the
Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 45 Issue 39
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.15% 3 Year GIC - 2.40% 5 Year GIC - 2.55% Daily Interest 1.25%
Friday, September 28, 2012
Mapleton council objects to height of proposed shed at Alma residence by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Council here is objecting to a minor variance application for a residential property in Alma. The owner of the property at 41 Elora Street N. is seeking relief from the minimum rearyard setback, and maximum floor area and height restrictions, for the construction of an accessory shed on the property. Council agreed the variance was not minor in nature, primarily because of a substantial difference between the maximum allowable height for
such buildings (15 feet) and the proposed height of the building (25 feet). The proposed building, at 1,500 square feet, would also be 500 square feet larger than the maximum floor area and would be within three feet, rather than the required three metres, of the lot line. Council supported another minor variance application presented for comment at the Sept. 11 meeting. The owner of a property in the former Peel Township was requesting relief from minimum side yard setback for
a proposed barn with manure storage tank, for a property at 7544 on the Third Line. The proposal called for the structure to be within 135 metres of the lot line, rather than the required 138 metres. Mayor Bruce Whale noted the manure storage component of the proposal made the difference a larger issue. However councillor Mike Downey argued the difference was insignificant. “It’s going to stink at 138 metres too,” he pointed out.
Site plan agreements approved MOOREFIELD - Site plan agreements for two development projects in Moorefield were approved by Mapleton council at the Sept. 11 meeting. Council approved a site plan agreement with Christian Aid Ministries of Waterloo for development on the site of the former Rona Hardware building, at 16 Parkview Drive.
Christian Aid Ministries is planning to open a vegetable processing facility on the site, to help feed the poor in Third World countries. Among the site-specific requirements are installation of a water meter and a backflow device on the property at the owner’s expense and a condition that the main access to the
building will be via Parkview Drive. New warehouse A site plan agreement with Moorefield Tire Ltd. for development of a warehouse on property owned by the business was also approved at the meeting.
Building activity on rise in Mapleton
Ice time - Public skating sessions opened for the season at the PMD arena this past weekend. Among those testing out their blades Friday evening were: Brett Bowman, 3, left, and Kyler Bowman, 5.
photo by Patrick Raftis
MAPLETON – Construction activity in Mapleton continues well ahead of last year’s pace. A report from chief building official David Kopp to township council at the Sept. 11 meeting shows permits for construction valued at $28,280,367 had been issued by the end of August. By this time last year, only $19,039,965 worth of permits had been issued.
Just over $3 million worth of building permits were issued in the month of August, compared to $668,000 in August, 2011. Farm building on rise The totals for August 2011 include three permits for single-family dwellings valued at a total of $801,000 and four permits for industrial construction valued at $294,000. Agricultural construction
represents the largest share of construction activity in Mapleton, with 11 permits for construction worth nearly $1.8 million issued in August and 83 permits for construction projects valued at $8.9 million issued so far in 2012. Building permit fees charged by the township in August totalled $28,938 and year to date the total is $257,856.
Hay East working to deliver hay to drought-stricken Ontario farms Wellington County included on list of identified disaster areas GUELPH - There is some hope emerging for farmers in the 19 identified drought disaster areas in Ontario, including Wellington County, thanks to a program launched earlier this month at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture roundtable at the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers’ meeting in Whitehorse. Hay East is a program with an Ontario contingent cochaired by Mennonite Disaster Service and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and involves many other agricultural organizations
across the country. The program has a mandate to work to sustain livestock through the winter by delivering much-needed hay from western Canada to eastern Canadian farmers. Hay East is a follow-up to the Hay West program that saw thousands of eastern Canadian farmers send forages to Western Canada in 2002 to help alleviate the effects of that region’s drought. Organizers say western Canadian farmers are anxious to reciprocate that good will. “We are grateful to the western Canadian farmers who
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are getting organized to send hay to their eastern neighbours,” says Mark Wales, OFA president. “There is an urgent need for feed for livestock on many farms, particularly in areas where there is no crop to harvest. Inventories of forage are being used or are already gone because pastures dried up early in the season.” Information on website Organizers are working on setting up a website and toll free phone number to coordinate donations from farmers with hay to spare, and those in need of support. Ontario
farmers in need of forage must apply to the program for consideration. Farmers in need can email forage@ofa.on.ca to be contacted about the application process once the program is finalized, or visit www.ofa. on.ca for a link to the program website once it is available. “Most importantly, we want farmers in need to know organizations such as Mennonite Disaster Service and their fellow farmers are working to deliver as much relief as possible,” says Wales. “The Hay East mission is to help farmers sustain livestock through the
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winter, and there are a lot of people working very hard to make that happen.” The Federal/Ontario AgriRecovery task team assessment of the drought impact is ongoing. Government officials aim to have their Agri-Recovery Assessment Report completed by the first week of October. Wellington County is on the list of 19 areas recently named by the federal government as Prescribed Drought Regions, along with: the census divisions of Brant, HaldimandNorfolk, Hamilton and Ottawa; the districts of Parry Sound, and Muskoka; the counties of
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Bruce, Duffering, Grey, Huron, Lanark, Oxford, Perth and Renfrew and the regions of Halton, Niagara and Waterloo and the united counties of Prescott and Russell Mennonite Disaster Service is a volunteer network through which various constituencies of the Anabaptist church can respond to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 37,000 farm families across the province.
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