Council does about faces on lighting assessment, snow communications

Two motions approved by Bay Bulls council lasted just a month before being rescinded.

Council, during its November 17 meeting, rescinded two motions made in the previous public meeting.

Councillor Jason Sullivan moved that council rescind a motion, approved unanimously on October 12, for NL Power to complete a lighting assessment of 40 locations specified across town.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien noted there was a cost associated with the work, with Sullivan clarifying that it was a high cost.

Council also rescinded a motion regarding snow clearing communications.

The motion was to have snow clearing contractor, Southeast Construction Ltd., send a group communication to council when equipment was started each day during the 2022-23 snow season.

That motion was also approved during the October 12 meeting, although both Mayor Keith O’Driscoll and councillor Shannon O’Driscoll voted against the motion.

There was no explanation offered as to why the motion was being rescinded.

Bay Bulls gets into the spirit of giving

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2022

Bay Bulls councillors are getting into the Christmas spirit, having approved a number of donation requests during their November meeting.

First off was a request for support for the KIDMAS annual festival.

Council voted to provided $400 for the events, which took place November 25 to December 8.

The list of events included the annual tree lighting, which was held at the Town Hall on December 2.

Mayor Keith O’Driscoll noted the events were held by the Bay Bulls-Bauline Athletics Association (BBBAA).

Council also approved the kick off for the third annual ‘Light it Up’ Christmas challenge, in which residents can win prizes, provided by the Town, for decorating their homes.

Council approved a donation of 50 hampers for the Knights of Columbus Christmas Hamper program, at a cost of $600 taxes included, and $250 worth of scholarships for the Mobile Central High School Scholarship Fund (the cost covers five scholarships valued at $50 each.)

Council also voted to pay $230, taxes included, for an ad in the Royal Canadian Legion anniversary veteran recognition book.

One request for funds, however, went unheeded.

The RNC Association had requested a donation, but when councillor Jason Sullivan asked if council donated last year, Town CAO Jennifer Aspell said it had not.

“We do receive this request every year, but the RNC is outside of our jurisdiction,” said Aspell.

Council unanimously agreed to deny the request.

Witless Bay looking for better trails and brighter lights

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay has voted to go to tender for one project and awarded a tender for another.

Council last week voted to go to tender on upgrades to the trail between Southside Track and Upper Pond.

“We were waiting on our input from our engineer on this, which is why it’s taken so long, but anyway, we have it, and we want to get it done ASAP, so hopefully the weather will cooperate,” said councillor Ralph Carey.

The Town awarded the tender during a special public meeting on December 6. Council voted to award the work to O’Brien’s Trucking Ltd. in the amount of $43,332, HST included.

Councillor Ralph Carey noted that no payment would be issued until the work is completed.

Meanwhile, in a meeting previously, Carey motioned the Town award the Lundrigan’s Road Site electrical work to Harbourside electrical in the amount of $3,700.

The electrical work in question is for a more reliable power supply for the Christmas Tree erected each year and will hopefully cut back on the jumble of electrical cords and wires.

Carey than clarified the work had been completed on November 23.

“This will be a permanent power source at Upper Pond area for many years to come,” said Carey.

All councillors present at that meeting, including Carey, Mayor Trevor Croft, councillor Alex Troake, and councillor Nancy Burke — Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and councillor Jacob Hayden were absent while councillor Gerard Dunne declared a conflict of interest – were unanimously in favour of the motion.

Bay Bulls renews contract with ERSB - against Sullivan's objections

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2022

The Town of Bay Bulls has renewed its contract with the Eastern Regional Service Board (ERSB), though one councillor argued that council ought to look elsewhere for the service.

The board had requested a three-year waste collection contract extension, at a rate of $200 per household.

“Upon receipt of the letter, I did reach out to ERSB for further clarification,” said chief administrative officer Jennifer Aspell. “I asked whether there was an option to renew for less than three years, and the answer was ‘No,’ and I asked if the rate would be locked in for three years, and the answer was ‘No,’ however they would not raise the cost unless absolutely necessary.”

Aspell noted the ERSB had indicated the previous rate of $180 had been held steady for quite some time before going up to $200.

“So, they don’t have any plans to increase the fees, but they can’t commit to locking them in for the three-year period,” said Aspell, who added the ERSB had requested a motion be passed by November 30.

Councillor Jason Sullivan, who has often criticized the ERSB, bemoaned that council did not have time to tender waste collection.

Sullivan asked whether council could seek a month’s extension to request tenders from local contractors.

Aspell said a month wouldn’t be enough time to complete the necessary work.

“You would need more than a month,” said Aspell. “Because we don’t have a tender ready to go. So, we would have to develop the tender. I would say, if you really want to put a tender out, you would certainly need a couple of months to get something put together, issued, and received.”

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien said he doubted any contractors could compete with the rate being offered by the ERSB, and suggested the simple and straight forward thing would be to forge on with renewing the ERSB contract.

Sullivan countered that unless they tendered the work, they wouldn’t know for sure that ERSB actually is the cheapest option.

“They’re asking us to enter a contract without giving us a price,” said Sullivan.

O’Brien countered that within the last three years, the ERSB only raised their fee by $20.

