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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 46 Issue 18
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.05% 3 Year GIC - 2.20% 5 Year GIC - 2.50% Daily Interest 1.55%
Friday, May 3, 2013
Concerns raised over proposal for truck/tractor pull in Alma park
Hootenanny for park - A Pulled Pork Hootenanny was hosted on April 26 by the Alma Recreation Association to raise funds for and provide information about the development of Wallace Cumming Park in Alma. Leanora Arbuckle serves up some pork to Joyce Sloat at the event. photo by Patrick Raftis
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Councillors have raised some concerns about a proposal to host a truck and tractor pull at Wallace Cumming Park in Alma. At the April 23 meeting, councillor Neil Driscoll advised council members the Alma Optimist Club is interested in holding pulls at the park in Alma and had approached him with questions about the process for getting approval. Driscoll explained the group is interested in moving to the Alma site a pull held at the Grand River Raceway in Elora in previous years. Driscoll said “there are a lot of things happening at the raceway,” which could affect the future of such events at that site. Public works director Larry Lynch pointed out the park is a municipal facility, making
it council’s call on any events held there. “It is a township park. It is our responsibility. At the end of the day I would say there has to be council approval for anything that happens in that park,” said Lynch. Mayor Bruce Whale commented that “while it might be a pretty good idea,” to host a pull there, the park has historically been used as “more of a passive play area.” Councillor Jim Curry questioned the need to create a new facility for such events in Mapleton. “We have a facility for this type of activity within the township and I feel we should ask them to take a look at the existing facility (at the Drayton fairgrounds) first,” said Curry. CAO Patty Sinnamon pointed out Wallace Cumming
Park “is much different than the facility that you have in Drayton.” While noting a tractor pull could be a “great fundraiser,” Lynch wondered “when the tractor pull is over, what do you do with that facility, at that park?” Sinnamon pointed out, “There is nothing preventing the Optimist Club of Alma from hosting the event in Drayton.” Lynch also pointed out while the township has a plan on the books for development of the park, there are “a number of conflicting plans out there.” He suggested bringing all the stakeholders together for a discussion on the future of the park. One group with an interest in the park’s future is the Continued on page 5
Council ponders policy for messages on new electronic community sign by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Church suppers are in, but religious messages are out. That’s what Mapleton council decided during a discussion on policy for use of a new electronic community sign located at the PMD Arena. The $18,000 sign was installed earlier this year in response to public interest and the availability of corporate donations covering all but about $6,000 of the cost.
At its April 23 meeting, council reviewed a draft policy setting out criteria for displaying messages on the sign. The policy sets out priorities for use of the sign, with township emergency notifications and public service announcements taking top priority. Special events held by community groups at Mapleton community centres are next on the priority list, followed by announcements from Mapleton minor sports groups and com-
munity non-profit organizations. The draft policy stated the sign is not to be used by “commercial organizations/businesses, individual messages, religious affiliations, special interest groups and political organizations.” Councillor Jim Curry asked for clarification on the exclusion for “religious affiliations.” CAO Patty Sinnamon said the policy, as drafted, would exclude events like church
socials or strawberry suppers. “I have a problem with that,” said Curry, adding, “I can see not putting on religious messages, but if someone has a strawberry supper or a church social, I think that would be the type of thing that we should be advertising.” Mayor Bruce Whale said he felt the intent of the policy was really to not allow religious or political messages on the board. However public works
director Larry Lynch cautioned, “the sign is for township use,” and allowing announcements for churches could result in a large number of requests for inclusion on the sign. Sinnamon suggested simply changing the list of ineligible sign uses from “religious affiliations,” to “religious messages.” “So we can’t put ‘Merry Christmas,’ on the sign?” wondered councillor Andy Knetsch.
“Let’s not get caught up in the idiosyncrasies,” suggested Whale, adding the sign policy would likely undergo some evolution as issues arise. “Let’s keep it as open as we can without getting too hung up on specifics, and let people know what’s happening in our community.” Council agreed to approve the policy with wording changes to allow promotion of community church events, but not religious messages.
Developer asked to deal with ‘mountain of topsoil’ in Drayton subdivision by Patrick Raftis DRAYTON - Mapleton council is supporting a fiveyear extension of draft plan approval on the Drayton Heights subdivision, but is urging the developer to do something about a “mountain of topsoil” in the backyards of homes there. With the existing draft plan approval on the west end subdivision set to expire July 31, developer Activa Holdings is requesting the extension “to provide a realistic timeline for development once more sewage capacity is allocated in Drayton.” Final approval of the extension rests with the County of Wellington, but the developer requested a resolution of support from the township. Phase one of the development, containing 27 single detached homes and 18 semidetached lots has been fully built out, Activa explained in a letter to council. Activa
Topsoil mountain - A number of residents of the Drayton Heights subdivision have been living with what councillor Andy Knetsch described as “a mountain of topsoil” in their backyards since 2007. Council wants developer Activa Holdings to consider solutions. Council recently supported Activa’s request for a five-year extension of draft plan approval on the subdivision, but further building can’t take place until there is additional sewage capacity available in Drayton. photo by Patrick Raftis indicated it plans to register a second phase of development, “once infrastructure constraints have been resolved.” A total of 46 detached and 10 semi-detached lots remain in the subdivision draft plan. Future registrations are contingent on additional capacity Main St. W. Palmerston
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being allocated in Drayton by the Ministry of Environment. “Is this the subdivision where they’ve got the mountain of top soil in their backyards?” asked councillor Andy Knetsch, who noted the massive mound of soil limits the use of backyards for affected
homeowners. “It interferes with their quality of life,” Knetsch stated. Public works director Larry Lynch said the developers are in a “catch-22” situation because they can’t remove the top soil until they can build out the development “and they
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can’t build out until we have the capacity. “They want to build there and we can’t let them,” Lynch said. Jason Malfara of Activa Holdings told council that while there is still an extremely large pile of topsoil in the
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development, “we are slowly using it up. “The best answer I can give you is that by the time the subdivision is done, the topsoil will be gone,” he said. Councillor Neil Driscoll replied, “The people there have put up with this pile of dirt affecting the enjoyment of their backyards and now to tell them it might be there five more years, I’m not comfortable with that.” Councillor Jim Curry asked about the quality of the topsoil left in the subdivision, stating he understood it is full of clay and unusable. “It is good top soil and it does get used,” said Malfara. Driscoll asked if Activa would be prepared to allow others who could use the top soil immediately to take it away. However, Malfara noted the top soil “has some value,” and indicated that would probably Continued on page 5
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