Bay Bulls November 11th committee still going strong

By Mark Squibb

In lieu of a having a local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, the November 11th Committee has hosted the Town of Bay Bulls annual Remembrance Day ceremony for over 40 years, a tradition that is still going strong.

“Veterans died, and gave of themselves for our freedom, and we need to remember and respect what they have done,” said committee member Don Drew.

The ceremony typically begins with a ceremony at Saints Peter and Paul Parish at 10:30 a.m., followed by a parade and wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial near the Town Hall.

This year, in addition to veterans, Knights of Columbus members, cadets, and volunteers, a representatives from a battalion in St. John’s will join the ceremony.

Ahead of Remembrance Day, the committee spends hours organizing the event with other volunteer groups and organizations and arranging the wreath laying service.

Drew estimates that upwards of 500 people show up for the ceremony every year, representing a considerable chunk of the town’s 1,500 population.

“We have people who are four generations from family members that served who are laying wreaths in memory of their family members,” noted Drew.

A long-time community volunteer and former mayor, Drew said it’s especially important to share in a moment of silence for veterans in this day and age given the amount of ongoing conflict around the world.

“Canadians and all soldiers around the world are facing conflicts, and people should show up that day and give an hour of their time, to remember those who served in any conflict, and are serving today,” said Drew. “It does show support and respect for those, and their families, who have given so much.”

The Town of Bay Bulls boasts perhaps one of the earliest war memorials in the province, erected in the early 1920’s in memory of Bay Bulls resident John Frampton, and others who had lost their lives in World War I.

That memorial is currently in storage, as a new memorial, funded by Muirs Marble Works, Pennecon, the Town of Bay Bulls, and donations from businesses and individuals alike, was installed in 2012, along with a new platform and benches.

The new memorial bears the same engraving as the original monument, which was also funded by community efforts.

Bay Bulls gets ACOA money for rec grounds safety route

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Bay Bulls is looking to develop a new entrance to the recreation grounds and has been granted $101,250 of Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) funding for the project.

During the October meeting, council awarded a contract in the amount of $29,325, plus HST, to WSP ENI Canada for engineering services for the design and development of an access road to the upper portion of recreation ground.

“This is basically a driveway entrance, is how I’m looking at it,” explained Town Manager Ashley Wakeham. “We’re calling it an access road, but it’s an entrance to the parking lot. This doesn’t need to be developed to municipal road specifications. This is going to be a gravel entrance to alleviate safety concerns that are happening down by the soccer and softball fields whenever we have 300-plus residents trying to get in and out of there.”

Witless Bay inks cheque for flood mitigation project

By Mark Squibb

Witless Bay council has signed the cheque for flood mitigation measures at the town’s recreation complex grounds.

Council approved payment of $921,679 to Harbour Construction by email vote on October 6 and ratified the decision at the public meeting of October 14.

Councilor Gerard Dunne declared a conflict of interest as he works for the company, and councilor Margaret Swain missed the email vote. Otherwise, council voted unanimously in favor of the motion.

Councilor Robert Thor said the project is cost shared with the provincial government on a 90/10 split, with the Province on the hook for the biggest share.

“So, it looks like a lot of money, but it’s not a lot of our money,” said Thor.

The Town applied for the funding back in 2023, and the application was approved in 2024.

The complex consists of a playground, sports field, dog park and outdoor swimming pool.

The Town hired Meridian Engineering to act as prime consultant for the project at a cost of $107,630 back in November 2024. That cost was also split with the Province on a 90/10 basis.

Witless Bay councillors going electronic

By Mark Squibb

Witless Bay councillors are about to be fitted out with individual tablets so that they don’t have to use paper agendas during their council meetings.

Council agreed at its October 14 meeting to purchase eight Lenovo Idea Tab tablets for council use – one for each councillor and an extra as a spare – at a maximum cost of $8,000, HST included. The tablets will remain the property of the Town.

“I think this is great,” said councillor Susan Byrne. “I love that we’re moving away from paper. I think it’s great for the environment and great for us.”

The purchase includes keyboards protective cases, and other accessories.

