Town says no to 100 lot development

By Mark Squibb/March 3, 2022

Two applications were denied by Bay Bulls council at last week’s meeting— and not for the first time either.

The first was an application for a new residential development along Track Road Extension.

“I know there used to be a policy where we wouldn’t continue to keep accepting the same applications,” said councilor Jason Sullivan. “We’ve seen this one twice. But in order for this application to go through, we need a proper survey… And the road needs to be upgraded to town standards in order to get to this piece of land. So, all that information has to accompany the application.”

Sullivan made a motion to deny not only the application, but also to send a letter to the resident saying council will not accept anymore applications without the required information.

Council also denied a Crown Land application for a residential subdivision on Cemetery lane West.

“This is again, another recurring application that has come in,” said Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien. “There’s a couple of big things here that have to be assessed. One is that this area is in a provincial watershed area. As well, putting this large of a development, of over 100-plus lots, in this area is going to be really cumbersome for traffic flow. So there’s more engineering and investigation to be done. As well, some of the future plans of this thing (means) there’s some pretty big costs involved.”

He concluded that more investigation and study is needed to assess the application properly.

Sullivan added further that he believed the town had a 50-lot maximum policy in place. Town CAO Jennifer Aspell said that she wasn’t aware of the policy, but that that didn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Aspell said she would look into the matter. She also added some clarifications to the motion.

“If this is the second time that this application has been received in a six-month period, we have to provide a response to Crown Lands as one of the referral agencies that received this,” said Aspell. “Do you want it noted that we are not going to consider another application with this current information?”

Aspell pointed out the concerns about the watershed and the size of the development were raised the last time the application was before council.

“What we didn’t do the last time was to advise Crown Lands that the Town will not consider any further applications in this particular area, the same application again, unless there was additional information provided and the number of lots was reduced,” said Aspell.

Council denied the application unanimously.

A third request, a Crown Land application for a single residential lot on Track Road, was approved.

Privacy Commissioner examining town's handling of ATIPPA request

By Mark Squibb/February 24, 2022

A complaint from Witless Bay resident Anita Dunn regarding an ATIPP request to the Town has been referred to a formal investigation process.

“Attempts to resolve this complaint by informal means have been unsuccessful,” reads a letter from Juliette Ryan, an Access and Privacy Analyst with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner addressed to Dunn, dated February 7. “The file has now been referred to the formal investigation process in accordance with subsection 44(4) of ATIPPA, 2015.”

That section of the act reads, “Where the commissioner is unable to informally resolve the complaint within 30 business days of receipt of the complaint, the commissioner shall conduct a formal investigation of the subject matter of the complaint where he or she is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to do so.”

In the fall, Dunn sent an ATIPPA request to the Town of Witless Bay requesting “all emails, phone records, texts, and any forms of communications, both on private forms of communication that were used for official town business and official forms of communication, prior to and after the swearing-in of officials, between all members of the Witless Bay town council, including the mayor and deputy mayor, and between all members of the Witless Bay council and any employee or former employee, and between the Witless Bay town council and any private citizen, regarding the motions that were rescinded in the first and second town meetings by the new council.”

Those motions, as previously reported by The Irish Loop Post, have to do with land off Mullowney’s Lane. The actions of the new council regarding those motions effectively blocked any further development in the area.

Not satisfied with the result of the ATIPPA request, which Dunn said did not contain the information requested, she filed a complaint with the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

That Office did follow up interviews with the Town, and reported its findings to Dunn.

