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.