Council also purchased three new staff computers to replace older models, including two Lenovo Thinkpad laptops and one Lenovo desktop, along with accessories, at a maximum cost of $7,000, HST included, upon confirmation of available funds in the 2026 budget.

Council approved the purchases unanimously.

Bay Bulls hoping feds will jump on Lower Path Road project

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Bay Bulls has applied to the Province to help fund upgrades to Lower Path Road.

Last week, council voted to apply for cost sharing funding though the provincial government’s Municipal Capital Works program in the amount of $839,530 solely for upgrades to Lower Path Road.

Council has agreed to provide it’s share of the cost, some $380,657. The Town will be on the hook for any costs above the approved total.

Councillor Jason O’Brien noted the project had been on the books for some time and wondered if the budget had been updated to reflect current costs.

Town Manager Ashley Wakeham confirmed the updates have been made. Wakeham added that while the Town is applying for a 50/50 split, her fingers are crossed that the application may be coupled with a federal government Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF) application, which would leave Bay Bulls responsible for only 10 percent of the total cost.

“We identified Lower Path Road a few years ago as being the most vulnerable municipally maintained road for storm surge events,” noted Deputy Mayor Ethan Williams. “Flood modeling that we’ve received also illustrated Lower Path as being the biggest problem area as well. So, that’s the rationale for as to why we’re looking at this now. And, like Ashley said, hopefully we can get the 90/10 ratio.”

If you’re a math wiz, you may have noticed that $380,657 is not half of $839,537.

The $839,530 price tag represents the total project cost, including HST.

Town Manager Ashley Wakeham explained that towns are required to calculate the eligible HST rebate, as rebate amounts are not eligible for funding, and the Town must pay the HST upfront and subsequently recover the rebate through the HST rebate program. After deducting the ineligible HST rebate amount, the total project cost is $761,315. Based on a 50/50 cost-sharing deal, the Town's contribution is $380,657, with the remaining $380,657 funded by the Province.

Witless Bay sends zoning change request for former church to the Province

Witless Bay’s chief administrative officer Neil Stamp, left, and councillor Robert Thor review their agenda notes during the October meeting.

By Mark Squibb

Witless Bay council has agreed to submit a proposed amendment to the town’s municipal plan to the Province which, if approved, will allow the new owner of the former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church to operate an art gallery.

Linda Goodyear, who bought the property at number 7 The Avenue last year, had to pay a $4,000 fee to council to get it to submit the rezoning application.

Council had earlier this year denied her request to host art shows, sell works, and teach classes out of the building.

During the October 14 public council meeting, council also fielded a request from Goodyear for an art exhibit at the property.

Councillor Robert Thor moved that council confirm that the ‘one-time art exhibit,’ as described by Goodyear, will involve no commercial sales or transactions and is consistent with the current public building zoning. Approval, said Thor, would not constitute approval for future commercial use or other development of the property.

Both motions were approved without further discussion.

Goodyear, meanwhile, has incorporated a non-profit called The Witless Bay Art Gallery and Arts Education Centre.

Consultations underway on St. Mary’s Bay transportation options

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

The consultants hired to conduct a feasibility study on ways to connect the communities of St. Mary’s Bay is holding a series of open houses next month.

Funding for the study was announced in October 2025 and comes from the Federal Rural Transit Solutions Fund which supports locally-driven transit solutions. Dillon Consulting Limited was awarded the $50,000 contract.

The open houses are scheduled November 3 – 4 in Colinet, St. Mary’s, St. Joseph’s and Mount Carmel and are open to residents throughout the region.

The consultants opened a survey in early October with a goal of getting at least 500 responses from an estimated pool of 2,000 people. The survey closes Nov. 5.

Fish sauce cleanup almost done, says mayor

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

St. Mary’s Mayor Steve Ryan is pleased with progress so far on the much-anticipated cleanup of a long-abandoned fish sauce plant and says decisions have been made about the next step as well.

The cleanup of more than 100 large vats of decomposed fish sauce began in July 2026 and Ryan said in late September that only 20 vats of sauce remained on site.

“It’s coming along. We’re almost there,” said the mayor.

Capital Crane Limited of Mount Pearl was awarded the $1.74 million cleanup contract in June backed by provincial funding.