“The Town has explained to me the steps that it took in responding to your ATIPP request,” said Ryan in an e-mail addressed to Dunn. “It explained how it conducted its search, including who was involved in the search. The Town confirmed that its council members and employees were asked to search their personal accounts and devices as well. Further, it was confirmed that the members of the Town Office use their “@townofwitlessbay.ca” emails to conduct Town business, and that it is not their practice to use personal accounts or devices to conduct Town business. I also received confirmation that the Town’s Acting ATIPP Coordinator has received training through the ATIPP Office.”
According to Ryan, the Town claimed that responses to the ATIPP request may have appeared limited because “the Town Office was closed from June 11, 2021 to October 11, 2021. The Town explains that, during this time, the Office was not staffed, and that Town councilors were not sending correspondence to or receiving correspondence from the Town. Further, the current Town council was not elected until the end of September of 2021. Specifically in relation to council’s rescinding motions, I am advised that this discussion arose during a gathering of a new council where general planning matters were being discussed. It was not a formal privileged meeting whereby official notes were taken. It seems as though the council members were first made aware of the rescinding matters when they received the agenda items for the first meeting.”

As Dunn has indicated she is not satisfied with the follow up, the Office can now move forward with a formal investigation.

The issue, which the Office says has not been resolved, is “whether the Town of Witless Bay met its duty to assist the applicant under section 13 of ATIPPA, 2015, specifically whether the Town conducted a reasonable search.”

That section of the Act reads, “on an investigation of a complaint from a decision to refuse access to a record or part of a record, the burden is on the head of a public body to prove that the applicant has no right of access to the record or part of the record.”

Mayor Trevor Croft defended the Town’s handling of the ATIPPA request.

“We did everything we could to find any information that we needed,” said Croft. “The ATIPP office contacted us, and since we’re a new council, they went over exactly how to search through our e-mails using key words and stuff like that to make sure that everything could be found, and anything that we did find was provided.”

Croft doesn’t expect the process will cost the town any money.

“People are really set in their ways, especially in small towns like this,” said Croft “I’m never gong to say that people shouldn’t request an ATIPP or file an appeal if they feel like they’re being wronged, that’s definitely their right to do so, so I would definitely never say that they shouldn’t do that.”

Bay Bulls council opts to keep smaller chamber complement

By Mark Squibb/February 24, 2022

Bay Bulls council has narrowly voted down the idea of expanding its size to seven seats, which is the normal size of councils in the province.

The motion was actually to make a request to the Minister of Municipal Affairs to approve the expansion. That’s because the previous council had obtained special permission from the minister to reduce the size of council to five seats after several years of trying in vain to fill two openings in the chamber. During last fall’s election, more than enough candidates to fill seven seats came forward, but only five people were elected because of the reduction that had been made.

Councillor Shannon O’ Driscoll put forward the motion to go back to seven seats. Councillor Keith O’ Driscoll seconded it.

“Residents have been asking us to increase our seats, and sometimes we have conflict of interests, so I just think it’s a good idea to increase our seats,” said Shannon O’Driscoll.

Councillor Keith O’Driscoll agreed, adding that council does come up against conflict of interests quite frequently, and adding two seats might alleviate that problem.

Mayor Neil O’Brien, Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien, and councilor Jason Sullivan voted against the motion, defeating it.

There was no further discussion.

In an interview afterwards, Mayor Brien said the biggest factor in his decision to vote against the motion was a financial one.

“By-elections cost money,” said O’Brien. “So, unless we’re having a general election, why now change it to seven and cost the taxpayers of Bay Bulls just for an extra two seats? Because the last council decided to change it. I just don’t see the rationale in spending the money for it. It’s not like things are not moving. Things are moving quite favorably in the town, with decisions and voting, so I just don’t see the need to spend the money on a by-election.”

When the previous council announced it was getting permission to go to five seats, O’Brien, who was then a resident and not a councillor, criticized the move.

“If the town is growing and we’re adding town staff positions such as town managers and (a) Director of Public Works, then why are we reducing council seats?” he asked in a social media post.

When asked about that post, O’Brien said the difference is that the town is not growing now.

“What would suggest that the town is growing?” he asked “How many business applications and home (building permits) have you seen since we’ve been elected? Very, very few to none.”

The mayor argued that choosing to reduce a compliment of seven to five and choosing to not increase a compliment of five to seven are very different things.

