Bay Bulls ratifies St. John’s road motions

By Mark Squibb | July 23, 2020

During the July 15 meeting of council, Bay Bulls council ratified a number of motions approved through email polls in June, most to do with upgrades to St. John’s Road.

Due to numerous conflicts of interest, councillors Joan Luby, Eric Maloney, and Patrick Coady had received permission from the provincial government back in 2019 for just three councillors to vote on any issue regarding St. John’s Road

The first motion to be ratified was email June 15 email vote to award the contract of St. John’s Road Infrastructure Upgrade Project to Cougar Engineering and Construction at a cost of $983,250 based on a 90/10 cost sharing with provincial government.

The second was a June 15 email vote to release payment of$4,326.88 to prime consultant Meridian Engineering  for work completed on St John’s Road.

Two motions for approval of residential accessory building on St. John’s Road were also ratified.

And Then There Were Five

Evelyn Tucker’s resignation brings council to five; no nomination date in sight

By Mark Squibb | July 23, 2020

The resignation of Evelyn Tucker, who joined council in the 2017 election, brings Bay Bulls council down to five members.

“She never really gave a reason... I guess you would have to talk to her about her actual reason. She never really got into reasons,” said Mayor Harold Mullowney, when asked why Tucker quit earlier this summer.

Tucker herself could not be reached for comment.

But Mullowney praised her time on council.

“She was there for a good period of time and did a lot of great work, and we’re sorry to see her go,” said the mayor. “I was surprised and sorry to see Evelyn go. The time she was with the council, she was a very active councillor. She was involved in a great deal of things. She got a lot of things done, and I think her voice is going to be missed around the table. But then again, people got to do what they got to do. She was certainly willing to put in the time. And then some.”

Mullowney said Tucker sent an e-mail notification of her resignation.

At present, there’s no plan to schedule a nomination date to elect someone to fill the seat.

“COVID is certainly a part of it,” said Mullowney, although he said council is also cognizant that they have tried in the past to fill a vacancy with no takers.

“Summer is always a difficult time to hold an election anyway,” added Mullowney. “But I’m hoping we will at least try again and go to the polls and see if we can get one or two people to step forward.”

He said that, in spite of council delaying the nomination date, it is important to get the vacant seats filled, one of which has sat vacant since the resignation of councillors Kevin O'Brien and Philip Burton in 2018. Councillor Patrick Coady was acclaimed to council that year, filling one of those seats, but the other seat has remained vacant, despite multiple calls for nominations over the past two years.

“It would be great to have another one or to councillors around the table. It really is important for quorum on a number of issues,” said Mullowney. “We’re finding it very difficult to get people to step up. But we’re not the only town. We’re looking at Mount Pearl, now, is down to five councillors. I’ve spoken to a couple other mayors recently and they’re also operating with five councillors. So, it seems like it’s getting harder and harder in the province to get people to step up and fill a volunteer role on a council. People have to realize that they’re stepping forward to help assist their communities. At the end of this process, there’s really noting in it for the individual other than seeing their community prosper and grow. The unfortunate thing is that we’re living in a world today where people come forward and try and do the best job that they can and they’re often criticized, mercilessly, by individuals who have no interest in stepping forward themselves.”

During the July 15 meeting, councillor Joan Luby announced that she would be stepping down from the Public Works Committee. Previously, Luby and Tucker had worked on the committee together.

“Joan and Evelyn worked very effectively together,” noted Mullowney.

Councillor Patrick Coady and Eric Maloney will now take over the responsibilities of the Public Works Committee.

Bay Bulls to forward ATV complaint to RCMP

Council also addresses speeding concern

By Mark Squibb | July 23, 2020

Councillors in Bay Bulls say there’s little they can do about an ATV complaint other than forward it to the police.

The Town was in receipt of a complaint from a resident of Quay’s Road who was concerned about ATV usage.

“I believe we just need to forward this on to the RCMP,” said Deputy Mayor Wendy O’Driscoll during the July 15 meeting.

Town CAO Jennifer Aspell spoke to the rationale of the decision.