The work involves mixing the expired fish sauce with peat moss to solidify the waste before it is hauled away by truck to the Sunnyside landfill around 160km away where it is deposited in a specialized waste cell for organics.

Ryan said the contract to demolish the dilapidated building – which lost a wall in a windstorm last winter – was awarded to the same contractor.

“Demolition should take place in November,” Ryan said.

The site, when cleared, will provide another potential fish plant location, he noted. Town council is looking to attract a new operation after Daley Seafoods decided not to rebuild the plant that burned down in a November 2025 fire.

Ryan said provincial Fisheries Minister Loyola O’Driscoll has assured the Town that a new crab processing licence will be available if a new plant opens.

Study to examine path forward for battered Trepassey shoreline

This stretch of road connecting the Lower Coast to the rest of Trepassey has been washed out nearly every winter the past few years by big storms. Less than 20 residents live on the Lower Coast these days, an area that some people maintain as the site of one of Sir William Vaughn’s failed Welsh settlements in the Colony of New Cambriol, a swath of the southern Avalon he purchased in 1616 running from Calvert to Placentia Bay. Over the next four years, Vaughn tried to settle people first in Aquaforte, then Renews, before the latter settlers abandoned the colony in 1620. Besides bad weather and the daunting prospect of trying to build a colony in the wilderness from scrach, Vaughn’s settlers also had to deal with pirates. Craig Westcott photo

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

A Halifax-based company has been awarded the tender to research a long-term solution to bolster a Trepassey seawall that has been repeatedly battered by severe storms in recent years.

CBCL Limited, which also has a St. John’s office, was awarded the Shoreline Protection Study tender in late August at a price of $102,028. It was chosen from among four firms that submitted bids by the mid-June deadline.

Chenel Waight, a project manager and engineer with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, said the seawall has been damaged multiple times by severe weather. She said an in-depth look at underlying conditions will help determine next steps.

“The study should be complete by the end of the year,” Waight said, adding it will provide information needed before proceeding to detailed design.

Bids were also received from Stantec out of Waterloo, WF Baird & Associates Coastal Engineers Ltd., of Ottawa, and GEMTEC Consulting Engineers and Scientists Limited of Mount Pearl.

The Town has seen the lower coast breakwater succumb to Mother Nature several times in recent years as locals have borne witness to an increase in wind strength and rising tides. The breakwater was last rebuilt in summer 2023 at a cost of around $1 million, including $900,000 of emergency federal funding. But that work was demolished, along with portions of the main road, during a February 2024 storm.

A tender for seawall upgrades in Trepassey was published in September 2025, but the breakwater suffered additional damaged in a November 2025 storm where winds were reported upwards of 140 kmh. The seawall upgrade tender was awarded to Rock Construction Company on January 19, 2026 at a cost of around $1.66 million, but just two weeks later another winter storm further damaged the seawall and road, resulting in a 24-hour state of emergency in the town and calls for a more comprehensive solution to protecting the infrastructure and residents.

The Irish Loop Post tried contacting the Town of Trepassey and Mayor Wanda Waddleton about the seawall but did not receive a response.

Mount Carmel-St. Catherine’s-Mitchell’s Brook welcomes new councillor

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

Dylan Fleming was acclaimed to Mount Carmel-St. Catherine’s-Mitchell’s Brook council as a result of a nomination day held Oct. 12.

Fleming joins Mayor Elaine Nash, Deputy Mayor Shane McEvoy and councillors Bruce Hickey, David Hearn, Cecile Marrie and David G. Butland.

Fleming fills the council vacancy created with the resignation of former deputy mayor Donna Power in September.

“We would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to Donna for her time, dedication and contribution. We wish her all the very best,” stated the Town in announcing Power’s resignation.

Power, Nash, Butland and McEvoy were all acclaimed in September 2025 as part of the general election, while Hearn, Hickey and Marrie were acclaimed as part of a November 2025 byelection.

Witless Bay gallery owner hopes to be open by next spring

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

The woman behind a plan to convert the former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church into a non-profit gallery and arts centre has put her money where her mouth is in a quest to get the location’s zoning changed to accommodate her vision.

