Less than a dozen citizens showed up for an update on local municipal matters at what was billed as a “town hall” meeting at the PMD Community Centre on May 23.
Those in attendance heard from Mapleton council and staff on township operations, including 2013 capital projects, the municipality’s five-year roads and bridges plan, parks and recreation master plan, water and wastewater issues and the new corporate strategic plan.
Mayor Bruce Whale led off the meeting with an overview of the municipality’s 2013 budget, which saw the township’s tax levy increase by 12.27 per cent and the tax rate increase by 7.34 per cent.
Whale explained challenges such as ongoing reductions in the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF), a transfer from the province to municipalities intended to make up for a decrease in the municipal share of farm taxes, make it difficult to hold the line on taxation while providing services. For 2013, Mapleton received $85,900 less than 2012 in OMPF funding.
While noting municipalities anticipate the funding level to eventually “stabilize,” Whale said, “I’m certain we’ll continue to see that drop over the next five years.”
The mayor pointed out the municipality has a “healthy level” of reserves, with “just under $6 million” between general reserves and reserve funds for designated purposes.
“If you keep building reserves, you’re going to have flexibility down the road,” Whale pointed out. He explained it’s important to have sufficient funds in reserve to be able to take advantage of shared infrastructure funding programs offered by the provincial and federal governments.
Councillor Neil Driscoll opened a presentation on roads and bridges by noting finances may force the municipality to reconsider the level of service it can provide in some areas.
“We have a lot of small bridges that are probably over 100 years old in the municipality that we just can’t afford to replace,” said Driscoll.
He noted, “it’s not the bridges themselves that are hard to finance, it’s the engineering and the GRCA requirements.”
Financial restrictions will also likely mean there won’t be many current gravel roads getting paved in the township in the near future.
“At this point in time we can’t afford to create new paved roads. We just have to try and maintain the pavement that we have,” said Driscoll.
In response to a question on bridges, public works director Larry Lynch explained that rather than replacing bridges on some roads, the municipality could designate them for use by horse and buggy only in order to facilitate the large Mennonite community in Mapleton.
“It’s a lot easier to go around a five mile block in a car than it is in a horse and buggy,” he noted.
Load restrictions that would limit vehicular traffic to “cars and pickups” might also be an option on some roads, Lynch added.
Councillor Mike Downey, who provided an overview on parks and recreation matters, noted new washrooms at the Moorefield ball park are among the priorities in this year’s budget.
“We kind of sprung it on our director of public works at the last (regular council) meeting. It’s in the budget so we’ll get it done,” he said.
Downey noted that again this year, several recreation projects will be completed with the assistance of local service groups through the municipality’s 50/50 funding program.
“I just can’t express enough my appreciation for the service groups in our community,” Downey said.
A new partner for the municipality is a group planning to build a tennis court/ice rink facility in Glen Allan. Downey noted the municipality will be providing $30,000 toward the project, with the community group kicking in the other half.
Councillor Jim Curry provided an update on water and wastewater issues.
Curry explained, with areas of the municipality experiencing water volume and pressure issues that affect firefighting capability, the municipality has commenced an environmental assessment as a first step toward the construction of a water tower or standpipe.
“It’s very essential for health and safety,” he stated.
Curry explained the municipality is currently seeking to have the wastewater capacity at the Drayton sewage treatment facility upgraded from 750 to 950m3/day.
To this end an assimilative capacity study is being done on the Conestogo River and meetings with environment ministry officials are planned in the fall. Currently, capacity restrictions at the sewage treatment plant are preventing further development in Drayton.
Councillor Andy Knetsch discussed local economic development activities.
“We as a community face a lot of different challenges, so it’s really important that we think outside the box when we look at the money that is drying up at the provincial and federal levels.”
Knetsch told the gathering the local economic development committee (EDC)is currently updating the existing strategic plan for the sector and working with Wellington County on a business retention and expansion project, which would see Mapleton focus largely on the agricultural sector.
Knetsch also pointed out the EDC has heard from local business owners recently expressing interest in re-establishing a Chamber of Commerce in the community. Business owners who are interested are urged to contact EDC members and the committee will attempt to help move the project forward.
Knetsch also said the expansion of rural broadband needs to be an area of focus for economic development. EDC members and staff recently participated in the Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus Symposium with the University of Guelph to undertake a study to determine gaps in IT connectivity across a region covering much of southern Ontario.
Knetsch noted the municipality needs to “be a launching pad” to move forward on the issue.
“One item that is a cause for concern is that Mapleton has the lowest level of connectivity in the county,” said Knetsch, noting internet connectivity is important for attracting and retaining businesses in the area.
While Knetsch pointed out that an area company, Mornington Communications, has plans to bring fibre optic service to urban areas like Drayton and Moorefield, CAO Patty Sinnamon explained connectivity is key in rural areas as well.
“How farmers do business today is much different than how they did it just five years ago,” Sinnamon said, adding the Mapleton municipal office, located in a rural area, also struggles with connectivity issues.
