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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 45 Issue 34
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.06% 3 Year GIC - 2.36% 5 Year GIC - 2.67% Daily Interest 1.75%
Friday, August 24, 2012
Hundreds take in music, history at Underground Railroad festival
Paying tribute - Organizers Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley perform at the Underground Railroad Music Festival on Aug. 18 at Centennial Park in Drayton. Hundreds of people attended the fourth annual event, which featured a wide variety of music and also several presentations on the history of the early black pioneers of the area. More festival coverage on pages 3 and 4. photo by Chris Daponte
by Chris Daponte DRAYTON - As a seventh-generation descendent of escaped black slaves, Terry Mercury is fortunate and thankful he had a grandmother who ensured his family was well versed in its past. “This is my history,� Mercury said at the Underground Railroad Music Festival in Drayton on Aug. 18. As such, when longtime family friend and event organizer Diana Braithwaite asked him to emcee the event, Mercury jumped at the opportunity. “This is not a job for me this is a privilege,� Mercury told the Community News. He said he was “overjoyed� with the experience, which included introducing each of the dozen acts to audience members at the event at Centennial Park in the northeast corner of the village. In addition to Braithwaite
and partner Chris Whiteley, performers included Curley Bridges, Melissa Adamson and the Weary Traveller, Donovan Locke, Miss Angel with Colin White, Harrison Kennedy, and Blackburn. Braithwaite said there were at least several hundred people at the event at any given time, and she expected the total to reach upwards of 700 by day’s end. “It’s been really wonderful,� she said about halfway through the program at the fourth annual event. “It’s all good people that are coming out - it’s a great audience.� The event moved from Glen Allan two years ago, but the plan is to keep it at the Drayton park in the future, said Braithwaite, herself a direct descendent of escaped American slaves who settled in the Queen’s Bush area that includes a portion of what is
now Mapleton Township. “I’ve got a lot of support from the local community. They’ve really taken pride in the event,� said Braithwaite. In the past, she has referred to the festival as a family affair - in a way it still is, as her sister and cousin were serving food and she performed a song dedicated to her late father entitled Scrap Metal Blues - but considering the festival’s increasing size and popularity, it has outgrown that designation. “It’s a community event now,� she said, adding it is the only one of its kind in North America. “Every year it’s just getting better ... It’s gaining national and international recognition.� Michelle Charles of the Ontario Black History Society thanked Braithwaite for organizing an historical event featuring “great talent.� She presented the organizer with a Continued on page 3
Wages for staff and council members rise by 1.9 per cent in Mapleton by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON TWP. - Staff and councilors here will receive a 1.9 per cent pay increase for 2012. Council passed bylaws implementing the increase at its Aug. 19 regular meeting. Raises for staff and council are retroactive to January 1, 2012. Mayor Bruce Whale will be paid $15,952, and councillors will be paid $12,407. That pay includes all council and committee of the whole meetings, as well as all special meetings for which the mayor has requested all councillors attend. The mayor’s base pay last
year was $15,655 and for councillors it was $12,176. The mayor and council will receive a fee for extra committee meetings and for attendance at conferences and seminars. They will receive $120 per full day, $70 per half-day meeting, and $50 for a night meeting. These rates are remain unchanged from 2011. Councils are not permitted to divulge the actual pay for employees under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Instead, those salaries are presented as a range, and the actual pay depends on where each employee sits within six
different levels on a salary grid. Chief Administrative Officer Patty Sinnamon’s pay range runs from of $43.45 to $51.11 per hour. For public works director Larry Lynch the hourly rate ranges from $35.89 to $42.22. The position of director of finance in Mapleton is currently vacant, as former finance director Mike Givens recently left to take a similar position with the municipality of Wellington North. The finance director is paid at the same hourly rate as the position of public works director. Hourly pay range for the position of chief building offi-
cial is $30.87 to $36.31. The senior services coordinator, deputy-treasurer, deputy-clerk, facilities manager and building inspector positions all have an hourly range of $25.84 to $30.40. The township’s facilities maintenance manager, fleet safety manager, parks and cemeteries manager, and the operations and construction manager are all paid a range from $23.32 to $27.44 per hour. Equipment operators in Mapleton have an hourly pay range of $18.30 to $21.53. That pay range also applies to seasonal equipment operators, the finance clerk, assistant arena
manager, the administrative assistant at the seniors’ centre, and administration assistants in categories one and two. An arena attendant is paid from $15.79 to $18.58 per hour, and crossing guards are paid a range of $13.28 to $15.62. The township fire chief is paid an hourly range of $33.37 to $39.26 per hour. Firefighters in Mapleton are paid on a point system, with one point for: - responding to a call; - going to the call; - staying for clean-up; - training sessions; and - monthly meetings. There are two points allotted for attending month-
ly mutual aid meetings and another two points for weekend truck checks. The point value is not to go below $10 per hour, and a firefighter is allowed $20 per hour after being at a scene of a call for over two hours. The total allotted for points for 2011 was $122,500. The total allocation for the $20 per hour rate is $10,000. The firefighters receive the same per diem for meetings as council does, except those for which points are accumulated. The total cost for all wages for the fire department, excluding the chief, is estimated to be $178,400.
Moorefield hall upgrades labelled CIIF priority by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON TWP. Upgrades to the Maryborough Community Centre got the nod from Mapleton council as the priority project for a Canadian Infrastructure Improvement Fund (CIIF) grant program. Council will apply for onethird funding for $265,000 worth of work on the facility. Proposed upgrades include an access ramp, roof replacement, building retrofit and a new entrance sign. The retrofit, which includes renovation of the washrooms, halls, bar area and kitchen improvements, is the most
expensive element of the project, at an estimated $200,000. Roof replacement is expected to cost $40,000, the access ramp $20,000 and the entrance sign $5,000. The upgrades to the Moorefield facility were among the key recommendations in a Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which was approved by council at its Aug. 14 meeting. The township’s parks, culture and recreation committee selected the project from among recreation priorities listed in the plan. After some debate, council agreed to apply for funding of
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33.3 per cent through the CIIF program, even though projects are eligible for up to 50 per cent funding. CAO Patty Sinnamon noted the program guidelines state, “priority may be given,� to projects requiring only 33.3 per cent funding. “We can apply for 50 per cent, but I think it’s a flag to me when I see in the guidelines that priority may be given to projects requiring only 33.3 per cent,� she said. Councillor Neil Driscoll agreed applying for the smaller figure was the way to go, “especially when you get the
message that that’s what you should do.� Mayor Bruce Whale said he anticipated most other municipalities would apply for a share of the $150 million fund. Nearly $50 million is earmarked for projects in Ontario over the next two years. Community and recreational facilities are among the type of infrastructure for which municipal governments may apply for funding. Whale said the township would need to ensure the facility is utilized if the upgrades proceed. Continued on page 5
Weekly Wag cations.
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Hall upgrades planned - The Township of Mapleton will apply for a federal infrastructure grant to help fund upgrades to the Maryborough Community Centre in Moorefield.
photo by Patrick Raftis
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