Ferryland and Witless Bay ink fire deal

By Mark Squibb

The fire departments of Ferryland and Witless Bay have inked a mutual aid agreement.

Councillor Jacob Hayden of Witless Bay last week called the agreement beneficial to both towns, and to the communities serviced by the towns.

Under the agreement, fire chiefs must ensure that their respective town is fully protected before assisting the other town.

The Ferryland volunteers service Aquaforte, Fermeuse, and Renews - Cappahayden while Witless Bay services Bay Bulls, Tors Cove, Bauline, Mobile, and Burnt Cove-St Michaels-Bauline East.

Combined, the departments boast roughly 50 volunteer members.

Witless Bay ratifies hiring of planning officer and other email votes

By Mark Squibb

Witless Bay council last week held its first public meeting since Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and her husband and fellow councillor Alan Richards resigned in mid-March.

The session was also the first public meeting since council met February 20.

In lieu of meeting in the council chamber, the four remaining members conducted a number of email votes over the last month to keep Town business moving along. Those email votes were ratified during last week’s meeting.

One motion which will be of interest to those planning on building or buying land in Witless Bay was the hiring of a planning and development officer.

Council voted on March 7 to appoint Megan Hartery at the Town’s planning and development officer effective March 11. That motion was moved by councillor Jacob Hayden and seconded by councillor Gerard Dunne.

Councillor Ralph Carey said residents will be able to work directly with the officer, and Town CAO Jennifer Aspell added that Hartery has already accomplished a number of things in her short time on staff.

Council also voted on March 12 to hire Noah Harrigan as a seasonal maintenance worker, effective March 18. That motion was moved by Hayden and seconded at the time by then councillor Richards.

Harrigan and Hartery are just two of the Town’s recent hires. Back in February, council hired Kayla Noonan as recreation director, a position created following council’s decision to part ways with the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association, which had previously administered Witless Bay’s recreation programs.

Meanwhile, Lorraine Dobbin was hired as finance and administrative assistant, a position first created in 2023 but recently made vacant.

In other votes, council agreed on March 7 to purchase three self-contained breathing apparatuses for the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department at a cost of approximately $1,700. That motion was moved by Hayden and seconded by Richards.

Hayden said the purchase was timely one, which is why council chose to put the matter to an email vote rather than wait until a public meeting.

Hayden added the purchase means there is no more mismatched SCBA sets at the fie hall.

Council voted on three separate matters during email polls conducted on March 20.

The first motion, moved by Carey and seconded by Dunne, was to subdivide land at 102-108 Gull Pond Road for the purpose of creating a single building lot from a large parcel of vacant land.

The next motion, moved by Carey and seconded by Dunne, was to approve an application for an accessory building at 68 Bear’s Cove Road provided the construction meets Town regulations.

Council also approved an application for a short-term Air BnB at 4 Bear’s Cove Road. That motion was also moved by Carey and seconded by Dunne.

All six motions were ratified unanimously.

As to the March 20 motions, Hayden explained council was unable to hold a meeting in March due to a lack of quorum, and that the email votes were a way of moving things forward and thus avoiding delays.

Witless Bay council sets nomination date

By Mark Squibb

If you’re interested in having a seat at the Witless Bay council table, you’ve got nearly three weeks to deliberate putting your name forward.

Council last week set May 15 as nomination day in the town in an effort to fill three seats vacated in recent months.

Should enough candidates come forward on nomination day to warrant an election, residents will head to the polls on June 5.

Byelections have been cancelled in the past due to a lack of candidates. Margaret Swain was acclaimed to council on November 1 and Alan Richards was acclaimed prior to that on August 3. Swain was ejected from council this past winter on a claim by councillor Ralph Carey that she had broken conflict of interest rules by discussing the Ragged Beach Land Reserve when she has a friend who owns property in the area.

Richards joined his wife and fellow councillor Lorna Yard, who was deputy mayor, in quitting council March 15.

All told, five councillors have come and gone since the municipal election of 2021 — Alex Troake, Nancy Burke, Margaret Swain, Lorna Yard, and Alan Richards.