“I just don’t see the need to spend taxpayers money to increase it if it’s working,” he said. “If it wasn’t working, I would probably be on a different side of the fence. But right now, it’s working. I know that there’s probably a few that want it, but anyway, so be it, they can have it if they want, but I’m not voting in favor to increase it.”

As to the split between council on the issue, O’Brien said that’s to be expected sometimes.

“You’re going to have a split on council about issues, that’s what makes it a council,” said O’Brien. “If we all agreed we would never make progress. Right now, they feel there is a need for it, and we feel that there isn’t. So, right now the council seat stands at five, three makes the majority, and three made the majority vote the other night. That’s politics, that’s not changed.”

Whether the Town would have had to call a by-election to fill two more seats, or simply take the sixth and seventh runners from the field of 10 who ran in September, is unclear. Mayor O’Brien admitted he didn’t know the answer, pointing out it would be up to Municipal Affairs.

The sixth and seventh runners in the election were former Mayor Harold Mullowney and former councillor Joan Luby. Mullowney, who served on council for more than 30 years, missed getting re-elected by 21 votes.

When approached last week, he couldn’t say whether the decision to keep a compliment of five is right or wrong.

“It might be the appropriate thing to do, because getting a full compliment of seven is a challenge,” said Mullowney. “The more you have, the easier it is to have quorum, obviously. But I know myself when I was there went to the people four or five times trying to get two councillors, and it just couldn’t be done. And I think you would see the same situation in many towns.”

Mullowney experienced firsthand the difficulty that can arise with only five seats around the table.

“The challenge when you only have five, is that there are going to be many situations where you’re going to have to excuse yourself because of a conflict, and then that necessitates going to the government to get ministerial approval to make decisions on things,” he said. “The last council, that happened a number of times.”

As to whether he would have run again had a by-election been called last week, Mullowney didn’t have to think too hard about his answer.

“I’m sure there’s other good people out there,” said Mullowney. “I did 31 years. I think that’s pretty well a record in many areas of the province. I was there as long as the people needed me, and I enjoyed my time there, but I don’t regret not being there.”

Regionalization report has some constituents worried, says Ferryland MHA

By Patrick Newhook/February 24, 2022

Ferryland MHA Loyola O’Driscoll says he is getting calls from people who fear they may be financially impacted if the province moves ahead with regionalization.

The province released a report on February 2 that looked at regionalization as a way for towns and Local Service Districts (LSDs) to better cope with increasing operating costs in the face of a declining population.

Some people living in unincorporated areas and LSDs fear the report could lead to their areas being swallowed into the boundaries of nearby towns meaning they would have to pay property taxes.

There is nothing in the report that actually calls for that, though the idea has been touted by academics, pundits and some mayors for years.

“We have people calling me that are not in favour (of regionalization),” said O’Driscoll. “Right now they’re not in favour, they just don’t see how it fits in there with their economic times right now… I don’t know how, without getting into some of the specifics of what they (the provincial government) are trying to do, how this is going to help some of these communities. What are the advantages for these communities?”

Ferryland district has LSDs in Mobile, Tors Cove and Calvert, and close on half a dozen other unincorporated communities.

The report found that across the province, “Approximately 6.5 per cent of the population live in one of the 172 LSD’s. LSDs are unincorporated entities, administered by elected committees. LSDs may, but are not required to, provide a limited number of services to residents. LSDs cannot levy taxes, and are limited to cost recovery on a fee for service basis.”

Municipal Affairs Minister Krista Lynn Howell said that the report’s authors “did give recommendations that LSDs are functional and have the ability to provide adequate services but have the potential to incorporate.”

O’Driscoll said he is unsure how regionalization would affect a largely rural region, such as much of Ferryland District.

“There’s a lot to look at and how, basically, is it going to affect all the areas?” said the PC member. “What is it going to mean to them? That’s what we’ve got to find out… Right now we don’t have any answers to any questions.”

