By Craig Westcott
October 20, 2023 Edition
It took a little bit of hashing out, but Bay Bulls council has agreed to support an upcoming East Coast Trail Association (ECTA) fundraiser by donating space and labour to provide lunch for the hundreds of hikers expect to converge on the town next year.
When Mayor Keith O'Driscoll broached the donation request at last week's public council meeting it looked for a minute as if no one was willing to support the idea, as there was dead silence when he called for a motion.
After a prolonged silence, O'Driscoll asked for a motion a second time. Again, there was silence, until finally councillor Jason Sullivan broke in and admitted he hadn't read the correspondence on the matter that was contained in his council kit, but was doing so then.
"I guess I'll start one off to get something going," chipped in Deputy Mayor Jason O'Brien.
He then moved that council make a donation of free use of the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre to accommodate a lunch for the hikers, and that the Town's staff volunteer their time to serve the food. O'Brien noted that as far he knew, that's how the Town handled such requests from ECTA in the past.
Town Clerk Ashley Wakeham confirmed that the last time Bay Bulls hosted the ECTA fundraiser, in 2019, Town staff volunteered to serve the lunch.
"We (the Town) did also pay for the lunch that year," Wakeham said.
Sullivan seconded O'Brien's motion.
"We have the facility there and we have staff so it's a good thing to help support," Sullivan said. "The trail doesn't bring a whole lot of money to the town, but it does bring some, so it's nice to support it."
Mayor O'Driscoll asked for clarification on whether ECTA was also asking the Town to pay for the 'Hearty Hiker's Lunch' to be served at the event.
"Not necessarily," said Wakeham. "In 2019, the Town did participate in paying for the lunch. It says here on the memo that it was between Bay Bulls and Witless Bay. I know our costs were $5,300, so I'm guessing that was 50 per cent of the lunch (costs)."
O'Driscoll then asked whether council wanted to set a dollar value on the donation the Town would provide.
"I thought we were just providing the building and the staff, I didn't know we were providing money (too)," Sullivan said.
"I think if we offered the facility rent free that would satisfy them, and some volunteers to help out on the day of (the hike)," said Wakeham, noting the fundraiser isn't held in Bay Bulls every year, but is rotated around a number of communities where there are trailheads with facilities capable of hosting large events.
Councillor Cory Ronayne asked if council should offer a nominal donation in addition to the use of the Lifestyle Centre.
"Do you want to say to a maximum of $1,000” suggested Wakeham.
"That's what I was thinking," Ronayne said.
"That would probably help with their transportation costs as well as the other offerings," Wakeham allowed.
Sullivan suggested that ECTA be made aware there are two bus companies in Bay Bulls. "They could contact them," he said. "I don't know if they know."
Put to a vote, the now three-point motion – to provide the Lifestyle Centre rent free on the day of the hike to host the lunch, Town staff to serve it, and a financial donation of $1,000— passed unanimously.
Still with donation news, council also voted to provide money to the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department for its Pumpkin Patrol at an amount yet to be determined.
"Do we have a normal amount that we usually (donate)?" asked councillor Sullivan.
"This is the first year we've actually had a request to give a donation to Pumpkin Patrol," said Wakeham.
"I'll make a motion to match whatever Witless Bay is donating," said Sullivan.
"I think we should define it a little bit further," said Deputy Mayor O'Brien. "We don't know what they're donating."
Mayor O'Driscoll suggested staff contact Witless Bay to see what the Pumpkin Patrol cost in past years.
Sullivan then cancelled his motion to clear the way for Ronayne to make a new one.
"I'll make a motion to support this for the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department, but we'll have to do an e-mail vote or whatever once we get clearer details on how much to match Witless Bay," Ronayne said.
Sullivan seconded that motion which also passed unanimously.
