BIOGRAPHY
It has been my privilege to serve the citizens of Elma for many years and I wish to continue to do so.
I have spent my entire life living in Elma Township on my family farm just north of Britton. My wife Christine and I have four children: Sam, 23, Seth, 21, Kaleb, 18, and Hannah, 16. I own and operate Maplevue Farms with my brother, Doug. We are a dairy and grain farm with two dairy farms and operate close to 2,000 acres of land.
During my terms of council I have had the opportunity to serve on many committees such as police board, HR, drainage, and many related to the agricultural sector. I have also been appointed North Perth budget chair on two occasions, most recently presiding over the 2021 budget.
I believe with my experience both at the council table as well as in the business community, I can be an asset to the council of North Perth. It is a job that I do not take lightly and it takes a large time commitment. I have taken this commitment seriously in the past and plan to do so again if re-elected.
I pride myself on being hard working with an open door when it comes to my constituents, and have tried to resolve issues that have been brought to my attention. The future looks bright in North Perth but we need a council that can look ahead and map out future plans for this community, and I would love to be part of it.
ISSUES
The biggest issue in my opinion, is growth.
Growth means that we are a healthy, growing community but it also brings with it many other issues that cost a tremendous amount of money. I will try to cover some of the issues that I see related to growth.
Loss of farmland is a problem that is near and dear to my heart as a farmer. We need land to build more houses, industries and businesses, but we also need to protect the precious farmland. With this in mind I have been a proponent of greater density in the housing developments that have been recently approved in North Perth. The protection of vital farmland is extremely important to me, and the protection of it helps North Perth to feed the growing world. We have some of the best farmland in Ontario and I truly believe it needs to be protected.
Also contributing to increased growth are many other issues such as more vehicles on the roads, more houses on sewers, more calls for emergency services, more roads to snow plow, more strain on municipal services and staff, etc.
With increased growth all services that the municipality supplies come under more strain and more demands for time from our staff. We need to plan for the growth with increased staff but also our landfills, sewage treatment plant and water supply need to grow as the municipality grows. All of these services cost a great deal of money to expand and upgrade. Some of this money comes from the development charges, but it also puts a strain on the general tax levy.
Cooperation between all levels of government also come into play, as many funding opportunities have arisen as we have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these funding applications have been successful but others haven’t been, which means that the money needs to come from within North Perth’s budget.
Social services also are under more demand as our community grows and requires more time and effort by staff. We need to continue to work with other agencies and also continue to plan for the community hub and ensure that this vital project moves forward.
Putting my farmer hat back on, growth on the farm side sees larger farms with larger equipment on the roads, and our roads needs to be safe enough for this equipment. We need to keep rebuilding roads and widening the narrow shoulders on many of the rural roads. Also we need to keep working on municipal drains throughout the municipality to help move the excess water that hinders crop growth.
North Perth is a dynamic community with a tremendous amount of great local businesses and citizens, but council must continue to direct growth in the proper places to allow this great community to flourish.