The report also discussed the need for regionalization given the population trend in most of Newfoundland. According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census, Newfoundland has experienced a population decline.

“Community viability, from a taxation and economic development basis, is at significant risk in the province due to several factors,” the report indicated. “Financial demands are increasing, particularly in rural regions, due to things like increasing infrastructure deficits, out-migration, reduced population density and aging populations. It is essential that the province have mechanisms in place to support changing demographics.”

The report also looks at the impact aging populations will have on a community’s ability to run and operate local government structures, pointing to regionalization and regional governments as a way to ensure representation. 

O’Driscoll wasn’t able to say if this could benefit the communities in his district. “That’s a question I can’t answer,” he admitted. “But if they’re going to try and implement something like this we need to know the details of what they’re trying to do. So can it help? It may help, but I think we don’t know the details and that’s what we need to get in order to answer the questions we are going to ask them. Where does this go, what’s changing for these people, what benefit is it to these people? That’s some of the basic questions.”  

O’Driscoll said the rising cost of living is already a big concern and he is wondering if regionalization will add further costs for some residents.

“How is it going to make it better for these residents? What is regionalization going to do for these residents to make it better?” said O’Driscoll. “That’s the questions that need to be asked. And what causes the problem? They’re the two most important things. What are they going to get that’s going to make their lives better to be regionalized? Those are the questions that need to be asked and they’re tough questions, but we need to have answers on them.”

Witless Bay rejects Bay Bulls' call to help with Lifestyle Centre repairs

By Mark Squibb/February 17, 2022

Witless Bay council has denied a request for funding from the Town of Bay Bulls to help with repairs to the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre.

“I can elaborate further, but for the sake of making a motion, I move the town deny the request for funding for the Regional Lifestyle Centre,” said councilor Alex Troake.

The motion was seconded by Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and passed unanimously during the February 8 council meeting.

Councilor Nancy Burke was not in favour of denying the request outright.

“It’s a regional facility and I think it’s worth discussing further with the organization to perhaps discuss what it is they’re looking for and how much they are looking for us to contribute and for how long,” said Burke. “I think that we would need more information from them. Perhaps an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) would be something that would be appropriate, rather than outright deny the request.”

Troake made clear he was against that idea.

“We had an impromptu meeting with the Town of Bay Bulls in the fall, and at that time they did mention it, and at the time I believe the figure was between $30,000 and $40,000,” said Troake. “Our request, like everything else we handle, was for them to send a formal request to the town office for our consideration. Now, unfortunately, that request was not sent until after the 2022 budget was approved. So, again, it’s a balanced budget, and to enter into an MOU now would mean cuts from other areas. So, it is something that we can discuss moving forward.”

He added the Bay Bulls Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) MOU will expire this year, and that the coming year might be the right time to reconsider how the town funds regional recreation.

“Probably we can look at the bigger picture of recreation assets in general, and have one MOU to cover everything, because, the thing is, the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre is regional, but it’s not regional in the sense that there’s an MOU whereby regional partners contribute anything at this point,” said Troake. “If you want to get into that, how does the Puffin Centre fit into that? How do other regional assets fit into that?”

Councillor Jacob Hayden indicated he could see both sides.

“I agree with both Nancy and Alex, actually,” said Hayden. “I do agree that we should support it, but at the same time, we had requested, when we met with the Town of Bay Bulls, that they, like Alex said, issue a formal request to the town, requesting an actual number of funds and such, before we finalized our budget, and that wasn’t done. So, like Alex said, its very hard to pull the money from other aspects that have been budgeted in the town. But, at the same time, I do support the regionalization of the entire area, so maybe that’s something that we can look at and hopefully put into the works for the future budgets that we issue.”

BBBAA hopeful Witless Bay will agree to funding boost

By Mark Squibb/February 17, 2022

Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) chairman Scott Penny says he is hopeful the Town of Witless Bay will approve a request for more funds, which council deferred last week.