“The reason that it’s being forwarded on by the deputy mayor is that it’s really outside of the town’s jurisdiction for managing this particular issue. It has to do with ATV use in the area, and the Town of course has no authority to regulate or police ATV use. So, the best course of action would be to refer it onto the authorities,” explained Aspell.

During that same meeting, members of Bay Bulls council addressed concerns about speeding in town generally.

Council had received requests for additional speedbumps along Sheldon Drive and Solomon Close.

“We don’t have any extra speedbumps, but we are going to look into providing some ‘Children at Play,’ signs,” said O’Driscoll.

She noted that correspondence should be sent to residents to inform them of the decision.

Eastern Health Clinic moving from Witless Bay to Bay Bulls

Eastern Health is advising the public that the Witless Bay Health and Community Services Centre at 294 Southern Shore Highway will relocate this month to 788 Southern Shore Highway, Bay Bulls.

The transition is expected to be completed by July 29.

All services currently provided at the Witless Bay Health and Community Services Centre – including public health, community supports, and mental health and addictions services – will be offered from the new site by the same staff. The new space will enhance current operations and allow for future growth of programs and services, said spokesperson Tracey Boland.

The clinic hours will remain the same, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Clients who have been referred to the clinic for appointments will be contacted directly, Boland added. Individuals requiring more information can call the clinic at (709) 334-3941.

Boland said the relocation is anticipated to be completed with a minimal interruption in service.

Picturesque Tors Cove Church taken down

The Sacred Heart Parish Church in Tors Cove, a landmark which stood since 1893, has been torn down.

“It is a sad thing, and a disappointing thing, and a difficult thing, and I understand how people feel,” said Our Lady Star of the Sea parish priest Monsignor Patrick J. Kennedy.

Like other churches in rural communities, in its day, the church was the centre of the community.

“The church was the gathering place. It was the place for baptisms, weddings, and regular Masses and other religious activities, because it wasn’t just limited to Mass, the Stations in Lent, and benedictions and funerals, and all the other things that bind a community together and family,” said the priest.

Kennedy was appointed to the parish in July of 2011, but his history with the building dates back much further.

“I was baptized in that church,” said Fr. Kennedy. “My parents were married in that church. I was confirmed and had my first holy communion in the church, and one of my first Masses, 54 years ago, was in that church, and then I served there as the parish priest.”

The discussion about what ought to be done with the church, which was decommissioned and deconsecrated in June of 2014, had long been a topic amongst church leadership.

“When I first came to the parish in 2011, I think the first meeting I had was a meeting about the situation and the state of Tors Cove church,” recalls Kennedy. “We made an attempt to fix the roof. It was far gone and leaking badly. We spent a little over $11,000 trying to fix the roof and patch it. We didn’t have the money to put a new roof on it, which was what was needed.”

A 2013 engineering study found that much work would be needed to be done to bring the building up to snuff, including structural foundation work.

“We didn’t have the funds to do what was needed. And what was needed was very, very, very considerable,” admitted Kennedy.

Following its decommissioning in 2014, artifacts, pews, statues, and altars, were removed and sold at public auction, with the $7,000 in profits given to the cemetery committee in Tors Cove. That money was used to build a chapel in the cemetery, which contains many of the remaining pews and artifacts.

“The chapel has a lot of the artifacts. One thing is a magnificent stained-glass window of the Sacred Heart,” said Fr. Kennedy, who has since hosted funerals and liturgies in that chapel.

Ultimately, the decision to tear down the building was a necessary one, Kennedy said, especially as the building became a target for vandals.

“Week after week after week the RCMP had to be called,” said Kennedy, who added that no sooner than a parish member could board up a broken window, vandals would break it again. Graffiti became a common problem, both inside and outside the building.

Kennedy said that one night the police were called, but by the time they reached the building, the vandals had fled. They returned that same night after the police had left.

But an even bigger concern was that someone would start a fire, which could spread to nearby homes, or that someone would fall through a sagging floorboard or through the steep tower stairs and injure themselves.

“We couldn’t leave it there like that. It was just to dangerous,” concluded Kennedy, who said there was no other option than demolition.