Linda Goodyear had tried to save on the $4,000 rezoning fee by asking Witless Bay council to include the zoning change in the pending amendments to the town’s municipal plan.

However, council turned down that request in August arguing the new municipal plan is not far enough along in its preparation.

Goodyear ultimately paid the fee and at council’s September 9 public meeting councillor Ralph Carey gave notice that he would make a motion to amend the municipal plan and development regulations to accommodate Goodyear’s gallery located at 7 The Avenue.

“This is the old church location and so we are starting to see some forward motion in it becoming something other, which is a good thing,” Carey said. “The first thing we need to do is give notice of that at a future council meeting.”

Goodyear called it a step in the right direction. She bought the church a little more than a year ago in the hope of turning it into a focal point for artists and artisans from the Irish Loop to showcase and sell their wares. She hopes to be fully up and running in time for the 2027 tourist season.

Council didn’t advertise the notice of the proposed zoning change, but put a notice on its website advising residents they had until Noon on October 1 to comment on it.

One written submission was received at 12:32 p.m, shortly after the deadline.

“We also received a telephone enquiry about whether the proposed rezoning would affect 5 The Avenue,” said Witless Bay’s chief administrative officer CAO Neil Stamp. “Council is currently considering whether to proceed. If council decides to move forward, the next step would be a motion to submit the proposed amendments to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs for its Section 15 review and release. That would be a further step in the process, rather than final approval of the rezoning.”

If approved, the zoning will change from Public Building to Mixed Development.

Witless Bay wants more subsidies from Province to fund town positions

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

The Town of Witless Bay is calling attention to what it calls the growing gap between municipal administrative responsibilities and the capacity to meet them and is taking the issue to Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) for support.  

Witless Bay council approved a resolution supporting ‘sustainable municipal administrative capacity’ for consideration by MNL at its annual general meeting later this year.

The resolution asks the Province to consider the financial and staffing impacts on towns before bringing in any new or expanded municipal reporting obligations and it also asks for funding, training and support to meet any new requirements.

"Sustainable municipal administrative capacity" means having the people, expertise, systems and financial resources needed to carry out municipal responsibilities reliably over time,” said Witless Bay’s new CAO Neil Stamp. “For residents, that translates into practical things: timely responses, well-managed projects, sound financial administration and the ability to plan for the community's future.”

Stamp said the concern comes from the range of duties a town office has to manage – from financial administration, procurement, planning and development, records, access-to-information requests, emergency preparedness, funding applications and everyday resident service which all compete for staff time.

“In a small municipality, many of those responsibilities fall to the same people. A complex file or an unexpected issue can absorb a significant share of the office's available capacity. One example I’ve raised previously is the work involved in responding to access-to-information requests,” Stamp said. “Transparency is an essential part of municipal government, and meeting that obligation requires time to locate, review and prepare records while other municipal work continues. The resources needed to do that work have to be part of the conversation.”

Stamp said the broader capacity issue can affect municipalities of different sizes, but smaller towns have less room to spread the workload or maintain specialized positions.

The resolution also asks MNL to advocate for a permanent, needs-based Municipal Administrative Capacity Fund providing predictable multi-year support for core administration and voluntary regional or shared professional services.

“From my perspective, the pressure is cumulative. Municipalities are managing a broad range of responsibilities while rising costs stretch their budgets. Councils are also very conscious of affordability for residents, which makes decisions about additional resources difficult. Technology can help, and we should keep improving how we work, but staff still need the time and expertise to assess information, make recommendations and follow through,” Stamp said. “I think we also need to consider staffing in terms of the service it enables. A salary budget tells us what we spend; it does not, by itself, tell us whether we have the capacity to deliver what residents need. When resources are necessary, we should be able to explain the need, the benefit and the trade-offs clearly.”

Witless Bay called the special meeting because the MNL deadline for resolutions was September 25 and the next regular council meeting was October 14.

If accepted for consideration, the Witless Bay resolution would go before the MNL membership during the conference and AGM in St. John's, November 5–7.

