Irishtown Road upgrades ratified

By Mark Squibb/October 21, 2022

Bay Bulls council rubber stamped two motions related to ongoing Irishtown Road storm sewer upgrades that had previously been approved through e-mail polls.

The first was a motion to ratify an e-mail vote of September 28 to accept material testing for the Irishtown Road Upgrade Project quote with North Consulting Ltd., at a price of $11,437, HST included.

Council also moved to ratify the e-mail vote of October 4 approving two changes orders for the project.

Those change orders were not explained, but the total price given by Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien was $12,247, HST included.

Councillor Jason Sullivan declared a conflict of interest and refrained from voting on both motions as his family owns a business along the road.

Both motions passed unanimously.

Two men arrested after spree of break-and-enters

By Mark Squibb/October 14, 2022

Police have arrested two young men they believe responsible for a number of early morning break-and-enters in both Witless Bay and Bay Bulls.

Jason Anthony,23, and Scott Conway, 21, were arrested on October 1. Police are investigating five separate crime scenes and allege the pair broke into the residential properties and stole various items—including three vehicles.

Anthony is charged with break and enter, mischief under $5000 (property damage), theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, prohibited operation of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, resisting arrest, breach of probation
Conway is charged with break and enter, mischief under $5000 (property damage), theft of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of break in instruments and breach of probation

Both men were remanded into custody over the weekend. The investigation is continuing, and police ask anyone with information about these crimes to contact Ferryland RCMP at 709-432-2440.

Holyrood Pond RV park gets conditional green light from Environment

The provincial environment department has released a proposal to develop the long dormant Holyrood Pond Provincial Park into an RV ground and day park from further environmental assessment.

But the developers, Frank Tobin and Rennie Tobin, must uphold all commitments made in their environmental assessment submission, said the Minister Bernard Davis.

 Some of those commitments include that near waterbodies, slopes with a grade of less than 30 per cent  must have a minimum 30 metre naturally vegetated buffer zone and that no activities involving grubbing, ground or soil disturbance, or timber harvesting will take place in those zones.

For slopes greater than 30 percent, the buffer zones have to be larger with similar prohibitions against the land use activities outlined above.

No vegetation clearing is to occur within 800 metres of a bald eagle or osprey nest during the nesting season of March 15 to July 31, according to the department, nor within 200 metres during the rest of the year. The 200-metre buffer also applies to all other raptor nests including those of the Northern Goshawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, American Kestrel, Great-horned Owl, Boreal Owl, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. The location of any raptor nest sites must be reported to the Wildlife Division.

The proponents are also required to update the Province’s Environmental Assessment Division on the status of the project, and provide copies of all permits, licences, certificates, approvals and other authorizations within one year from the date of the final approval of the venture, and to provide additional updates, if requested. 

BBBAA hoping to connect shared ATV, pedestrian trail from Bay Bulls to Ferryland

By Craig Westcott/October 14, 2022

The Bay Bulls - Bauline Athletic Association is asking the provincial Environment Department for approval to build and operate a multi-use trail along the north end of the Southern Shore.

The 4.1 kilometre  route would be open to ATV use, cycling, walking, hiking, snowshoeing, and other activities.

“The trail is to link Cape Pond Road to Horse Chops Road in addition to the trail through Cape Broyle, Calvert and Ferryland,” according to a document filed with the department by the BBBAA’s regional recreation director Carla Sullivan. “The development is designed to be wide enough to allow pedestrians and motorized vehicles to occupy the space together.”

The application was registered on October 6. The deadline for public comments is November 11, with the minister’s decision due by November 20.

“Residents along the Southern Shore enjoy the outdoors and they are looking for opportunities to travel further on their ATV’s/snowmobiles right at home,” said the BBBAA document. “Many people in this region travel to the west coast of Newfoundland each winter for snowmobiling trips and our goal is to create an environment where people can stay at home for their annual snowmobile trips and to also bring people to this region of the island. A trail like this is something that residents have expressed interest in for a long time now. The Southern Shore is also a destination for cabin owners and campers, and we envision it to be a travel destination for those looking to plan ATV and snowmobile trips, with the opportunity to hike/bike/snowshoe as well. Linking up the already existing trials will provide users the opportunity to travel longer distances on their ATV’s/snowmobiles.

The trail is approximately 13km’s west of Tors Cove and approximately nine km’s west of Cape Broyle. It is located two kms east of the Avalon Wilderness Area and west of La Manche Provincial Park.

The trail will occupy Crown Land, but no buildings, shelters or look-out will be constructed, according to the BBBAA.

“We will be minimizing the number of trees that are cut in the process, however, the trees and logs that are cut during construction will be used for bridging along the trail,” said Sullivan “The size of the area affected by the undertaking is approximately 1 hectare or 2.5 acres… This undertaking will not go through any wetlands. There is currently an unofficial trail that goes through the wetland area and the whole point of our application is to the construct a trail that avoids the wetlands and goes through highlands.”

Sullivan noted that public consultation consisted of polling for a petition of support, which

netted 1,391 names. Construction of the trail will be done by volunteers, with fundraising efforts to cover fuel costs for the equipment.

The BBBAA consists f one full time regional recreation director and 14 volunteer board members.

Witless Bay beefs up fire inspection policy for businesses

From amending policies to purchasing equipment to borrowing money, Witless Bay council has approved a number of agenda items put forth on behalf of the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department.

