Cozy homes for nocturnal bug munchers

As published in the Erin Advocate

Bats may not be the most attractive of creatures, but any critter that can eat up to 5,000 mosquitoes per night without harassing humans does qualify as a friend of mine, and is welcome to hang out in my back yard.

The Countryside Stewardship Team at Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) points out that 7 of Ontario’s 8 types of bats live in the Credit watershed, and that none of them drink blood.

A little brown bat being banded during a study last year
at Century Church Theatre. They have 38 sharp teeth,
which are very useful for eating hard-shelled beetles.

“A single lactating Little Brown Bat can eat up to 5000 mosquitoes per night,” says the CVC team. That’s a lot, considering the bats only weigh between 8 and 15 grams. “They are also a great help to agriculture in controlling insect pests and helping to pollinate crops.”

Bats have had a rough time in recent years, with a disease called “white nose syndrome” that causes them to wake up too early from hibernation in caves and mine shafts. Millions of them have died, but those that survive return in the spring to large roosting sites such as Hillsburgh’s Century Church Theatre, or seek out smaller homes.

That’s where humans can help bats, and themselves, by building backyard bat boxes out of cedar or plywood (non-pressure-treated).

Bat houses in the Town of Mono.

The suggested size is at least 24 inches tall, 13 inches wide and 3 inches deep, with a ceiling and a sloped roof above it, an entrance at the bottom just .75-inch wide (to keep predators out) and a thin air vent about 6 inches above the entrance.

A bat house can have one or multiple narrow chambers for them to sleep during the day, including plastic mesh on the front and back for their claws to grip.

Houses should be caulked to keep rain out, and coated with black latex paint in the Southern Ontario climate. They should be mounted on poles or the sides of buildings where they will get maximum direct sun exposure, at least 12 feet above the ground.

Bats prefer locations that are within half a kilometer of a stream, river or lake. They are mammals (not rodents) that live about 7 years, and sometimes up to 30 years, with 1,240 separate species.

About 70% eat insects, and most of the rest eat fruit. Vampire bats, native to Mexico and South America, do have a taste for blood, making small bites on sleeping animals.

Tree planting, clean-up and hazardous waste

As published in The Erin Advocate

The first Saturday of May will once again be a busy one, with the annual Clean-Up Day, a Community Tree Planting and the Household Hazardous Waste drop-off happening at the same time.

Anyone interested in helping with the Clean-Up on May 3 should come to the lower parking lot of Centre 2000 anytime between 8:30 am and noon.

“Come on out and meet people,” said David Lyver, a member of the Town’s Environmental Advisory Committee who has been involved in the project for ten years. Groups or individuals can participate, and Lyver is looking for suggestions on which areas could be targeted for clean-up – email: david.lyver@gmail.com.

Participants can pick up clear garbage bags at Centre 2000, go to a clean-up area and work as long as they want, then leave the bags at the side of the road to be picked up. High school students can earn community service hours if they wish.

In the upper parking lot of Centre 2000, Wellington County staff will be set up to process loads of household hazardous waste, including many items not normally accepted at waste transfer stations, on May 3 from 8 am to 2 pm.

At no charge, residents can dispose of paints, cleaners, acids, adhesives, pesticides, garden chemicals, household and automotive batteries, fluorescent bulbs and tubes, mercury thermometers and thermostats, medications, automotive fluids, fire extinguishers, propane cylinders and medical sharps (properly packaged). More details are available at www.wellington.ca.

Also on May 3, starting at 9 am, the Erin Trails group, in cooperation with Credit Valley Conservation, invites community members to participate in a tree planting project.

It will take place in the Deer Pit, next to the Elora Cataract Trailway behind Centre 2000. Training will be provided, as well as some shovels, but people are encouraged to bring their own shovels. It is also suitable for community service hours.

Town paid Council $91,169 in 2013

As published in The Erin Advocate

Remuneration and expenses for Town Council totaled $91,169 in 2013, according to a report by Finance Director Sharon Marshall.

Base salaries were $12,746 for each councillor, while Mayor Lou Maieron took home $22,060. Each also received money for extra meetings, per diem payments for additional work, and reimbursement of expenses for conferences and mileage.

Conference expenses ranged from zero for Mayor Maieron to $3,467 for Councillor John Brennan.

The total payments were: Mayor Maieron – $24,702; Councillor Brennan – $18,867; Councillor Tocher – $16,956; Councillor Callaghan – $15,374 and Councillor Wintersinger – $15,268.

The full text of the annual remuneration report, which is required by the Municipal Act, can be downloaded as part of the April 15 agenda, at www.erin.ca.

Orangeville hospital asks Erin for funding

As published in The Erin Advocate

A request to help fund expansion at the Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC) in Orangeville got a polite reception at the Erin Town Council meeting on April 15, but no promises of money.

Councillors will consider support of the hospital in their current budget deliberations, but will also pass on the request to Wellington County. No dollar amount was specified, but hospitals in Fergus, Mount Forest and Palmerston are already asking the County for $9 million for their projects, as part of the “community” contribution required by the Ministry of Health.

