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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 44 Issue 49
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 1.90% 3 Year GIC - 2.25% 5 Year GIC - 2.70% Daily Interest 1.75%
Friday, December 9, 2011
Council votes 3-2 to keep current phone answering system
Guide greetings - The Drayton Girl Guides brought some festive cheer on Dec. 3 to the Moorefield Santa Claus parade. For more parade photos see pages 8, 9 and 12. photo by David Meyer
Bill to restore local authority defeated Pettapiece ‘extremely disappointed’ by Liberal government
TORONTO - A proposed bill aiming to restore municipal planning authority for industrial wind turbines has been defeated at Queen’s Park. The Local Municipality Democracy Act, introduced by Progressive Conservative MPP Todd Smith of Prince EdwardHastings, would have restored authority to municipalities that was stripped from them under the Green Energy Act. But Liberal MPPs joined with the NDP on Dec. 1 to vote down the PC legislation by a vote of 45-32.
Following the vote, newly elected Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece delivered a statement in the legislature calling on the Liberal government to treat local residents and municipalities with respect when it comes to industrial wind farm development proposals. “As MPPs, we must never forget one of our most important responsibilities, and that is to speak up for those who believe that the government is not listening to their voices and is ignoring their concerns,”
said Pettapiece. He spoke in favour of the Local Municipality Democracy Act. “I’m told that no fewer than 80 municipal councils have passed resolutions, motions or bylaws regarding industrial wind turbine development and the Green Energy Act,” he said. Among those municipalities are the townships of Mapleton and Wellington North, the municipalities of North Perth and West Perth and the County of Wellington. Continued on page 2
by David Meyer MAPLETON TWP Councillor Neil Driscoll seemed as frustrated as a caller put on hold for a long time. He lost his bid on Nov. 22 to have a human answer the telephone at the Mapleton municipal office, after chief administrative officer Patty Sinnamon gave council a report that recommended no changes - for now. Mayor Bruce Whale broke a tied vote to accept that recommendation. The issue is one that Driscoll campaigned on in the 2010 election and he is anxious to get some action. He has noted that while Mapleton has a phone answering system, Minto and Wellington North do not. Puslinch Township has a phone answering system only if the two main lines are busy, but a staff member there said that does not happen very often. The remaining three lower tier municipalities in the county use an answering system for all calls. Sinnamon said in her report in April she asked all administrative staff and department heads to record incoming calls for 30 days, a period that includes 20 working days. Staff did not record calls going directly to public works. She said staff recorded 967 incoming calls, about 48 per day. “It should be noted that this was not a peak time for calls relating to tax billing,” the report stated. Sinnamon said many calls might simply require a staff
member to provide a quick response of a transfer to another staff member, “many calls often can take up to five minutes or longer due to the nature of the inquiries.” That amounts to four hours a day on the phone at the maximum per call. Sinnamon said calls about taxation, zoning, enforcement and complaints can tie up a staff member who is also required to attend to the counter and carry out other duties. She explained in 2003 the township did some upgrades to its phone system, which has been in place since 1992, at a cost of $7,960. Those included two new reception phones with a display system and upgraded voice messaging system. There were also some feature upgrades done due to the workload of staff. Sinnamon said she understands there have been complaints because it takes too long for a caller to reach the appropriate party or extension. She noted staff had made some changes to the wording of the call answer message to make it easier for callers, and callers also have an option to immediately press zero and be transferred to reception. She said, “Staff have not received any further complaints about the voice messaging system.” Sinnamon said staff believes the current system is best because: - the caller can immediately press zero and get reception and there are two people who can answer that call;
