the
Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 47 Issue 33
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.09% 3 Year GIC - 2.26% 5 Year GIC - 2.80% Daily Interest 1.55%
638-3328
Friday, August 15, 2014
www.jackfinancial.ca
Good crowds out for Drayton Fair as sun shines on local event by Community News staff DRAYTON – Under sunny skies, they came from far and wide to take in a jam-packed weekend of activities at the Drayton Fair, Aug. 8 to 10. “We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. The weather was perfect and the crowds came from all over Ontario to support the fair,” said Arlie Zantinge of the Drayton Mapleton Agricultural
Society. A dedicated team of over 50 volunteers worked together contributing to the fair’s success. The tractor and truck pulls on Friday and Saturday evening drew good crowds and the grandstands were full once again for the demolition derby on Sunday. As usual there was a wide range of agricultural competi-
tions, including heavy horse, dairy calf and goat shows. Exhibit halls were also busy, featuring everything from locally grown produce to unique art displays. Billy Klaassen of Moorefield, was among the winners, and will have his his open media entry “Robot” displayed at the All Ontario Agricultural Society Convention in Toronto.
Drayton Fair – The Drayton Fair was blessed with fine weather and attracted good crowds last weekend. Clockwise from above: Larry and Yvonne of Reinhart Percherons, Mildmay; Non Circuit Tractors 6500 action on the track Friday night; judging at the baby contest; 22-month-old Carson Deckert, of Drayton, enjoys his first pony ride at the fair; Bill Klaassen and his first-place robot are headed to the All Ontario Agricultural Society Convention in February. photos by Caroline Sealey
Conservation authority plans to restructure, prioritize to ease cash crunch by Patrick Raftis MINTO - The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) plans to “do fewer things, better” in response to ever-increasing financial pressure, says the authority’s general manager. The MVCA’s service area includes Minto and Wellington North and part of Mapleton. At the Aug. 5 Minto council meeting, MVCA general manger Phil Beard outlined the 2014 to 2016 plan for restructuring of priorities and services approved by the authority’s board of directors last March.
“We just don’t have the resources to offer the same range of services that we have over the past 50 years, or to maintain all the infrastructure and equipment that we own,” Beard told council. The authority plans to focus on strengthening flood and erosion safety and watershed stewardship efforts. “In order to strengthen these service areas, we need to reduce the amount of resources that we are putting into conservation areas and some aspects of watershed stewardship,” Beard explained.
Main St. W. Palmerston
Planes: Fire & Rescue Rated G and 84 minutes long
SHOWTIMES: Friday and Saturday 8pm and Sunday 7pm
½ price admission on Sat, Aug. 16, 8pm show. Sponsored by: Palmerston Ag Society.
For more info call 519-343-3640 or visit www.norgantheatre.com
The MVCA has approximately $3.4-million worth of equipment and infrastructure to manage, most of which is aging and in need of major maintenance or replacement. Facilities such as the Gorrie Mill or Logan Mill in Brussels, while attractive and historic, are unused and expensive to maintain, Beard pointed out, adding the board was looking at options for the facilities over the next few years. Councillor Ron Elliott asked if Beard expected resistance to arise from local communities in reaction to closing
or scaling back facilities. “I’m sure it will,” said Beard. “People just don’t understand the cost of maintaining old buildings and buildings that aren’t used ... “Certainly the communities love having those dams and ponds there, but if there’s no money to replace them and do the major maintenance then what do you do?” Beard explained the board is currently planning to lease out the Falls Reserve Campground in time for the 2016 season. “The infrastructure needs major upgrading and we don’t
Weekly Wag
simply Experience is es e our mistak iv g e w e m a the n - Oscar Wilde
have the resources to upgrade,” he stated, noting the campground includes about $1 million worth of infrastructure the authority hopes to “off-load.” Water resources engineer Steve Jackson told council that in terms of flood and erosion safety, flood forecasting is first among things the authority needs to do well. “Changes in our climate are resulting in higher probability for intense rainfall events, such as the thunderstorm that hit the Molesworth area on July 16, 2005. This thunderstorm produced over 200 millime-
BILL’S
tres of rain in several hours,” said Jackson, who cited a 2014 storm in Molesworth that produced 71mm in one hour and a massive flood in Burlington that had occurred the day prior to the council meeting as more recent examples. “There are several thousand residents that work and live in flood-prone areas. These areas have $140-million worth of assessment, spread over 14 communities,” said Jackson, noting the authority needs to maintain a 24/7 flood forecast network in order to provide Continued on page 3
PAINT and COLLISION Specializing in... Collision and Complete Re-Finishing, One Mile East of Moorefield.
519
638-2048