 “Council seems very open to working with us,” said Penny. “They understand the value and importance of the BBBAA.”

Penny explained that for the past decade the BBBAA has had a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in place with both Witless Bay and Bay Bulls wherein each town contributes $37,500 per year. The MOU is set to expire next year. The funding covers staff salaries and operating costs, such as cell phone bills and office expenses.

Each year, the BBBAA also hosts an auction dinner and dance, through which they raise between $75,000 and $80,000. Those funds are rolled into regional programing and infrastructure.

“Obviously with COVID, we haven’t been able to do that,” said Penny. “So, last year we went to both towns and asked for additional support because we didn’t have as many registered kids in our programs because of COVID and restrictions. So, we weren’t generating enough of our own revenue. Both towns gave an additional $12,500. This year, we went back with the same request. Bay Bulls have accommodated us, and Witless Bay, from what I understand at this point, have agreed to the $37,500, but we’re still in discussions on the balance of the $12,500.”

Extra staff and additional cleaning measures have caused costs to increase, he noted.

Witless Bay councilor Alex Troake raised the issue during the February 8 public meeting.

“I don’t know if it’s best to defer or deny, but essentially, the plan is to have the new town manager and the BBBAA work together to identify how best to move forward,” said Troake. “It’s probably best to defer, so it stays on the books later… And the situation that’s prompting the BBBAA to request additional funding this year is that in 2020, for funding in 2021, the town was able to get government money because of COVID, and bumped it from $37,000 to $50,000. And they are requesting that we do that again. The issue is that we don’t have that COVID funding this year, and to match a $50,000 ask, we would have to cut $13,000 from our balanced budget somewhere else. So, as much as we all support recreation, it’s not as simple as approving the request. We have to have a serious discussion moving forward.”

Councilor Nancy Burke, who during the initial budget presentation in back in January said she was disappointed that council was not providing the full $50,000 the BBBAA had requested as they are still unable to fundraise, said she had “a lot to say on the issue,” but that she would wait until the motion was put forward.

Council unanimously voted to defer, although there was no further discussion on the matter.

The Irish Loop Post reached out to councillor Burke later, who said that as council had voted to defer the motion, she could not comment. She did, however, pledge her support for the BBBAA.

“I will say that I am a big supporter of the BBBAA and their efforts, which is why I am thrilled to be council's rep on their board,” wrote Burke in an e-mail. “I think that they provide a service that has never been more essential than it is today. As we move toward making our way out of a global pandemic that has kept people isolated in their homes, forced to stay away from family and friends, unable to participate 'normally' in many of the activities that they love and enjoy, recreation has never been more important. Recreational activities will play a significant role in helping people to recover both physically and mentally from the social and emotional side effects of Covid-19. This makes the BBBAA important, and I think it is important for Witless Bay Town Council support them, which we do. One of the main reasons that I ran for council was to make more varied activities available to our youth. Movement has started in those efforts, and I am hoping and planning to partner with the BBBAA to get things off the ground. I am very much looking forward to the collaboration between Witless Bay Town Council and the BBBAA.”

Penny, meanwhile said he understands the rationale provided by council and appreciates that balancing a budget is hard work, but still believes council ought to approve the increase.

“It’s not easy to do the budget,” said Penny. “Some things have to be cut… I totally understand the pressures. For us, we’ve worked very closely with the town of Witless Bay, we were heavily invovled and contributed over $35,000 to their pool upgrade and we’ve committed another $20,000 to the next phase of that upgrade. So, again I get their rationale. At the end of the day council is going to make a decision that is in the best interest of their community.”

He argued further that he felt that the BBBAA, with its after school and day camp offerings, was critical in attracting young families.