The wreckage of the building in still on site pending an environmental assessment before a full cleanup can be completed. But, in a larger sense, the church itself, which once served as a landmark for fishermen on the water, remains. Its parish committee is still active and its parishioners are still involved in the ministry of faith.

“The church is not a building; the church is the people of God,” said Fr. Kennedy. “And we have three churches here to serve the area, one in Bay Bulls, one in Witless Bay, and one in St. Michael’s.”

‘We feel forgotten about’

St. Mary’s feeling left in the lurch over doctor shortage

By Mark Squibb | Vol. 13 No. 3 (February 6, 2020)

St. Mary’s Deputy Mayor Steve Ryan said that as of Friday, Jan. 31, the St. Mary’s region is without a doctor for at least the next three months.

“We had a doctor here for about a year-and-a half, her name was Dr. Shada Dujali,” said Ryan, referring to the last fulltime doctor to serve the community and surrounding area.

After Dr. Dujali moved to Carbonear, the clinic in St. Mary’s was without its own doctor.

 “We had no doctor really, so what they did is bring in a ‘fill-in doctor,’” said Ryan, who is part of a local committee that has been lobbying Eastern Health and the provincial government on health issues for several years.

The fill-in physician was a retired doctor, Marshall Godwin. But on Jan. 31, Dr. Godwin left for a three-month vacation in Portugal.

Ryan and his fellow committee members had a conference call with Larry Alteen an executive with Eastern Health, on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

“We had the meeting with Dr. Alteen on Wednesday, and we’re not happy with what they’re offering,” said Ryan. “The solution they came up with is that they’re hoping to bring two doctors to Holyrood. They haven’t got them signed yet, but they’re working on it. They’re going to come to Holyrood and work in an office in Holyrood, and they’re going to come this way for two days a week. But what I’ve said to Dr. Alteen is that if those two doctors go to Holyrood, they’re going to be overwhelmed with Holyrood… They’re hoping that when they get to Holyrood, it’s not going to be busy and they’re going to be able to come to St. Mary’s for two days. They’re hoping. They’re grasping at straws.”

Ryan said Eastern Health’s solution isn’t one.

“From Peter’s River to North Harbour, we have almost 2,500 people. And as you know, the majority of people in those communities are older. They need doctors more now than they ever did,” Ryan said. “They’re just trying to put a band-aid on a wound. We feel forgotten about.”

Just about a 45-minute jaunt from St. Mary’s is the community of Trepassey. Until February last year when he retired, Dr. Thomas McGarry served patients both in Trepassey and St. Mary’s.

Ryan said that while access to health care has been a concern in the region for the last number of years, the retirement of McGarry amplified the problem. He said that shortage makes accessing even basic health care services difficult.

“There are stories here of people having to go to emergency, waiting 10 or 12 hours, to get a prescription filled for a urinary track infection. It’s just crazy,” said Ryan.

He even has his own personal story.

 “I had a flu over Christmas. And I couldn’t get any appointment. So, I said, ‘It’s only the flu.’ I didn’t want to bump anyone else who had a more serious situation. And what happened, is I got an ear infection. I have tubes in my ears, so I have to go and see a specialist on Wednesday, and I have to go to an outpatient specialist on Thursday, which I would not have to do if I had gone and got treated.”

Placentia— St. Mary’s MHA Sherry Gambin-Walsh said she is well aware of the situation unfolding.

“This has been an oncoming concern,” said Gambin-Walsh, who said she has been in constant contact with both Eastern Health and the committee. “Every rural community in Newfoundland and Labrador wants a doctor full-time. That’s the desire throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. So, St. Mary’s is not unique in their request, nor are they unique in their challenges. And the challenges that they are facing are actually getting closer and closer to the urban area. One of my children (in St. John’s) doesn’t have a family physician. Hasn’t had one for years. And I was without one for six months last year.”

The MHA said she is confident in Eastern Health’s ability to address the issue, both in the long run and in the immediate term. For now and until March 9, she said, a doctor will make a weekly visit to St. Mary’s. That will be followed by a fill-in doctor for two weeks, and then a one day a week visit until the summer.