Hospital funding is not a municipal responsibility, but the County has been willing to make large contributions from property taxes to supplement local fundraising. If the $9 million is approved (which could be spread over several years), Erin residents would contribute about $1.4 million of property taxes to hospitals they rarely use, and nothing to the hospitals that they frequently use.

“If we’re going to fund hospitals, it should be area-rated,” said Mayor Lou Maieron. “I want money to stay and help the residents of Erin, and if it goes outside county borders, so be it.”

The Orangeville hospital serves a population of about 135,000 people, mainly from Dufferin County, Caledon and Erin. They have provincial funding to cover about 70% of the cost of expanding their Ambulatory Care and Surgical Departments, and are conducting a $16 million local fundraising campaign. The groundbreaking is next January.

Fundraising Chair Bob Burnside told Erin council that Erin residents sought care at Emergency Departments in Ontario 3,151 times last year, and that 42% of those visits (1,312) were to Orangeville. That compares with 24% to Georgetown, 11% to Guelph and 6% to Fergus.

“This number is indicative of the percentage of Erin residents who consider Headwaters ‘their hospital’,” said Burnside.

Headwaters Health Care Centre has asked Dufferin County for $2 million over four years. The County approved $500,000 for 2014, despite the objections of Amaranth Township, which said any donation should be a separate levy, not paid by the entire county. That donation represented about half of the Dufferin County tax increase for 2014.

Erin Councillor Barb Tocher said it has been the tradition for counties to assist hospitals within their own borders. She said local politicians should be lobbying the province for income-based hospital funding.

“It shouldn’t be this way,” said Councillor John Brennan, suggesting that if Erin has to contribute $1.4 million for hospitals, that a portion should be for local needs.

There were 105 private financial donations last year from Erin residents to HHCC.

Sidewalk to Tim Hortons would be costly

As published in The Erin Advocate

Installing a sidewalk from Ross Street up to Tim Hortons and the Medical Centre would cost the Town of Erin about $310,000, but it only has $100,000 set aside for the project.

Town Councillors took no action after receiving a report from Road Superintendent Larry Van Wyck on April 15, other than to request a list of potential sidewalk jobs so they could discuss priorities.

“We’ve encouraged development there, and there is a lot of pedestrian traffic – a lot of kids are using the area,” said Mayor Lou Maieron.

Truck drivers often pull to the side of the road and cross the ditch to get to Tim Hortons, and high school students have beaten a trail across the Deer Pit for a more direct route to the restaurant.

The Town would be responsible for building the 550-metre sidewalk, but since Main Street is a County Road, it would also have to convince Wellington council to fund construction of curbs and gutters, or a physical barrier between pedestrians and traffic, plus storm sewers and catch basins.

There are two ditches there, and the one closest to the road, which handles little water, would have to be filled in.

Contributions totalling about $100,000 were required from the developer of new buildings in the area, and this money is being held in reserve for the sidewalk, but the Town would have to cover the balance. This project is not in the current budget or the five-year capital forecast.

Special pick-up planned for urban area branches

As published in The Erin Advocate

The Town of Erin is planning a special curbside collection of ice storm branches from private property in Erin village and Hillsburgh, starting on Monday, May 5.

A small portion of the clean-up was done immediately after the December 22 storm, to clear roads, remove safety hazards and help restore electrical service. Then once the snow melted in the second week of April, crews cleared brush from municipal road allowances in the urban areas – which included some branches moved by residents from private property.

Work is continuing to make sure all public property including parks, cemeteries, storm water management facilities, trails and walkways are cleared. Road Superintendent Larry Van Wyck told councillors on April 15 that work was also commencing “in the rural areas covering each and every road, clearing all brush on the municipal road allowance”.

The second pick-up is for urban residents only. They are asked to bring brush from their properties to the roadside by 7 am on May 5, though crews may not complete the work until May 7. There will be only one more trip down each street.

A Town press release (available at www.erin.ca) asks that brush be laid at the curb “in an organized fashion” for easier pick-up. Branches should be no longer than 5 feet in length and no thicker than 6 inches in diameter. Any bundled material should not weigh more than 60 pounds.

Mayor Lou Maieron said Wellington County would be doing one more pick-up along county roads including Main Street in Erin village and Trafalgar Road through Hillsburgh, but not providing an in-town drop-off location for branches as he had hoped.

The deadline for free disposal of brush at Wellington County waste facilities, including the closest Transfer Station in Belwood, has been extended until May 31.

At a January 13 meeting the Town asked the Ontario government to declare Erin a “disaster area”, seeking funding from the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program. On April 10, the province sent the Town details about an additional one-time Ice Storm Assistance Program, and council has directed staff to apply for that additional funding.

Actual costs up to March 31 have been about $75,000, but the total price tag could run as high as $267,000, Van Wyck reported to council, reminding them that the province will decide whether to provide funding only after the work is done.

“An attempt is being made to limit outside expenses and complete as much of the work as possible with our additional temporary help and Town equipment to keep the cost of the cleanup as low as possible, in an attempt to limit the Town’s exposure should funding assistance not be received,” he said.