“At the end of the day, when a young family is trying to decide where to reside and build a home, and set roots for their families, they need supports,” said Penny. “They’re looking for small town communities that have big city amenities. Now, we have a beautiful Regional Lifestyle Centre where we are able to operate our summer camp program which peaks at 65 to 75 kids, and we do an afterschool program. So, when a young family sees that, they say, ‘Hmm, that community is checking the boxes’… You can pave all the roads you want, but if you don’t attract and grow your residential base, you’re not going to grow your tax base, other than increasing your taxes on residents.”

Penny was not surprised that the request was not approved outright. He said BBBAA representatives had met with council in December, and that council had at the time said that they may not be able to approve the increase.

“They said at that time that they had to prioritise in their budget, and that there were no guarantees,” said Penny. “Disappointed, yes, but again, at the end of the day, they were upfront with us that there were some challenges that they were trying to figure out.”

Regardless, he said he’s looking forward to meeting with the town in the coming weeks to hash out an arrangement.

“Is it all going to be hugs and kisses? Probably not,” he said. “There’s going to be a discussion on something that is very critical to the region and you’re up against a community that is trying to figure out roadwork and infrastructure upgrades and washouts with the changing of the weather.”

Should the funding request not be approved, Penny said, it could result in higher registration fee at the BBBAA.

“We would have to look at possibly raising rates,” said Penny. ‘It’s not somewhere we want to go, because to us that’s just another form of taxation.”

Town of Bay Bulls CAO Jennifer Aspell confirmed that Bay Bulls has, like last year, approved a contribution of $50,000 for 2022, an increase of $12,500 from the agreed upon $37,500.

Penny said both towns have been fabulous partners over the years.

Witless Bay welcomes new Fire Chief and Town Manager

By Mark Squibb/February 17, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay has appointed a new town manager and a new fire chief – again.

If that sounds like déjà vu, it’s because the town did just that in September and May last year respectively.

In September, the Town hired Kevin Kelley to replace outgoing CAO Pat Curran. Kelley tendered his resignation by early October. Likewise, in May the town hired Maria Churchill as the town’s first paid fire chief. Churchill resigned that October. Former assistant clerk Barbara Harrigan had also resigned earlier that summer, and town clerk Geraldine Caul was on a leave of absence. The situation left the town hall without staff for several months.

Harrigan returned temporarily to assist the transition of the seven new council members in September. Last week’s meeting was slated to be her last, and council members thanked her for her help.

During that same meeting, council unanimously appointed Shawn Kavanagh as the new town manager and acting town clerk.

“Myself, along with the mayor and deputy mayor led the recruitment process, which I’m glad to say that we saved the town thousands of dollars that would previously have been paid to a consultant,” said councilor Alex Troake. “We received some very good applications. Ultimately we interviewed four candidates, and Shawn was definitely the best fit. He’s familiar with Witless Bay and has roots here. He spent a lot of time at his grandparents’ home on Fisherman’s Road.”

Kavanagh is a lawyer and is the chairman of Calvert’s Local Service District.

Council also unanimously voted to appoint Jack Gatherall as the new fire chief.

“The Town of Witless Bay and the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department are delighted to welcome Jack Gatherall to the position of Fire Chief,” said Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard. “Jack has been a dedicated volunteer since 2015 and is very familiar with how the Department functions at all levels.”

Gatherall was recognized as the department’s Firefighter of the Year in 2019, and was also the department’s training officer. Yard didn’t say if the chief will be paid. A request for clarification from the Town Hall wasn’t returned.

“Myself and Alex worked with the fire department to lead the hiring committee, thus saving thousands in consultant fees,” said Yard. “And one thing that was really important to us all was to recognise and appreciate the deep commitment of both current and former volunteers in the department, and we felt that if it was at all possible, we would like to promote from within, and recognise that commitment, and fortunately in Jack we found an excellent candidate for fire chief. He knows the department, he knows the area, he knows our strengths and weaknesses, and without doubt, he has shown unwavering dedication to furthering the goals of the department for years to come.”