Firstly, the Town approved two motions to amend town policies to include new very different policies related to Fire Department operations. The first was to give the fire chief the authority to “better enforce businesses’ emergency plans and annual inspections.”

“In the absence of Deputy Mayor (Lorna) Yard, who is the fire liaison, I would say that the intent here is not necessarily to impose on any businesses,” said councilor Alex Troake.

The measure gives the department the opportunity to perform annual inspections and investigate any concerns. “It’s not to be a fee, or something imposed or forced onto businesses,” Troake said.

The second motion was to include a plan for volunteer firefighters to ‘ease back’ after taking a leave of absence.

Both motions passed unanimously.

Later in the meeting, council unanimously approved three motions necessary for the Town to take out a loan to purchase a new fire vehicle.

Council first had to approve renewal of a line of credit from the Community Credit Union. Council then requested ministerial approval to borrow some $200,000 for the proposed vehicle. Finally, council voted to request the actual loan from the Community Credit Union, pending approval from the provincial government for the vehicle.

Council also unanimously approved motions to upgrade the phone system and security systems at both the town hall and the fire department.

Troake said council is considering a web-based phone service. Folks calling the Town Hall may receive an automated message asking them to punch in a number to be transferred to the appropriate staff member. Troake said this will enable staff to work remotely. There are also phone numbers listed within the town’s system that council say they do not know what they could have been used for.

Troake said that given the number of members joining the fire department and the number of keys that have been cut over the years, it may make sense to switch to an electronic card system.

“We could track who’s in and has access, and set any limits,” said Troake.

Council also authorized the fire department to purchase high-angle rope equipment. The price was not discussed.

One motion that was not met with approval was a request to raise a fire hydrant on Northside Track. Council instead deferred the request until at least the spring, when it will look into the matter further.

From January 1 to September 1, according to the liaison report presented by Troake, the Fire Department has had 197 calls for service. The number of members available during the day has begun to decrease, as people return to work after the summer months.

Ferryland Fire Chief applauds capable - but ageing - members

By Mark Squibb/October 7, 2022

Algy Windsor has served as Ferryland’s fire chief for the past 30 years and he shows no sign of slowing down.

Windsor, who joined the department in 1978, said that rather than being an outlier, his age is pretty well nigh on the department’s average.

“There’s a couple of young fellows who have letters sent in, but the average age of our fire member is around 60,” said Windsor. “But in saying that, the older guys are the ones we depend upon… We have a few fellows that are 70, 72, 68, 67, 66, but I must say, those fellows are reliable. Those are the fellows that I rely on… It makes a difference knowing that you’re going into a building that’s burning and you’ve got a fellow ahead of you and two behind you and you know they’re not going to panic and drop the hose and run out and leave you there…. I’ve got a great bunch of fellows.”

He wonders what will happen in the coming years when some of those members begin to retire.

“There’s fellows down there older than I am,” Windsor added. “And they’re saying to me, ‘We’ve soon got to give it up,’ and I’ll say, ‘That’s up to you, if you need to give it up, that’s fine, but if you think you can handle it and do something to make a difference to the Fire Department, and you’re fit and able to do it, why give up?’… One of these days, there’ll be eight or 10 of us leave the fire department because we’re too old, and hopefully something doesn’t happen to the fire department because of it, but it would be nice to see some young fellows who are interested.”

Currently the department boasts 19 members.

Some of those members will be visiting students at Baltimore School and doing fire safety demonstrations for Fire Prevention Week as they have the last twenty-odd years.

“Some of those kids ask you questions, and you have to think twice about how to answer them,” said Windsor. “They’re pretty smart when it comes to this stuff.”

He credited the school’s teachers for taking it upon themselves to teach students the importance of home escape plans, and for helping them create their plans in some cases.

He believes fire safety awareness has led to a decrease in fire emergency calls. That means annual campaigns such as Fire Prevention Week pays dividends in the community.

“It’s made a big difference to the number of calls,” said Windsor. “We used to get 30 or 40 calls a year. But now we’re only getting 10 or 11. The kids bring the information home to their parents and so the parents are more aware.”

Meanwhile, the Fire Department had reason to celebrate earlier this year with the arrival of a new tanker truck, which holds 1,650 gallons of water.

“That truck makes all the difference in the world,” said Windsor. “We’re serving Aquaforte right down to Brigus South, so you’re talking over 20 miles. And most communities, nearly all of them, don’t have any hydrants. We’ve after been to fires over the past years where we’ve run out of water, and we’ve had to watch a house or a shed or a building burn down because of a lack of water. The truck we got in 2010 only holds 800 gallons of water, and the truck before that, which is condemned now, that truck only held 500 gallons of water. So, when we have 1,600, nearly 1,700 gallons of water, that makes a big difference. By the time that’s emptied, the other truck will be back with her fill of water. So, it is a big difference when there’s no hydrants.”

He said, in total, there’s only a handful of hydrants in Ferryland, one in Aquaforte, and a full station in Cape Broyle.

The Town split the purchase of the new truck, which came with a price tag of $367,000, with the provincial government on an 80/20 ratio. The cost sharing left Ferryland on the hook for only about $67,000.

Windsor also reminded folks it’s a good time of year to clean their chimneys and check their carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.