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Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 45 Issue 47
Drayton, Ontario
A friendly face - Thelma Trask of Alma is among the Ontario farmers featured in this year’s Faces of Farming calendar produced by Farm and Food Care Ontario. photo by Terry Scott White, Faces of Farming calendar
In the years since, that prized possession has been used to make tens of thousands of pies for church and community events (5,000 alone in the 12 years since she started keeping track). Today she also runs a busy pie catering business. Trask says she enjoys all aspects of the farming lifestyle, which she has been involved with all her life, having grown up on a Palmerston-area diary farm. “Of course, we milked by hand,” she recalls, adding milking was part of her daily routine
both before and after school. “I have a lot of experience milking cows,” she states. Today, the 60-plus cows on the Trask farm are milked robotically. “So none of us are really involved in milking anymore. It’s all done by automation.” Trask, whose participation in the calendar project was sponsored by Gaylea Foods, said she learned of her selection in late July. A photo session was held with photographer Terry Scott White, of Kitchener, at the Vineland Research Station involving her and several of
Daily Interest 1.65%
Friday, November 23, 2012
Mapleton woman among 2012 Faces of Farming by Patrick Raftis ALMA - Thelma Trask is among 13 Ontario farmers featured in the eighth edition of a popular calendar showcasing the photos and stories of farm families in the province. The Faces of Farming calendar, featuring this year’s theme of “Real Farmers with Real Heart,” is designed to introduce the public to some of the people who produce food in the province. The calendar is produced by Farm and Food Care Ontario. Trask and her husband Morley have raised six children on their Alma area dairy farm. “Her countless treasured memories of their farm life include teaching her husband to dance many years ago between the rows of cow stalls in the barn,” states a brief biography included along with a full-page photo of Trask as the featured farmer for the month of June. Today, two of her sons, Warren and Gordon, and two grandsons are also working on the family farm. In addition to raising six children, Trask has worked in the fields, in the barn and “kept quite a large garden,” but these days, the 77-year-old grandmother concentrates on doing the books and her burgeoning pie catering business. “I’ve been baking pies since I was eight years old,” she says, adding, “So I should know how to do it by now.” As a young bride she was given a rolling pin as a gift.
1 Year GIC - 2.00% 3 Year GIC - 2.40% 5 Year GIC - 2.56%
the other participants from the region. “It was fun,” she said. With this year’s calendar, the stories of 100 Ontario farm families have now been featured within the calendar’s pages since it was first produced. All of the calendar’s models are real, working farmers and hail from all parts of the province. One of the project’s aims is to show there’s no such thing as a typical farmer. “Their farms are as diverse as the individuals,” states a Continued on page 3
No resolution in sight on MDS waiver issue for Mapleton residents by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – Confusion over Minimum Distance Separation provisions in the township’s new comprehensive zoning bylaw continue, with no resolution coming out of an incamera discussion on the issue on Nov. 13. Several local landowners have put plans for their property on hold as council attempts to determine whether building permits can be issued for several small lots on County Road 10 near Moorefield. In July of 2010 Mapleton council passed a new comprehensive zoning bylaw that waives Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) requirements for existing lots that are less than 9.9 acres. However, the bylaw did not come into effect until June 2012 due to an OMB appeal of the bylaw on an unrelated matter. Alwyn and Lori Woodham have attended several recent council meetings to express concerns over the exemption, due to the potential impact on their farming operation on County Road 10. Several small lots, created in the 1970s, exist near the couple’s farm. Because the lots are within the MDS1 radius, building could not be permitted without a specific waiver. However, the
Woodhams are concerned the change to the comprehensive zoning bylaw will allow the lots to be built on, effectively restricting future expansion on their farm. Between the spring of 2011 and August of 2012, several of the lots owned by Tony and Mary Ann Giesen were sold to new owners. The new owners contend township staff advised them building permits could be issued for the lots as long as they were consolidated into single parcels of at least an acre. However last month, the township denied a building permit to one of the new owners based on the position the consolidated lots were not “existing lots” as of the passage of the bylaw and therefore not covered by the MDS1 exemption. Following an in-camera session that included the township’s solicitor on Oct. 23, Mayor Bruce Whale advised the parties more time was needed to arrive at a solution. Council held at closed session following the Nov. 13 meeting to receive legal advice on the issue. Contacted after the meeting, CAO Patty Sinnamon said there was nothing new to report and confirmed the issue is ongoing.