- if the person dials an extension and that person is not available, they have the option of leaving a message or pressing zero to have their call redirected; and - if a staff member is away from the office for a full day or longer, they are required to say that on a new voice message prior to their absence, telling of their expected return, so the caller has the option of pressing zero or speaking with another staff member. Sinnamon said if staff have to answer every phone call, that ties them up from doing other work. She added the reason the township changed to a voice system was the volume of calls it was receiving. Mayor Bruce Whale asked if someone recorded how many calls were redirected to reception. Sinnamon said that was not done. Driscoll wanted to know, “What would be so hard that we couldn’t take 48 calls in a day?” He said that is “customer friendly” as well as being “approachable.” He noted that in October he took 30 calls a day and, “I was able to function.” Driscoll said, “I like when I call other municipalities, I get a person the phone. I’m not saying staff isn’t busy.” Whale said that is why council asked for information, and he asked if there had been any further complaints. Councillor Jim Curry said when he dials the zero for office staff, they are sometimes Continued on page 3
Lynch explains sidewalk work and grade problems in downtown by David Meyer MAPLETON TWP. - Public works director Larry Lynch filed a report during council’s last November meeting on the reconstruction of sidewalks in downtown Drayton - as he promised to a delegation a few weeks earlier. Ken Thompson had told Mapleton council he was concerned about safety and the slope of a driveway, and asked council about restoration of driveways after sidewalks are replaced. Thompson has a right-ofway beside his building and people walk through it from the municipal parking lot to Wellington Street. He explained after the sidewalk was replaced and raised from its original height, there was a step up from the right of way to the sidewalk. He said he was concerned
that the pavement replaced into the right-of-way created a steeper incline and a trip hazard and safety concern. He noted he had told the workers to not pour cement in the right-of-way and the funeral home he runs would deal with the safety concern after the sidewalk was poured. He went to council to find out who is responsible for bringing the right of way back to the way it was, at a gradual grade, which was not a concern before the sidewalk was replaced. He noted at that time the funeral home’s use of vehicles with a long wheel base may be an issue as well, given the grade, but his main concern is for safety. Lynch said in his report “The primary goal of a reconstruction project is to improve and enhance the municipal
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infrastructure while minimizing the impact on adjacent properties.” He added, “When there is an impact on the adjacent property the cost of dealing with this is built into the capital cost of the project.” Lynch explained when it comes to grades, all elevations for roads, curbs and sidewalks are based on the centre line elevation of a road and the cross-section of the road rightof-way. In a sidewalk reconstruction, the grade of the sidewalk is controlled by the top of curb elevation, the doorway elevations, and control elevations at impact driveways. It is impossible to make significant sidewalk grade changes and maintain a proper per cent grade for drainage when the curb line and doorway elevations remain consistent, he
explained. Lynch said when the initial sidewalk removal was started at Wellington and Main Streets, workers found “a significant problem with buried window wells and coal chutes. Almost all of the buildings in the downtown have ‘rubble foundations’ and considerable grade deteriorations.” He said a new 18 inch high curb was required against all building foundations throughout the downtown and all exposed window wells and coal chutes also required concrete closure; “all of this became an additional unforeseen cost of the sidewalks that was absorbed by the township.” Lynch noted Thompson was concerned about the changed grade, but wrote, “if it did, it was very minor. “The curbs on Wellington Street did not change nor did
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the doorway elevations. These were used to set new sidewalk grades.” He added in the driveway between the Thompson building and the adjacent restaurant, the back edge of the sidewalk was raised slightly for better drainage across the driveway to Wellington Street. He said he told the contractor to place concrete four feet back, and to match its colour to the remaining driveway. Lynch said when the final work was being done, he was contacted by Thompson’s mother, Mary, and she asked him to cut the asphalt back an extra four to six feet. He noted Mrs. Thompson had been very involved in the planning of the project work, and explained to her the concrete had to soon be removed from the truck, and he was not prepared to provide more work
on the driveway. “Mrs. Thompson then indicated we should pour the charcoal band and leave the rest, they would look after that area themselves.” Lynch said that was done, and the Thompsons had since placed asphalt concrete from the back of the Wellington Street sidewalk banding to the rear of their building. When he presented his report, Lynch told council there had been questions about private property (others had also paid for extra work, using their own contractors), and that was the process the township used in the project. He added there were “no massive changes in grades.” Mayor Bruce Whale commented that the township had promised a report for Ken Thompson and this was it. Council accepted his report.