“And fuel cost is going to escalate across the board, regardless of who’s driving the trucks,” said O’Brien.

Sullivan then claimed that someone must have been listening in to the meeting, because they texted him that they would do the work for a rate of $195. He said he didn’t recognise the number.

Sullivan then asked whether council could make the motion that they would accept the services at a set rate of $200.

Aspell said ‘No.’

In the end, the motion was approved unanimously.

The 2021-22 Herder Memorial Champions, the Southern Shore Puglisevich Senior Breakers, kicked off the season in style earlier this month, hoisting the 2021-22 Herder Memorial Championship Banner in a pre-game ceremony at the Ken Williams Southern Shore Arena in Mobile. Pictured are respective team captains Jeremy Nicholas of the senior Breakers, left, possible future senior Break Rian Ronanyn, and Daniel Cadigan of the Wexford Estates Outer Cove Marines for the ceremonial puck drop. The Breakers would go on to best the Marines 4 - 1. The Breakers currently sit at third place in the standings, having won three games and losing another in overtime for a total of seven points. Nathan Ryan photo

Witless Bay council requests loan for regional fire department

By Mark Squibb/December 2, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay is one step closer to starting work on a new regional fire hall.

Council last week requested approval from the Minister of Municipal Affairs to borrow $279,322 at a rate of 4.75 per cent to cover the HST cost of the new station.

“This is a requirement from the Province,” explained councillor Ralph Carey, who put forward the motion. “So, what we’re doing is taking out a one-year loan to pay the HST.”

Council will be requesting the loan from the Community Credit Union in Witless Bay.

Talk of the new regional station began in 2020 during preparation of the 2021 budget. In Budget 2021, council committed close to a million dollars over the next 10 years for the building of a new regional fire hall.

A funding application was submitted by the Town in 2021, was approved by the provincial government and submitted back to the newly elected council for approval this past summer.

That funding agreement would see the Town pay roughly $815,640 for a new $3 million building.

The new council at first deferred accepting the funding deal so it could consider the financial implications but eventually entered into an agreement with the Province.

Currently, the fire hall in located in a section of the town’s municipal building.

Witless Bay finds money for arena, but BBBAA support still up in the air

By Mark Squibb/December 2, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay has granted the Ken Williams Arena an annual stabilization payment, but its funding agreement with the Bay Bulls-Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) remains up in the air.

During last week’s public meeting, council agreed to contribute $10,000 to the arena next year, the same amount given in years past.

“We do support the arena,” said councillor Ralph Carey “A lot of people in the area, and in town, spend a lot of time there —kids, adults — and we look forward to working with that group to help with recreation in the area.”

A funding agreement with the BBBAA, however, is still in the negotiation phase.

“In order to set our budget, we would like to complete these negotiations by the 9th of December,” said councillor Nancy Burke, council’s BBBAA representative.

That funding agreement — if there is one — may look different than those of past years.

For nearly a decade, the Town has provided the BBBAA with an annual operating grant of $37,000, the same amount paid by the Town of Bay Bulls. In 2021, both towns provided a boost of $13,000 each on top of that to help the organization deal with increased costs due to the pandemic.

Earlier this year, the BBBAA requested an additional $13,000 in funds from both Bay Bulls and Witless Bay again. This would result in this year’s funding matching the 2021 funding of $50,000 from each town.

Bay Bulls agreed to boost its contribution, but Witless Bay council denied the increase, with councillor Alex Troake leading the charge against the motion to provide extra support, offering several criticisms of the BBBAA, complaining the group has high program fees, didn’t fundraise enough during the Covid period, didn’t provide proper documentation, and has rising internal expenses.

Troake indicated that renewing the MOU would be up for discussion once the current agreement expired, which is the stage council is at now.

At the time, councillor Burke and BBBAA chairman Scott Penny fought back against Troake’s claims. But when it came down to the vote, councillors Gerard Dunne, Alex Troake, Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, and Mayor Trevor Croft joined Troake in voting down a funding increase. Council now has until the end of the year to factor in any funding for the BBBAA in its 2023 budget.

Bay Bulls commits to finishing trail upgrade

By Mark Squibb/November 25, 2022

The Town of Bay Bulls is requesting provincial government funding to complete upgrades to the Long Pond Walking Trail.

During the November 17 public meeting, council voted to ratify an e-mail vote of October 27 to request Municipal Capital Works funding to finish the remaining 1.5 kilometres of the trail.

The cost is estimated at $464,388, plus tax. If the funding is approved, the provincial government would cover 60 percent of it. Any costs above and beyond the quoted price will be the sole responsibility of the Town.

All five members of council were in favour of approving the application.

Should the funding request not be approved however, council has a backup plan.

“We have also recently received approval that, in the event that we are not successful with this funding, that we can use Gas Tax funds to complete a section of the remaining portion of the this trail,” said Town CAO Jennifer Aspell.

The work has been a long time in the making.

Work on the trail’s design, which will include both compacted granular sections and boardwalk, began in 2020. The design for Phase II was approved by the former council back in February 2021.

Provincial Municipal Capital Works funding to the tune of $475,444 (less HST), was approved for Phase I of the project.