Mobile Central High Grade 9 girls basketball won first ever Grade 9 A Level provincial tournament

The Mobile Central High Grade 9 girls basketball team has won the first ever Grade 9 A Level provincial tournament. Typically, the tournament has been divided into eastern and western divisions. In the back, from left, are coach Geri-Lynn Devereaux, assistant coach Jodine McCormack, Erin O'Driscoll, Zoe Crane, Gracie Dalton, Audrey Molloy, Neela Mullowney, Leela Joyce, Lucy Murphy, Christa Power, Callie Sears, and assistant coach Jane O'Driscoll. In the front row, from left, are Ella Hefferman, Taylor Windsor, Bridget Molloy, Kennedy Melvin, Ava Collett, and Emma Oates. Submitted photo

Witless Bay ordered to pay resident’s court fees

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Witless Bay has been ordered to pay Gary and Ann Marie Churchill over $1,000 in court fees stemming from council’s decision to rescind a motion granting the couple permission to build a septic system.

The Churchills built a gazebo on their Gallows Cove Road property with all proper permits in place, and in August 2021 applied to the Town for approval of a well and septic system. The council of the day gave the Churchills the greenlight, and the couple received approval from Service NL shortly thereafter.

An entirely new slate of candidates was elected to council on September 28, 2021, and made short work of rescinding a number of motions approved by the previous council, including the approval of the Churchills’ septic system, which was rescinded by council on November 9.

Gary Churchill appealed to the Eastern Newfoundland Regional Appeal Board, and the Board determined that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the Appeal.

Churchill then appealed to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Justice Alexander MacDonald, in a decision handed down April 12, found that the Board did in fact have jurisdiction to hear Churchill’s appeal.

The Board had argued the Town’ s motion to approve the septic system did not actually constitute approval of the septic system due to the wording of the motion.

The actual wording of the motion was to “support the application and refer back to Servicer NL for final system approval.”

The Town had argued that approval of the motion only meant that the Town would support the Churchills’ application to Service NL, not the actual septic system.

MacDonald, however, argued the application was itself a request for the Town to approve both a new septic system and well. Town minutes also note that council had been asked to approve a septic system.

“I find the development application, read in it’s entirety, shows that Gary Churchill applied to the Town to approve him taking an application to Service NL to approve his design and then develop the septic and well system afterward,” read MacDonald’s decision. “It is unlikely that an applicant would ask a council to sanction their application for Service NL approval of a septic system if that applicant was not also asking for a council’s approval of the same system.”

MacDonald deemed other points raised by the Town, such as whether the head administrative officer in the Town was in fact the CAO or Acting CAO at the time of the approval, irrelevant.

MacDonald ordered the Town to pay Churchill $1,100 in court fees, and referred the matter back to the Board with the understanding that it has jurisdiction to hear the matter.

Late storms led to contract adjustment for Bay Bulls snow clearing

By Mark Squibb

Bay Bulls council last week approved $5,000 worth of snow clearing work above the contracted price.

Town Manager Ashley Wakeham explained that council this year had opted to pay its snow clearing contractor a lump sum as opposed to an hourly rate.

The two change orders, totalling a combined $5,000 (plus HST), approved by council last week were to help cover the cost of extra work needed to clear snow in and around Town facilities following one storm in February and another storm in March.

Council awarded the snow clearing contract to Southeast Construction at a bid price of $329,900 plus HST back in October.

During last week’s meeting, council also awarded O'Brien's Trucking Ltd., the tender for the supply and installation of a new handrail at the recreation centre at a cost of $2,500, plus HST.

Council also approved the purchase of an upgraded sweeper kit required to complete regular spring road sweeping at a cost of $2,093 plus HST. East Coast Hydraulics was the successful bidder on that tender.

Privacy Commissioner approves blacking out of information

By Mark Squibb

The Province’s Privacy Commissioner has determined the Department of Municipal Affairs was in the right when staff withheld material from a person seeking information on the establishment of an environmental reserve at Ragged Beach in Witless Bay.

Government’s search produced more than 700 pages of records.

When presenting the information to the applicant, the department redacted some information. The applicant then filed an appeal arguing the blacked-out sections prevented a full understanding of how government came to make its decision on the creation of the reserve.