“Eastern Health is truly and honestly working with the resources that are available to try to fill this gap. So, they’ve identified this gap, they are aware of it, and are actively working to try to fill it. And I’m confident that they will,” she said. “But I do understand the frustration of the people, and they want consistency in care. And if we have two physicians that are going to go out there (from Holyrood), one to two times a week, based on the need, there will be consistency of care, and that’s needed. Those physicians have agreed that they would provide services to St. Mary’s,” she added.

Gambin-Walsh said getting a full-time doctor to move to rural Newfoundland would be incredibly difficult.

“The new generation of physicians don’t want to live in rural Newfoundland. They just don’t want to live there… You can’t make a physician move into St. Mary’s and live there. You can’t make somebody work there. So, we’re trying to put together a model that meets the needs of the people.”

According to Gambin-Walsh, the sole practitioner model of healthcare is dying and not just in rural Newfoundland.

“The model for the solo family physician practise is changing across the country, and it’s changing around the world,” she said. “And the modern models of primary healthcare is very different. And there lies the issue and concern… So, the new model proposed by Eastern Health would have two MUN-trained family physicians work in the Holyrood area in July of 2020, so this application is already before the Family Physician Approval Committee. Our objective and goal is to recruit the physicians into the area to ensure that we do give the residents the healthcare that they need and desire, and use the models that are available today — including nurse practitioners.”

Nurse practitioners are “filling a huge void in Newfoundland and Labrador— and doing a good job I might add,” said the member.

Meanwhile, Ryan insists there’s only one right answer for St. Mary’s — and it’s not a doctor dropping in once or twice a week.

“Right now, we need somebody in that clinic five days a week… there’s no way around it,” he said. “I know of people who will not come to this community because of the doctor shortage. They’re older, they’re retired, some have houses here, but they’re living in CBS, they’re living elsewhere, because they’re afraid to come here in case something happens, and there’s no doctor.”

The Irish Loop Post reached out to Eastern Health multiple times, beginning Friday, Jan. 31, but did not receive confirmation or clarification regarding plans for health care service in St. Mary’s by deadline on Feb. 5.

‘It started as a small thing’

Charity hockey game enters fifth year

By Mark Squibb | Vol. 13 No. 3 (February 6, 2020)

Hockey fans in the Goulds area will want to mark Feb. 21 on their calendars.

That’s the night of the St. Kevin’s Mavericks Hockey Alumni Charity Classic, which pits the current high school team against a select roster of alumni players.

This will be the fifth annual matchup, which each year being a little more successful than the last.

“It started as a small thing,” said organizer Jason Snelgrove. “The first year we did it, I thought ‘The alumni players have donated a couple of bucks, and the high school players have donated a couple of bucks, and if we could get together five or six hundred dollars, it would be great, we’ll donate to some charity.’”

The first year, the event raised just about $1,700.

“We thought that was outstanding,” he said. “To this point, we’ve raised over $16,600 in four years. Every year we raised more money. We’re certainly hoping we can break the $20,000 in year five,”

Last year the group raised a little over $6,600, so cracking the $20,000 mark seems to be a realistic goal.

Apart from individual donations, there are St. Kevin’s students accepting donations at the door, as well as a 50/50 draw and plenty of door prizes provided by local businesses.

Every year, organizers scout for potential local beneficiaries, in addition to the Curtis Hudson Memorial Fund, a non-profit dedicated to building a playground in Goulds in honour of young Cutis Hudson, who passed away after a short battle with brain cancer in 2017, which the alumni game has supported for the last number of years.

“Every year, the basis of the game was to pick a family, or a person, or an organization in the community or close to someone in the community, that could use a monetary donation. And not necessarily that they need the money, per say, but it’s a bit of money to boost spirits if they’re going through a difficult medical time,” said Snelgrove. “We try to reach out to a different family, a different circumstance, a different person, or whatever the case may be.”

This year, funds will be raised for Alicia Danielle Burry of Petty Harbour— Maddox Cove and St. Kevin’s student Jake Langer to help with medical treatments, in addition to the Curtis Hudson Memorial Fund.

“It kind of keeps the event fresh, and people know that they’re supporting multiple people and multiple families,” said Snelgrove.

The high school students, either battling it out on the ice, collecting donations at the door, or helping behind the scenes, are also benefactors in a way.

