Local taxes will rise 6.3 per cent this year as council approved a budget on April 12 that will see about $3.4-million in infrastructure spending and capital projects.
That means a single family home in the township with an average assessment of $270,145 will pay an extra $55 in local taxes this year.
“I’m pretty happy with the budget,” Mayor Bruce Whale said in an interview.
He noted there were some new councillors unfamiliar with the budget process, and with the economy not yet completely rebounded after a major recession, “We understand there is not a lot of money coming for infrastructure projects.”
But, he said, it is the hope of council to “get some roads and bridges back into shape.”
That might not be easy. He said there are bridges in Mapleton that are 70 to 100 years old, and there are four that have been identified as needing major work soon. There are another 17 bridges that will need work within one to five years.
“We wanted to start building a reserve and work with a five to ten year plan,” Whale said, adding the township’s operating costs are “pretty well flat. Most of the [budget] increase is given into roads and bridges.”
Council did reject a couple of projects. Whale said the municipality will not proceed with a solar energy project it had been discussing. And Finance Director Mike Givens said replacement of the hall floor at the PMD arena was also dropped.
The largest project the township is undertaking is the sewage lagoon expansion for Drayton and Moorefield. The township is buying about 25 acres for a fourth cell for that sewage treatment centre.
The total cost is $1.27-million, but Whale noted that is partly covered by the Canada Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF), where each level of government pays one third of the cost. That will not include the land purchase itself, but only the work. Further, sewage costs are borne only by those who use them, and not by the entire township.
There are a number of road projects. The largest is Sideroad 15, a road leading to Conestogo dam. The estimated cost is $415,000. Whale said it is heavily travelled and it also passes the sewage lagoon.
It is not in good condition and parts of it were turned back to gravel last year. The plan is to work on it after getting the lagoon project done, and repave as much of its as possible by this fall, and if there is any paving left over, to complete it next year.
Concession 6 will cost $250,000 for repaving. Whale said that road was among a number of Concession roads that were breaking up and on which “cold patching was not holding.” Last year it was turned back to gravel and the township wants to repave as much of it as possible this year.
Sideroad 21 near Alma will see about $150,000 in work. Whale said the driveways on homes there were never properly installed and there are water problems from poor drainage. The work is to improve the ditches, improve the driveways and replace the culverts under them.
There is another $55,000 to be spent on Caroline Street in Moorefield, completing curb work and other road improvements left undone from the previous year.
The township also has $306,000 budgeted for buying industrial land near the arena in Drayton. A parcel of 25 acres was bought by the township several years ago and the last of those plots is expected to be sold soon; the township wants more to meet demand. Whale said Mapleton had an option on about 25 more acres when it made its first purchase.
The only decisions council will need to make now is to service those lands or sell to a developer and let that company do the work. Another $30,000 will be spent on industrial land servicing for streetlights and gas.
Whale said the township is looking at a debenture to purchase the sewage lagoon lands and pay for those over 10 to 15 years. That decision will be made at the next council meeting. Other spending plans for council include:
– $6,000 for a rear discharge mower for the Drayton cemetery;
– $10,000, for laptops for council;
– $10,000 for website upgrades;
– $14,000 for township signs;
– $15,000 for a parks and recreation master plan
– $20,000 for digital radios for the public works department;
– $24,000 for a pick-up for the building department;
– $25,000 for interior renovations and entrance paving and another $10,000 for lower entrance enhancements at the Maryborough community centre;
– $30,000 for a quad cab pick-up for the public works department;
– $62,770 for various fire department items, including an enhanced services agreement with Wellesley Township ($4,900), six sets of new bunker gear ($9,900), self contained breathing apparatus ($12,970) and a club cab pick-up ($35,000), and;
– $120,500 for an electrical panel, flat roof repair, and ring road construction and landscaping at the PMD arena;
– $125,000 for sidewalk repairs;
– $164,275 for the completion of the downtown revitalization project in Drayton; and
– $225,000 for a new tandem dump truck, plows and harness.
Whale noted some Mapleton ratepayers have been known to get upset about tax increases.
“We’ve been accused of being one of the highest [municipalities] in the county,” he said. “Actually, we’re second lowest – behind Centre Wellington.”
Whale added the township has a “healthy business community” and council believes the budget is “something quite feasible.”
Residents can expect to see councillors looking beyond the township’s immediate needs and well into the future, he added.
“We really do have to start looking down the road farther than four years,” Whale said.
