Mayor Neil Driscoll welcomed Mapleton’s newest employees to the township at the Oct. 24 council meeting.
Larry Wheeler has joined the township as a financial analyst/tax collector. Council passed a bylaw appointing him as deputy treasurer at the meeting.
Driscoll said Wheeler has six year’s experience as a financial analyst, a diploma in municipal management from the Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.
“Larry grew up as part of the farming community in Hillsburgh and later spent several years working and raising his family in New Zealand,” noted Driscoll.
Wanda Patton, of Fergus, joined the Mapleton staff as an administrative assistant on Oct. 12. Driscoll said she has experience in public and municipal administration from positions with the Town of Caledon, Township of Guelph-Eramosa and Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health.
Council also passed a bylaw appointing Ben Cornell as deputy clerk “for CAO recruitment purposes.”
Cornell is an employee of Ward and Uptigrove, an accounting and consulting firm engaged to assist the township with recruiting a new CAO to replace current CAO Brad McRoberts. McRoberts recently resigned, effective Nov. 20, to take a CAO position with another municipality.
“As council has elected to all be on the recruitment team for the new CAO and as per the Municipal Act they must now have formal meetings of which there must be an appointed clerk present. By appointing Ben as a deputy clerk he has all the authority to be present during those interviews and record the minutes,” explained McRoberts in an Oct. 25 email.
Cornell will not be a township employee nor will he fill any other capacities other that being the “clerk” during those meetings, McRoberts added.
Consulting fees
Council retained Ward and Uptigrove after calling for quotes from three firms. The company submitted the lowest bid, $13,880, stated McRoberts in an Oct. 25 email. The highest bid was $26,600.
