Minto Mayor Dave Turton says he and council are very happy with how 2024 went.
Turton says this was very much a planning year, as council updated the strategic plan, as well as the cultural plan, economic development plan and parks and recreation plan. On top of that, Turton says there was a major agreement that was a big highlight.
"One of the highlights of the year was the agreement, a shared fire services agreement between Wellington North, Mapleton and Minto. A number of years ago our government put a little bit of money out for a service review and that's one of the items that was on that service review, and now there's an agreement contract," Turton shared.
With 2025 around the corner, Turton says there are some big infrastructure projects to attend to, including re-doing Palmerston's Main Street.
"It's our third Main Street that we've done in the last 10 years. Clifford and Harriston are done, and now we're gonna take on Palmerston. It is a county road and so it'll be a joint venture with the County of Wellington. Presently we have applications in for funding to help us do that," Turton noted.
Turton also says a major moment this year was the opening of the new Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team site in Harriston. He says they received funding to hire two nurse practitioners, one in Clifford and one at the new Harriston site, and it's making a huge difference.
"There was, I dunno, between 1,300 and 1,600 new spaces for clientele for our healthcare system, so that's working very well. We're very proud of that, we're very proud of our partnership between the Mapleton-Minto Family Health Team and the municipalities of Mapleton and Minto," Turton said.
Turton adds that the upcoming tax levy increase in Minto will be in the 6.5 percent range for the 2025 budget.