this year outside of Harriston was very well attended. photo by David Meyer
Rumph shines on diamond for Guelph, Youngstown State by Chris Daponte DRAYTON - For Victoria Rumph, choosing between hockey and softball wasn’t easy, but it ultimately came down to one very simplistic idea. “I just really love hitting,” she said. “There’s nothing like hitting the ball as hard as you can.” And so, despite a talent
and great appreciation for Canada’s official winter sport, several years ago the 20-yearold Drayton resident chose to concentrate on ball - and it’s a decision that has paid off ever since. Rumph’s summer team, the Guelph Gators, just captured the silver medal at the junior national tournament in Windsor from Aug. 10 to 14,
where she was named to the tournament all-star team. And this week she returned to train for her third season with the women’s team at Youngstown State University in Ohio, where she received a scholarship. Over her two seasons at Youngstown, Rumph has posted impressive numbers at catcher and third base with her
Division I team. Last season she batted .303 over 46 games, with 20 runs, four home runs and 27 runs batted in, to go along with a .955 fielding percentage. She also made history as the school’s first player ever to be named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic AllDistrict Team, maintaining a Continued on page 8
by David Meyer MAPLETON TWP. - For six days councillors were in crisis mode over the Moorefield and Drayton sewage lagoon. At a special meeting on Monday morning, they may have found a workable solution to a number of the problems presented to them at a previous meeting on Aug. 16. At that meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Patty Sinnamon presented councillors with the following issues about the sewage lagoon expansion: - there was only one company bidding to do the work, and it was for $2.13-million, about $950,000 more than what was budgeted and debentured; - flow reports from the Ontario Clean Water Agency were out of whack, with Moorefield inflows to the lagoon not being counted, leaving only about two feet of space until the fall discharge, and the possibility that there would be a spill; and - the township has not been using the full discharge capacity it has been allotted by the Ministry of the Environment. She said in a interview she was laying out the chart prior to the council meeting and the numbers “just didn’t add up.” Councillors were unhappy to hear such information. Councillor Neil Driscoll reminded council that during the discussions for a debenture to pay for about 59 acres
of land and the building of two cells at the lagoon, he had asked specifically if the debenture was for enough money. Council approved the debenture of $950,000. Council heard a report Monday from Sinnamon, who had talked to R.J. Burnside and Associates engineer Steve Gendron in the interval. He stated the estimates of $1.27-million did not include taxes and contingencies and was based on preliminary lagoon layout. “It was noted in the memo that the costs are meant to be comparative and are not detailed cost estimates for tendering/construction purposes,” Gendron said in his response. “As such, the figure listed may not be a feasible target for cost cutting measures.” He told council removing the contingency allowance and the provisional items from the tender price drops the base amount of the bid to $1.91-million. Driscoll had told council on Aug. 16 the sole bidder, Moorefield Excavating Ltd., was probably fairly close to the actual cost to construct the two cells in the sewage lagoon. Sinnamon reminded council the estimates for the costs were two years old, and that might have been a factor. At that time, the land was estimated at $625,000 and the work at $1.27-million. Continued on page 2
Municipality reluctant to guarantee re-paving of rural road next year by David Meyer MAPLETON TWP. - A complaint about the condition of a sideroad by neighbours led to a discussion about road repairs in general, but no commitment for an immediate solution to residents’ complaints. Residents from Sideroad 12 were at council as a delegation on Aug. 16. Resident Dan McIntyre requested time to talk to council, but noted in a letter he was unable to attend, so others would speak for him. He explained that in July, 18 neighbours on Sideroad 12 met to discuss their concerns about the road. “One of the biggest fears communicated at our meeting was that the recent changes to our road surface will drastically reduce our property value and the time required to sell our properties,” McIntyre said in his letter. The road had been a hard
surface of tar and chip, but the township converted in back to gravel this year after it was badly torn up in the spring. McIntyre said that will “deeply impact the value of 19 high-density rural estate properties on this small section of road. A number of residents indicated that had the road been in its current state they would not have purchased their current properties. That is the best indication of real estate values I can think of. Simply put, our houses are now worth less than they were a few short weeks ago.” The other major concern, he said, is speeding. The current limit is 80km/h and that has remained, even though the road is now gravel. He said there are 17 children living in that area under the age of 16, and it is a safety concern. The neighbours want the speed reduced to 60km/h on a
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700-metre section. At council, resident Dale Martin said the township removed the hard top without any immediate plans to replace it. He asked council to make a commitment to repave it next year. Mayor Bruce Whale noted Public Works Director Larry Lynch was not at the meeting, but he said, “It is our intention to have it paved next year.” Martin said the concern is there is no firm commitment to do that - only intent. Councillor Mike Downey agreed that while there is intent, that “could change.” He said the road was built with tar and chip seven years ago, and, “It didn’t stand up.” Downey said instead the road became “a cost of the municipality” and this spring, people ignored the half load limits on that road. He also explained the difference
between tar and chip and paving. Resident Kevin Roantree said he has a paved driveway and is not sure it is fair to have a gravel road “when you tax the way you do.” He said residents get their road plowed in winter, but that is all the service they receive. He added they haul their own garbage to the dump. Downey said, “I’m not sure council is ready to commit.” Whale said council had recently completed a road tour and has $800,000 for roads this year in asphalt and gravel, but there are bridges to maintain, too. He said council is “trying to come to grips on how to phase road work.” Whale added that right now, the township does not have a five-year plan for road building and maintenance. “We know it’s an issue,” he said. “It’s not a city street.
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Rural roads get to the end of their useful life.” Martin said he knows the tar and chip road “took a lot of abuse” but he wondered if council cannot pave it next year, “Can you tar and chip in a reasonable amount of time?” Downey pointed out council received “a lot of complaints about the road towards the end of spring,” and said that stretch of road was so rough “We couldn’t keep it” in that condition, so council turned it back to gravel. He added that installing the tar and chip surface on that small section ten years ago was a mistake that should not have been made. Downey did agree council could consider a decrease in the speed limit, but he added he lives on the opposite end of the road and there is “no way” to get drivers to slow down in the country to a slower speed limit. He also noted a good
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way to see increased speeds is to pave a road. Martin seemed to agree that speeding is unlikely to be completely curbed, but he noted people will often drive 10 to 20km/h faster than the speed limit, so if the road is set at a limit of 60, “There is an impact.” Whale asked if the concern for speeding is the concession road or the sideroad, and Martin said the sideroad. At the intersection there are times drivers do not stop at the stop sign, Roantree added. Whale said council will be dealing with a five-year road plan sometime this fall, “so we can look down the road farther than six months.” He added council is aware of the problem, and he hopes it can find a remedy soon. Staff will also bring council a report on a speed limit reduction.
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