Wellington plan for trail upgrades would cost Mapleton $78,000 by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Council here has given approval in principle to a Wellington Countywide plan for a $24 million trail system that calls for over $1.25 million in trail upgrades in Mapleton. Wellington County planner Sarah Wilhelm told council the local contribution is projected to come in at $77,800 over 20 years, with the county picking up the lions share at $1,173,440. Wilhem said much of the work to be done in Mapleton would be on county roads and funded 100 per cent by the county. “That really benefits the Township of Mapleton more than most municipalities,” she explained. By contrast, the estimated price tag for local contributions in Wellington North and Centre Wellington are expected to be around $3 million each. The Town of Minto, however, is expected to provide a local
contribution of only about $43,000 to the project. Wilhelm, along with Andy Goldie, Centre Wellington CAO who chairs the Wellington County Active Transportation Plan committee and Karen Armstrong, vice-chair of the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph In Motion committee, presented Mapleton council with an update on the plan at the Nov 13 council meeting. The proposal calls for the creation of a 1,000-kilometre trail system throughout the county over the next 20 years. County-wide, about 30 per cent of the trails will be off-road, with the remaining 70 per cent making use of roadways and paved shoulders. $10,000 for first 10 years In the first 10 years of the plan, Mapleton’s contribution is estimated at $10,120 to cover the creation of about 25km of signed routes. Mapleton currently has about 4km of major multi-use trails and paved shoulders.
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Over the life of the plan, that would be expanded to include about 120km of signed routes, including 3.1km marked with cycling lanes and another 21.5km of trails on paved shoulders. 1,000 kilometres proposed Across Wellington, the current 250km of multi-use trails and paved shoulders will be expanded by an additional 750km of new trails and routes as the county creates a system of routes from Puslinch to Clifford and from Minto to Erin. There will also be connections to trail systems in surrounding counties. Noting the county is providing a large share of the funding for the trail upgrades in Mapleton, councillor Neil Driscoll wondered where the money would come from. “If you’re going to take $1.2 million out of the county budget to account for this plan, will there be other services that will be affected?” he asked. “The county will deal
with that in the budget,” said Goldie, adding he did not anticipate the county taking money from other programs to fund the plan. Armstrong pointed out “some of the estimated costs that consultants have been building into the project are very, very high,” meaning the final tally for the trail system
could be lower. “It’s a very aggressive budget,” she added. Driscoll also raised issues of safety with trails proposed along Line 14 and Concession 6. “Those are very narrow roads and we have a lot of large farm traffic. As much as I respect people walking, we have a lot of traffic on those
roads,” Driscoll said. Wilhelm replied the trails in that area would probably be cycling routes and “cyclists are legally allowed to be on those roads now.” Wilhelm pointed out the plan is not yet “carved in stone” and adjustments can be made to route locations “if local conditions aren’t appropriate.”
Council supports turbine moratorium by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON – Council here is supporting a call for a moratorium on industrial wind turbines. At the Nov. 13 meeting, Mapleton council agreed to support resolutions from West Lincoln Township calling on the province to impose a moratorium until the results of a federal health study are known and acted upon. West Lincoln is also calling for the expansion of the federal health study to include a review potential
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health impacts including stray voltage, flicker, dizziness, vertigo and other issues alleged to result from the installation of industrial wind turbines. Another resolution from the township calls on the province to conduct a study on the effects of the wind turbines on livestock and the agricultural industry. Niagara Region Wind Corporation has applied to install 77 wind turbines between West Lincoln and Wainfleet, while IPC Energy is
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seeking to install five turbines in West Lincoln. Mapleton councillor Jim Curry cited two recent “scientific reports” released in the U.S. that indicate residents living within one kilometre of turbines suffer health effects and he advocated a moratorium on turbines until the results the federal health study are available. “Until the study is concluded I think that it’s prudent that wind turbines be put on hold across Ontario,” Curry stated.
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