“Adoption would give MNL a mandate to pursue the requested action through its advocacy work; any resulting funding or policy changes would require further work,” Stamp said. “Ultimately, the concern is whether municipalities have the capacity to deliver the services and accountability residents rightly expect, consistently and over the long term.”

Bay Bulls town manager gets more power from council

By Craig Westcott

Bay Bulls council is handing over its authority to say yea or nay on applications for sheds and garages to Town Manager Ashley Wakeham.

Council has also given Wakeham latitude to delegate the responsibility to other staff.

Councillor Jonathan O’Dea made the motion for council to hand off the responsibility at last week’s public council meeting.

The change is only supposed to apply to applications that meet the Town’s development regulations regarding the size, height and location of the structures. Anything that falls outside the norms will still have to go to council to exercise its discretionary authority. Under the Towns and Local Service Districts Act, municipalities are required to advertise such applications so that the public can have an opportunity to comment before council votes.

Councillor Jason O’Brien seconded O’Dea’s motion, which passed unanimously.

Deputy Mayor Ethan Williams took care to question his colleagues and staff to make sure council is not giving up its discretionary power altogether.

“Exactly,” said Wakeham, responding to Williams’ query. “It will follow the discretionary use process regardless, and we can use our discretion. It may comply, but as we know sometimes, things may be in an odd area, we may not be 100 per cent sure if it can comply, so in those instances we will (advise) council we need your input here… It’s just a means to kind of cut red tape. These are simple applications, most of them are cookie cutter and can be approved in three to five days, we have a short building season here… And like I said, we’ll use our discretion when we see something saying, ‘we’re not comfortable approving that one at face value, we’ll get council to look at it.’”

Another application denied for Motion Bay Road Extension

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

Another housing application was denied by Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove council at its September 21 public meeting due to the sub-standard nature of the road on which the development would have been located.

The proposal to build a four-unit townhouse at 41-45 and 51-59 Motion Bay Road Extension came a month after council received legal advice stating the Town cannot issue housing permits because the road is not up to municipal standards

Councillors reiterated that point during deliberation of the latest application.

“The committee has reviewed the application and the long history of development inquiries for the Motion Bay Road Extension,” said councillor Kayla Parsons, who chairs the development committee. “At this time the committee is not able to recommend approval as Motion Bay Road Extension is not built or maintained as a municipal road and its current condition does not meet the minimum access requirements set out in the Town’s development regulations.”

Parsons added that while the regulations do not list minimum engineering standards, they do stipulate that streets must be designed for the passage of vehicles, pedestrians and be accessible for fire department and other emergency vehicles.

“Motion Bay Road Extension is a narrow gravel road that is only passable by one vehicle at a time and lacks municipal infrastructure such as an engineered road base, adequate width and street lighting,” she said.   

Parsons also pointed out that council needs to ensure that municipal services can be safely delivered, and that is not the case at this time. She noted that in a typical development scenario where a road is not up to municipal standards, the developer is responsible for bringing it up to standard before transferring it to the Town for maintenance.

“In this case no proposal has been submitted to upgrade Motion Bay Road (Extension) as part of the development,” Parsons said, adding later the application was also missing required supporting documents. “Council understands the applicant’s desire to proceed with development in the area, and we recognize the potential value this project could bring to the community. However, as the situation currently stands, council’s hands are tied.”

The application was defeated, with only councillor Todd Chafe voting in favour of it.

Numbers 41-45 and 51-59 Motion Bay Road Extension were among three properties that had received conditional approvals for housing development rescinded at the August 25 public meeting based upon the legal counsel received by the Town.

Members of council apologized at the time for its reversal and at the September 21 meeting passed a motion to send a letter of apology. Deputy Mayor Irene Stack said it is their responsibility to be accountable for a process that dates back to 2018. Council amended the Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove Town Plan and Development Regulations at that time, removing restrictions for development that prompted property owners to prepare to build housing, without ensuring the road was ready.

Council has directed staff to conduct title searches to ensure the Town has full title required to make any changes to Motion Bay Road Extension. It also passed a motion to source an engineering quote for an assessment of what’s needed to turn the gravel portion of Motion Bay Road Extension into a one-way street. A third motion directed staff to develop a road standards policy.