“They’re learning how the world works, and they enjoy the fact that they are a part of something that gives back to the community, that they can help people in the community. And we’ve had people come onto the ice to accept donations with tears in their eyes,” said James.

The on-ice action has become quite heated over the years as well.

“Everybody wants to win,” said Snelgrove.

Currently, the alumni hold a 4—0 record.

“The older guys know how to play the game,” said James, noting that hockey IQ and experience has given the alumni the edge against the young guys.

 “Every year the high school team is getting closer and closer. They believe every year that they’re going to win.

“They’re certainly more skilled, a lot of the time, and they’re certainly quicker, and they have more energy than a lot of the alumni players. And they think that alone will win them a hockey game.”

Both teams, said James, once hockey season starts up in the fall look forward to the game, enjoying a healthy dose of banter along the way.

And, in a small community, you can usually find a family member or two to play against the young players.

“What we’ve really tried to do over the last couple of years is find alumni hockey players who have a connection to players on the team. So, we’ve had some dads play in the past, we’ve had some uncles play in the past. This year we have a son and father combo,” said James, adding that watching the inter-generational game is pretty special. “The alumni will get to hang out afterward and tell their stories about what it was like to play hockey twenty-five years ago, or when the last time they won a championship was, or how the game has changed.

The game, held at the Goulds Arena, has been incorporated in the Goulds Winter Carnival, which runs from Feb. 14— 21 and is open to all members of the community.

“It’s turned into something bigger than any of the organizers could have ever imagined,” said James, adding that without support from fans, business, and players, the event would not be possible.

The 2019 Alumni and St. Mavericks teams.

More business along the shore

Cape Broyle council supportive of proposed gun assembly facility

By Chris Lewis | Vol. 13 No. 3 (February 6, 2020)

A new facility is making its way to the Cape Broyle area, but not all are enthusiastic.

On Thursday, January 2, a registration was undertaken through Municipal Affairs and Environment that would see the construction of a jet perforating gun assembly facility. Although not set to be constructed directly within town boundaries, the proposed location is just north of the municipality nearby a cabin area known as Hell Hill Pond. More specifically, the exact area set for this facility is known as Whitehorse, or the Whitehorse Barrens.

The Cape Broyle council is enthusiastic about the project, with Mayor Beverly O’Brien stating that any new business coming to the shore is a good thing in the long run.

“The majority of council support this proposal for the facility. We welcome any project that could bring work to our area, and abides by the environmental standards of the government,” O’Brien said.

The decision from Minster of Municipal Affairs and Environment, Derrick Bragg, is due on Sunday, Feb. 16th, with public comments due five days prior on Tuesday, Feb. 11th.

O’Brien says that although the facility is not going to be set up in the heart of the community, there are still benefits that come along with these types of businesses to any community found along the southern shore.

“Any project that gets set up near any town is going to have benefits, really,” she said. “Our stores are there, and I’m assuming that the workers are going to be making use of those while they’re working. I mean, hopefully, it’ll bring some new residents to Cape Broyle, too. You never know.”

One resident of Cape Broyle, Aaron O’Brien, says that while he is not opposed to the facility itself, or any such development making its way to the southern shore, he is still a bit skeptical about how good a fit the jet perforating gun assembly facility is for the proposed area.

He says the people who will be in the closest proximity to the project are those living in the Hell Hill Pond region, with the location for the facility coming in at only less than a kilometre away from them.

“The area that they have proposed to put this facility is one that I’m familiar with; I hike in that area, and I just appreciate the natural beauty of the place. For that reason, it’s concerning to me,” Aaron said. “I’d rather not see the forest there be destroyed.”

As such, Aaron is not wishing to see the facility turned away or brought to an area outside the southern shore, but instead is hopeful for a simple location change for the sake of the people living nearby, as well as the natural habitats that can be found in and around Hell Hill Pond.

“If they could find a location that’s already developed in some way that’s not just a grove of woods that hasn’t been cut in a very long time, I’d just rather them put it somewhere else,” he added.

