the
Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 45 Issue 36
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.15% 3 Year GIC - 2.40% 5 Year GIC - 2.55% Daily Interest 1.25%
Friday, September 7, 2012
Jumping for dollars - Final tallies are in for the recent jump-a-thon to raise funds for pools in Minto. Participants in the Palmerston pool event, pictured, raised $3,081, while $1,889 was raised at a jump-a-thon in Harriston. Funds go to upgrades and equipment for the local pools. “We are very lucky to have such great community involvement and buy-in,� stated Minto recreation and marketing coordinator Mandy Jones. submitted photo
Annual Terry Fox Runs set for Sept. 16 in Drayton and Palmerston Local Terry Fox Runs are set to take place in Drayton and Palmerston on Sept. 16. The Drayton run commences at the old arena at the
fairgrounds, with registration, lunch and activities for all ages, including live entertainment, from noon until 1:25pm. The grand kickoff for
the run will be at 1:30pm. Entrants can choose from a wellmarked 10km route through the country, or a 2km mini route through town. Pledges sheets
are available from several local businesses. The Palmerston run takes place from the Palmerston Railway Heritage Museum with an
open start between 8am and 2pm.
 Participants may walk, run or bike a variety of routes ranging from one to 10km. A donation barbecue is planned
for noon. For information on local Terry Fox Runs or to download pledge sheets go to www.terryfox.org.
Inundation study could reduce cost of Conestogo Dam spillway project by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON TWP. – Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) officials are hoping a new study will result in a lower cost for a major spillway construction project at the Conestogo Dam. The authority has been facing a 2015 deadline to address deficiencies to the Conestogo Dam spillway capacity identified in a 1997 dam safety study. Based on that study, a cost estimate of over $20 million was placed on the spillway project, which would involve constructing a channel around the dam to direct water into the Grand River. The channel would run under Wellington County Road 11, requiring construction of a bridge, which GRCA communications officer Dave Schultz said would represent the largest single element of the project cost. “Bridges are very expensive,� he noted. The $20 million project estimate was based on existing standards. However, in 2011, the Ministry of Natural
Daunting dam project - Over $2 million worth of work on the Conestogo Dam’s stilling basin in 2010, above, could be a small expenditure compared to the emergency spillway required for the dam in southwest Mapleton Township. GRCA officials are hoping a new study will result in lowering the original $20-million estimate for the spillway. Community News file photo Resources (MNR) updated the technical guidelines relating to the design criteria of dams in Ontario. Schultz said that could
Main St. W. Palmerston
The Bourne Legacy
Rated 14A. Film Fest Starts Sept 17th!
SHOWTIMES: Friday and Saturday 8pm and Sunday 7pm
For more info call 519-343-3640 or visit www.norgantheatre.com
change the size, and the cost, of the spillway. At its Aug. 25 general meeting, the GRCA authorized a
$60,000 inundation analysis project aimed at, among other things, determining the Hazard Potential Classification (HPC)
Weekly Wag
nkind, school of ma e th is le p m Exa ther. learn at no o and they will Alder - Kurt Herbert
for the dam at Conestogo Lake. The HPC categorizes dams according to the consequences of a failure or mis-operation of a dam. That information includes the effect on the potential risk to people and property in the event of a large release of water from the reservoir. Estimates provided at a public meeting in 2009, indicated about 240 homes and 800 lives would be at risk from a major dam failure. Schultz said the spillway would allow for a managed overflow, “If the water ever got so high that we had to get rid of some it to prevent a dam break.� While the financial impact won’t be known until the inundation study is completed, Schultz said the GRCA is “expecting,� and “hoping� that the new technical requirements will allow the projected cost of the project to be adjusted downward. When the new technical requirements were implemented, Schultz said the MNR granted the authority an addi-
tional year to finish the spillway, pushing the projected completion date back to 2016. However, he noted, funding sources for the project are still not determined. “Generally speaking, the province, when you’re doing this kind of a project, has a policy of helping out through a fund that will provide 50 per cent,� from a pool of up to $5 million for all 36 conservation authorities in the province. “The problem is, in this case, this project at 50 per cent would use up all the money in that fund for at least two years.� Schultz said GRCA directors have been lobbying provincial officials to provide additional funding “for this type of major, multi-year project.� Meanwhile, the spillway project remains in the authority’s five-year capital budget forecast at the original estimate of over $20 million. “Hopefully it will turn out to be less expensive. Then we will roll that into our five-year forecast,� said Schultz.
'5$<7216725$*( FRP ,QGLYLGXDO 6WRUDJH 8QLWV Individual Storage Units [ [ [ [ 5x10 10x10 10x15 10x20 6HDVRQDO ERDWV FDUV 59V ODZQ WUDFWRUV Seasonal VXPPHU ZLQWHU WLUH VWRUDJH boats, cars, RVs, lawn tractors, summer/winter tire storage