Staff at the department maintain they withheld the information to protect both solicitor-client privilege and the identities of third-party individuals.

Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey, in a decision dated March 15, determined the Department was right in its decision to redact some of the information.

The provincial government announced the establishment of the reserve, with the intent of protecting puffin populations that breed off the coast each year, in September 2023. The establishment of the reserve would see new development of Crown Land in the area restricted.

The area has been a hotbed of debate for over a decade, with several Witless Bay residents and councillors going head-to-head against a couple of private landowners who wanted to develop single family homes on their land.

Witless Bay council seats remain vacant

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Witless Bay has yet to call a by-election to fill three council seats vacated in recent months.

Rookie councillor Margaret Swain, who was acclaimed to council in November, was kicked off council over an allegation of a conflict of interest in February. The vote to remove Swain from council was not unanimous, with Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and councillors Alan Richards, Ralph Carey, and Gerard Dunne voting in favour of removing her, and Mayor Trevor Croft and councillor Jacob Hayden voting against the motion.

Yard and husband Alan Richards resigned from council shortly afterwards on March 14.

As per the Municipal Elections Act, a by-election must be held within three months of a seat being vacated.

Council did not hold a regular public meeting in March. The last public meeting was held on February 20.

Bay Bulls to host provincial arts awards

The Town of Bay Bulls has been selected to host the 39th Annual Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Awards.

The show will be held at the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre on Friday, June 21.
 "As the Mayor of Bay Bulls, I am honoured that our town has been chosen as the location to host this year's Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Awards,” said Mayor Keith O'Driscoll. “It is such a great opportunity to showcase the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre and the Town of Bay Bulls as a whole. Bay Bulls and the Southern Shore Region are bursting with talented artists, and we think the hosting of this year's Arts Awards was a perfect choice. We are looking forward to working with Melanie Martin and her team at ArtsNL to make this year's event the best one yet.”
Each year, the provincial body hands out six distinct awards— Patron of the Arts Award, Emerging Artist Award, Arts in Education Award, Hall of Honour Award, Artist Achievement Award, and Artist of the Year Award.
Dozens of groups and individuals from across the province have been nominated.

 "We're incredibly excited to collaborate with the municipality of Bay Bulls this year," said Martin, who is executive director of ArtsNL. "We're curating an incredible lineup and we're looking forward to sharing those details in the coming weeks. Supporting the artists of Newfoundland and Labrador is at the heart of ArtsNL's mission, and the Arts Awards serve to celebrate their contributions to the province's vibrant cultural landscape."

More details about the show, including ticket information, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Trepassey student lands big fish for school’s music podcast

Sarah Cave interviews fellow Stella Maris Academy student Daniel O'Brien about his musical pursuits and talents for the Mystic Radio podcast. Among Cave’s other interview subjects are Shanneyganock frontman Chris Andrews. Submitted photo

By Mark Squibb

A Stella Maris Academy student has launched a new podcast, with a little help from her music teacher.

Sarah Cave is the host of Mystic Radio, a bi-weekly show in which she interviews local musicians about their careers in and passion for music.

“The podcast is a way to get to know local musicians,” explained the Grade 12 student.

Music teacher Christopher Ryan said Sarah approached him about doing a podcast one class.

“From a teaching perspective, I feel this brings real world experience,” said Ryan. “You’re talking to actual musicians, not just making slideshows.”

Cave has spoken to several musicians now, including Shanneyganock frontman Chris Andrews. She was able to ask Andrews questions about how he got his start in music, how the band got their start, how he writes music, and if he has any new music on the horizon.

She told the Irish Loop Post that while interviewing people can still be a little nerve wracking, she is getting more used to it.

Ryan said that student-led projects, such as the podcast, help students appreciate music more than simply reading about it in a textbook.

“It’s more valuable to speak to Chris Andrews one-on-one than it is to watch him do an interview, or listen to a song,” said Ryan.

Cave, who lists Alan Doyle and Mike Lynch as dream interviews, said she has lined up an interview with K-Rock’s JLaC.

The podcast can be found on the Stella Maris Academy YouTube page and elsewhere online.