Once the facility is up and running, both Aaron and Mayor O’Brien said they expect any employment going into the project would likely be hired from within the proponent company, Baker Hughes Canada, as opposed to hiring straight from the nearby community of Cape Broyle. Still, Beverly was hopeful that this facility may even bring one or two jobs to the people of the community.

She said that, as far as she can tell, the majority of the people of Cape Broyle seem to be on board with the facility.

“We went through this proposal with a fine-toothed comb, and we can’t find anything negative that would come out of this if they abide by everything they’re saying,” she said. “We had several inquiries as to exactly where this is going – a lot of ‘is it in my backyard?’ but beyond that, we as a council haven’t heard any direct complaints about it.”

At the head table

Mobile chef represented province in national culinary competition

By Mark Squibb | Vol. 13 No. 3 (February 6, 2020)



Local chef and entrepreneur Kyle Puddester’s kitchen prowess landed him a spot representing Newfoundland and Labrador at a national culinary event this past week.

From Jan. 29 until Feb. 3, Puddester was in Ottawa for the Canadian Culinary Championship.

Puddester’s place in the competition didn’t happen by accident. First, Puddester had to compete in the regional competition in St John’s on Nov. 1, 2019. He competed against four other local chefs, and came out the gold medal winner.

Winning that competition allowed him to represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the national level.

“It was a great opportunity. I’m very proud of what we did,” said Puddester, adding that it was an honour to represent the province.

He had a sous chef, a personal friend from Halifax, and three students from Algonquin college, to aid him in his station.

The event kicked off in Ottawa on Thursday, Jan. 30; after introductions, media shoots and, of course, dinner, where the chefs received the key to their first competition; a bottle of mystery wine.

Chefs had to wake up Friday morning and, on a budget of just $500, buy ingredients to prepare a meal that would pair with the wine and feed roughly 350 attendees. For the dish, Puddester paired his wine (a Closson Chase Pinot Noir 2017) with mi cuit (half cooked) rainbow trout, with pear and fennel salad, citrus, walnut brittle, and vanilla buttermilk.

Saturday’s competition was a Black Box competition.

Each chef receives a box of seven diverse ingredients and upon opening their box, they must create a meal to please the most distinguished palate.

For this competition, the sous chef was not allowed in the kitchen until after the first 25-minutes, just to make things a bit more of a challenge.

Puddester opened his box to find elk, parsley root, phytoplankton, black kale, oats, berries and pickled fiddleheads.

All perfect ingredients for phytoplankton dusted, pan seared elk, oat porridge with kale, parsley puree, and fiddlehead chimichurri.

The third competition seems to be the easiest on paper— using your own ingredients, re-create your gold medal winning regional dish. For Puddester, that was a wild willow partridge dish that incorporated several local berries including blueberries and partridgeberries.

It actually turned out to be the most challenging, with the difficulty beginning before Puddester even set foot inside the kitchen

“We actually had some wild foraged blueberries and crowberries that were supposed to make it on to the dish, because part of the story of the dish was because that was what was in the crop of the bird” explained Puddester. “But when we arrived on Wednesday, West Jet actually had lost two very important bags of luggage. One was all my kitchen equipment, and my knives and a couple of different ingredients that we had to re-prep up there Thursday night, and all my clothes.”

By the time the luggage situation was straightened away on Thursday, there was a nasty surprise inside one of the suitcases.

“Somehow the berries had exploded over all my clothes. So, all my clothes were died blue. And we lost all the berries.”

He said that the two-hour time constraints and close quarters also made for a stressful final competition.

Puddester didn’t place in the top three, but still did get to rub shoulders with some of the best in the business and shed a little more light on the province’s culinary scene.

And, he got to do what he loves.

“It’s a chance to be creative. And you’re actually physically making something with your hands. I like being where we are, in such a small restaurant, where you get immediate feedback from people,” he explained. “It makes me happy to make other people happy, and to be able to be creative and make nice food and beautiful looking plates. It’s basically just like creating art, only it’s edible.”

Puddester began cooking in 2009. Him and his wife, Kayla O’Brien, run the 28-seat casual-fine dining Fork restaurant in Mobile. The restaurant began in 2017 as a seasonal pop-up restaurant operating out of the Irish Loop Coffee House in Witless Bay.

