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FERGUS – Fergus is a town that has grown in size over the years but a mix-up by the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) had it labelled as a city.
The town had a new blue and white gateway sign installed in the south end of Fergus near the Ford dealership on Highway 6 with an updated population.
It also says “City of Fergus” rather than “Town of Fergus” on the old sign but this has been confirmed to be a mistake and township spokesperson Kendra Martin said the township was not involved.
“We made them aware of the error and they are in the process of replacing the signs,” Martin wrote in an email.
A request for comment and list of questions to the MTO was responded to by a spokesperson who only said they are “in the process of ordering new signs which will be installed as soon as possible.”
Fergus councillor Jennifer Adams said in a phone call she thinks she was one of the first councillors to see the sign as it was sent to her and she reached out to township staff to make them aware of it.
“I think they initially thought it must have been like a fake photo or the sign had been vandalized and it was like no it’s an MTO sign,” Adams said.
“It kind of went up without, I’m being told by staff, anybody’s approval or knowledge.”
There was some grumbling on social media following a community member posting the photo prior to the reveal this was a mistake.
Adams said she thought that’s because the terms town and city evoke different feelings in people.
“Knowing your neighbours, saying hi on the street and being able to travel through your town, I think those are all things that we relate to,” Adams said. “I definitely think we’re the Township of Centre Wellington made up of our small towns and we’re really proud of that.”
