MAPLETON – Northern Maple Utilities Inc. is the name of Mapleton’s new municipal services corporation (MSC).
Its board members will include Mayor Gregg Davidson, councillor Lori Woodham, public representatives Paul Douglas and John Mohle, Mapleton CAO Manny Baron, Mapleton treasurer Patrick Kelly, Mapleton public works director Jamie Morgan and Graham Capital representative Reeba Arif.
Councillor Amanda Reid also put her name forward to sit on the board, but council unanimously selected Woodham because, as the newest member of council, she is not currently sitting on any committees.
Davidson uses the water and wastewater services that will be upgraded through the MSC, and councillor Reid asked if this would be considered a conflict of interest, but Baron assured that it would not.
Councillor Michael Martin said he shared Reid’s concerns, as someone who pays for the services himself, which is why he did not volunteer to sit on the board.
Mohle and Douglas were the only two people to submit applications for the volunteer role of MSC board members.
But Baron said they were the exact two people who “probably jumped into everybody’s mind” when the township put out the call for applications.
Mohle has a background with Wellington Construction, sits on many boards, works as a mediator and is knowledgeable about wastewater, Baron said.
And Douglas is a former Mapleton councillor and the director of financial services at MTE Consultants.
“We’ve all worked with Paul Douglas and we’re extremely fortunate to have him apply,” Baron said. “His knowledge is second to none.”
Davidson said, “Paul was excellent when he was on council,” and when conversations began around how to handle the upcoming wastewater upgrades, “he was instrumental.”
Both Douglas and Mohle have backgrounds in engineering, Davidson added, “So, excellent.”
The purpose of creating the MSC is to increase the township’s flexibility in financing $41 million in water and wastewater upgrades over the next three years.
Northern Maple Utilities Inc. was chosen as the name in part because it does not limit the MSC to water and wastewater upgrades only, but gives it space to expand to include other areas in future years.
A legal team at Smith Valeriote Law Firm LLP (SV Law) put the name through the Government of Canada’s business name and trademark search tool, Nuans, which “uses a powerful search algorithm to list all Canadian corporate names and trademarks similar or identical to the searched name,” states a report presented to council on April 22.
“SV Law representatives noted that the proposed operating business name would be acceptable for registration, based upon the testing completed.”
Staff are working to develop a suitable logo for the MSC that they are intending to share publicly soon.
Council also adopted an asset and liability transfer policy during the April 22 meeting.
The policy was created with support from SV Law and its purpose is to permit transfers of municipal assets and liabilities to township MSCs.
As Northern Maple Utilities Inc. is being established for water and wastewater services, only assets and liabilities relating to water and wastewater will be transferred under this policy.
Real property and infrastructure assets will not be transferred to Northern Maple Utilities Inc, but will be covered under an operating lease between Mapleton and the MSC instead.
