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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 45 Issue 46
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.00% 3 Year GIC - 2.40% 5 Year GIC - 2.56% Daily Interest 1.65%
Friday, November 16, 2012
Conestoga Wind Energy Centre proceeds to construction phase
Citizens honoured - Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece presented Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals to three Mapleton residents at a ceremony in Arthur, Nov. 7. Receiving medals were, clockwise from above: Pat Salter, Jean Campbell and Paul Day. photos by Kris Svela
Locals receive Queen’s Jubilee medals by Kris Svela ARTHUR PerthWellington MPP Randy Pettapiece presented Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medals to three Mapleton residents at the library here on Nov. 7. The medals, honouring the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s assention to the the throne and her contributions as the sitting monarch, are handed out to Canadians for contributions to their communities. Some 60,000 people across Canada have been honoured with the medal, including the six recipients at the presentation who were joined by friends and family members. “All of you are deserving because of your commitment to your community,� Pettapiece said in handing out the medals. In addition to Jean Cambpell, Paul Day and Pat Salter of Mapleton, medals were also presented to Dr. Bob McFarlane and Donna McFarlane of Mount Forest and Ray Wightman of Clifford. Jean Campbell Jean Campbell is a retired, former clerk of the Village of Drayton, and is an outstanding volunteer in the Township of Mapleton,� the MPP said. “Campbell was a Rotarian for many years, and has served on numerous community groups including the Drayton Citizens’ Association, the Cemetery Committee and Mapleton
Horticultural Society.� Campbell is Mapleton’s local historian having been a key individual in recording the history of Drayton in 1975 and a more recent reprinting in 2000. She also writes a weekly historical article in the Community News.� Campbell was a founding board member of the Drayton Festival Theatre, one of Wellington County’s prominent tourist attractions. “For many years, she was the theatre board’s secretary and assisted with costumes and other tasks that have built the theatre into one of Canada’s top theatres,� Pettapiece said. “She quietly, unassumingly volunteers by driving local residents to various appointments and is always willing to lend a hand.� Paul Day “Paul Day has been a leading volunteer and land steward in our community for many years,� Pettapiece said of the Mapleton recipient. “Day coordinates and chairs the Trees for Mapleton program, overseeing tens of thousands of trees being planted to improve crops and air quality. This program has led to the creation of the Wellington County Green Legacy program, which has received not only national attention, but was recently recognized by the United Nations for environmental steward-
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ship.� Day, said Pettapiece, has been a member of the Wellington County Stewardship Council for many years, and has spent countless hours educating the residents of Wellington County about the importance of tree planting. “He is also quite involved in the Mapleton Historical Society and was chair of the Portraits of Peel-Attiwandaronk to Mapleton history book committee.� Pat Salter “Pat Salter is an extremely active volunteer and community representative,� Pettapiece said. “Salter has a long career at Sussman’s of Arthur and has always been extremely involved in our community. She served as a councillor for Peel Township from 1988 to 1990 and was reeve from 1988 to 1990. Salter currently serves as the Mapleton/Wellington North representative on the board of the Grand River Conservation Authority. Pettapiece said Salter also has an extensive volunteer background, serving as warden of Grace Anglican Church, volunteering with the Alma Women’s Institute and the Drayton Festival. She is also involved in the Seniors for Excellence feeding program, the Arthur Chamber of Commerce and various hospital boards.
by Patrick Raftis DRAYTON – Just under two years after a public information meeting on a proposed wind turbine project here drew about 700 people, including hundreds of protestors, an update on construction of the project was provided at a much quieter meeting on Nov. 7. The second meeting of a Community Liaison Committee (CLC) for the Conestoga Wind Centre at the Drayton Community Centre drew only one member of the general public and Mapleton public works director Larry Lynch, in addition to committee members and officials of Next Era Energy Canada and committee facilitators from the IBI Group. Although the meeting format allowed for presentations from up to three delegations, no requests to make presentations were received, said Amy Shepard, a committee facilitator from the IBI Group. Construction on the project is now underway and earlier in the day, CLC committee members had visited the site of the wind centre, where the first turbine was already standing with the rest expected to be set up over the next two weeks. The wind farm is expected to be generating power to the grid by mid-December. Next Era spokesperson Josie Hernandez said pub-
lic concern over wind turbine projects typically dies down once the project reaches the construction phase. “There are always some concerns when a project is announced, because it’s new,� said Hernandez. “Once construction begins, historically, we don’t hear anything unless something goes wrong.� Project construction manager Mike Bogie addressed questions and comments raised since the last CLC meeting, including an inquiry about Sunday construction activity. “There is activity on Sundays. Absolutely we try to minimize it for all sorts of reasons, but we do have a schedule to meet,� said Bogie. Bogie said wind turbine assembly and construction is currently underway and the process of commissioning the 10 turbines on the site is expected to be completed by the end of the November or early December. Bogie reported that the 200-square-metre foundations have been poured. The electrical collector systems, consisting of a pad-mounted transformer and underground cabling systems, have also been completed. A substation located on private property on the west side of Sideroad 17 is also nearing completion, Bogie said.
A secondary containment system with a .25m high concrete berm will be installed around the main transformer to prevent contamination, “in the unlikely event of an oil leak,� Bogie said. “The oil is all kept right there – there’s no harm to the environment,� he explained. Before the end of November, two permanent 80m-high meteorological towers for the collection of data on wind conditions will be installed. Site cleanup, Bogie noted, will take place in the spring. Doug McIntosh, regional operations manager, explained that once facility is running, two or three full-time technical administration staff would be required to maintain and operate the facility. Primary workers will be wind technicians who carry out maintenance on the site and a site supervisor. Wind turbines will be in operation 65 to 75 per cent of the time when wind speed is within the operating range. If conditions fall outside of normal operating range (i.e. low hydraulic pressures, unusual vibrations or higher generator temperatures) the wind turbine will immediately take itself out of service and report the condition electronically. McIntosh noted the turbines are shut down immediately Continued on page 3
Mapleton remembers - A cadet stands vigil at the cenotaph in Drayton while members of the Royal Canadian Legion fly the colours at the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day ceremony in Drayton.
Weekly Wag y, and lots
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photo by Kelly Waterhouse
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