Getting to work

Bay Bulls hopes to double down on work projects in 2020

By Mark Squibb | Vol. 13 No. 2 (January 23, 2020)

Bay Bulls mayor Harold Mullowney admits that 2019 was a year of challenges.

Perhaps biggest of all was a piece of roadwork along Lower Road that remains unfinished.

“We’ve had a lot of challenges when you look at the bit of road work we’ve tried to do this year,” said Mulloweny.

Bay Bulls Mayor Harold Mullowney anticipates a busy 2020 after some disappointing setbacks in 2019.

“It was supposed to be finished before tourism season started, but because of a number of circumstances beyond control, it dragged on and on and on.”

The largest concern was that the Town had to switch contractor’s mid-year, slowing down the project considerably.

“That was a bit disappointing, because we had intended to do a considerable amount of work this year.”

“It occupied a tremendous, tremendous amount of our time. It was frustrating. We started the year with three or four projects that we wanted to knock off, and because of this one we never got them done.

“All that being said, we’re looking at a very active year coming,” said Mulloweny, hoping that many of those projects, including the resurfacing of Cemetery Road by the Regional Lifestyle Centre, and updating of St. John’s Road, will be picked up in 2020.

He adds that the Forotten Corner restoration project on the Ryan Property is scheduled to be completed, the Town is planning to preserve the last vestiges of the Southern Shore railway as a heritage site, and work is scheduled for community walking trails.

Near the top of Mullowney’s 2020 wish list is more regional partnerships.

Bay Bulls had recently floated out the idea, once again, to cost share with nearby communitiies for a regional municipal enforcement officer.

So far, no one else has come on board with that idea.

 “We’re still hopeful that we can do a deal with some other towns in the area because we’ve always looking at the fact that we could use some enforcement,” said Mullowney.

 “It’s too much for small towns like Bay Bulls or Witless Bay to take on their own. But if we were to share, and do something regionally, I think it’s possible.”

Mulloweney suggested that the cyclic nature of councils stalls the movement towards regional partnerships.

“The unfortunate thing is, every time you have an election you get new people around the table, and even if there’s a lot of planning went into something, you basically need to re-educate everyone as to the necessity, and by the time you’re ready to move again, you’re into another election,” said Mullowney.

“And you got to start all over again,”

“Doing things regionally makes more sense,” he said, noting that regional groups such as the Bay Bulls Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) and the Witless Bay Regional Fire Department are quite successful.

“Anything we can do by working together, as small towns, is to the benefit of all. Because we cannot do everything in our own little silos.”

Meanwhile, Bay Bulls has their own election woes.

There has been a vacant seat on council since August of 2018, and at least seven unsuccessful attempts to fill it.

“We’ve gone out to the market a number of times on that, and we’ve had no one bite. We’re getting closer to the next election, so maybe people are waiting for that. But the reality on that piece is that there are still issues where we can’t vote effectively on things, because in a small town, many people have connections, and there are conflicts here and there, and so you have to step out. That one extra councillor will make things run so smooth. I’m disappointed we haven’t ben able to pick one up.”

For example, council needed to seek permission from the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment for council to act on matters related to work being done on St. john’s Road— of the six councillors, three are found to be in conflict of interest, leaving only three councillors to vote on the matter.

Meanwhile, a decision made at council chambers down the road in Witless Bay (who, this past fall, did hold a successful election) will affect not only Bay Bulls, but many communities in the region.

Council is looking to hire a fire chief (as opposed to having volunteer man the position).

The decision would require communities who avail of the regional service to dip into their pockets.

“This is something I’d have to run by the whole council, obviously, but personally the way I look at it is the whole region is growing. This is the fastest growing region in the province right now, the region between Bay Bulls and Witless Bay, up to Mobile, Tor’s Cove… as we move forward, yes, we’re going to need to step up and have more services available. We have a great fire department, they’re absolutely fantastic, but the reality is, like the councillors, they’re all volunteers. And they don’t have the ability, sometimes, to do what needs to be done on a regular basis,” said Mullowney.

“If we can in any way shape of form facilitate them becoming more efficient, if a paid fire chief will help that, I think I’m all for that.”