Noise exemption granted for 2014 Drayton Fair

Mapleton council has approved a request for an exemption from the township’s noise bylaw for Drayton Fair events on Aug. 8 and 9 from 9pm to 1am.

The same request was made and granted for the 2013 fair to cover Friday and Saturday activities.

Although he voted in favor of the exemption, which was approved without opposition, councillor Andy Knetsch expressed concern the exemption not be exceeded.

While recognizing “the work that goes into organizing and maintaining the [fair] – many hours are put into this event,” Knetsch noted  “sometimes it goes beyond 1am and my point is we have to use a lot of common sense here and if there are a lot of activities then perhaps the tractor pull should be started earlier.”

In 2012, a lengthy rain delay and problems with the pull boat caused the Saturday night tractor pull to run until around 3am.

“We plan to be finished by 11. We just need a bit of a cushion,” noted Jim Zantinge of the Drayton Mapleton Agricultural Society, who was in the gallery at the meeting.