Witless Bay council makes moves to reinstate Crown Land Reserve

By Mark Squibb/December 16, 2021

Things in Witless Bay have come full circle.

A 2020 decision to rescind a decision made in 2014 to petition the Department of Environment & Conservation to establish a Crown Land Reserve along the southern coastline of Witless Bay has itself been rescinded by the newly minted council.

The 99-hectare reserve would begin at the first section of Crown Land located south of Mullowney’s Lane, and extend south to the end of the Witless Bay boundary for a width of 450 metres.

The original motion to create the reserve was made in July of 2014. Ralph Carey, who was a councilor at the time, seconded the motion. The council of the day, with the exception of councilor Rene Estrada, voted in favour of it.

Six years later, in January of 2020, the council of the day rescinded that motion. According to the Town’s published minutes, then mayor Derm Moran said the department did not approve the request. He also said that private property was included in the 99 hectares and that while the property owners would have access to their land, they would not be able to build there on it.

During the November 18, 2021, public council meeting, Carey, who has returned to council, brought forward a motion to rescind the motion of January 2020. The request to rescind it, along with a number of other requests to rescind other motions, came at the behest of a resident whom council would not identify.

Carey said that while he was well versed in the history of the matter, he knew the other councilors would want some time to read up it before voting.

A request to rescind another motion, that had been made in March of 2020, was also put on the backburner by Carey. That motion, which also came at the behest of the same unidentified resident, was that council write the Department of Municipal of Affairs requesting the removal of the reserve from the Town’s Municipal Plan.

Both motions were listed back as back on this week’s agenda, and council was ready to rescind both.

“We need to meet with the province in the new year to find a solution for this that’s good to everybody, but what we need is a balance that, while it may not be totally in the interest of all the residents or interested parties, it should achieve a balance that is sound and supportable for the whole community,” said Carey. “So, we need to move forward on this, and we need to make the motion to rescind.”

The motion is near the heart of a battle that has raged for the past decade. Private landowners are concerned that the land reserve would impede access to their private properties, including the ability to build upon their own land. Meanwhile, a number of activists, including Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, have protested development in and around the coastline as they fear development would encroach on Ragged Beach and the surrounding ecological reserve.

Council voted unanimously to rescind both motions, which in theory reinstates the actions of the 2014 council to declare a Crown Land Reserve.

Bay Bulls councilor rejects 'good news budget'

By Mark Squibb/December 16, 2021

The Town of Bay Bulls has approved a new budget and tax structure for 2022, though not unanimously.

Mayor Neil O’Brien introduced the budget that is balanced at $3.4 million. Residential property tax remains unchanged at 4.5 mils, the commercial property tax remains at 14.75 mils. The minimum property tax is $400, minimum vacant land tax is $200, and the direct sellers’ tax is $250. All those fees are the same as this past year. The minimum business tax will be $450, up $50 from this year.

An eight percent discount will be provided to residents who pay taxes in full before the due date of June 30, 2022.

Mayor O’Brien asked Town manager Jennifer Aspell to give a ‘Reader’s Digest’ version of the budget for the benefit of residents tuning in.

“So, there’s a number of good things to say about this budget,” said Aspell. “There’s no mil rate increases at all. Across the board now, some fees have increased. So, no mil rate increase does not mean that people do not see an increase to their property tax bill in 2022. It really depends on their individual property assessment.”

She noted that for those constructing a commercial building, the town will charge an application fee once someone applies, but there will be no additional permit fee.

One of the big questions ahead of the budget was how a newly minted council would handle the controversial question of the ‘craft tax.’

In 2020, the former council increased the home-based business tax from $375 to $450, and hit a number of business owners who had previously not been taxed.

Some of those businesses belonged to folks knitting crafts at home.

The craft tax, as it became known, hit a nerve with crafters and non-crafters alike, some of whom came out to the council chambers to argue the tax with council face-to-face. Their arguments that selling crafts on Facebook did not make them businesspeople, along with admonitions that council best mind its own business, were of no avail. The tax remained.

It still remains, with some revisions however.

“There have been changes to the home-based business tax structure,” explained Aspell. “There are now three categories of home businesses.”

The first is a light-industry home based business tax and will include handmade articles such as clothing and crafts. Those folks will be taxed at $150 annually. Next up is medium industry home-based businesses, which includes studios, salons, spas, photography, private day care, and pet grooming. Folks operating those business out of their home will be taxed $300. A final category targets larger operations that don’t fit in either of the first two categories. Those folks will be taxed $450 annually.

The new budget also introduced a general retail category for storefronts such as clothing stores, sporting goods, craft shops, and gift shops. Those will be levied a business tax at 5 mils. The commercial property tax for those stores will remain the same.

One fly in the ointment was the provincial government’s decision to deny council’s request to be exempt from Own Source Revenue requirements.

Based on the 2016 census, the provincial government requires the town collect an average of $1,047 in taxes from each person in town to meet the provincial government’s quota.

“So, overall, it’s a good news budget, for sure,” said Aspell. “We would certainly like to reduce the mil rate across the board, but we had requested, as most people know, an exemption to our own source revenue accountability requirement to have our per capita rate reduced so that we could reduce the mil rate and that request was not granted. So, we have worked around the budget as much as possible to make sure that the implication is minimal, if at all. I don’t think there were any negative implications here at all.”

When it came time to vote on the budget, one councilor made it clear that he could not support it for a very specific reason.

“One thing is the point about the craft tax,” said councilor Jason Sullivan. “Even though it’s reduced to 150 bucks, I still have a  struggle taxing anyone doing crafts at their kitchen table.”

Sullivan said he made a promise to residents that he would not support a ‘craft tax,’ and for that reason he would not support the budget.

Following some discussion, councilor Shannon O’ Driscoll made it a point to clarify that the businesses was not a ‘craft tax.’

“The home-based business tax is what we are talking about, and people refer to it as a ‘craft tax,’” said O’Driscoll. “I just wanted to clarify that there is no actual ‘craft tax’ as such. It is a home-based business tax, and we wanted to be fair, across the board, to all home-based businesses.”

With the exception of Sullivan, council voted in favour of both the budget and the tax structure.

Mistaken Point fossils featured in at Royal Ontario Museum

By Patrick Newhook/December 16, 2021

 Provincial Environment Minister Bernard Davis is delighted that visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum’s new permanent gallery will get a chance to examine the historic fossil record of Newfoundland, namely some of the fossils from the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve near Cape Race.

 The Royal Ontario Museum unveiled the Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life, this month featuring almost 1,000 fossil specimens representing over four billion years of evolution from the earliest microbes to the dawn of dinosaurs and mammals. Exceptional Canadian fossil deposits of great scientific significance, including from the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, are among the specimens on display.

 The Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is one of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites featured in the new gallery. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, the reserve is located on the south coast of the Avalon Peninsula and is home to the world’s oldest, large, complex multicellular fossils, representing the remains of soft-bodied creatures that lived 560 to 580 million years ago.

 Mistaken Point’s fossils of multicellular life, such as the standing frond Charniodiscus procerus from 575 million years ago during the Ediacaran Period, are included in the new gallery.

 “Congratulations to the Royal Ontario Museum for their work on the new gallery, Dawn of Life,” said Davis. “This permanent gallery details the global history of environmental changes and mass extinctions and will help us better understand our environment and how our ecosystems first began. We are proud that fossils from Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve will help tell the story of early life and evolution on Earth.”

Bay Bulls mayor offers apology and explanation

By Mark Squibb/December 16, 2021

Bay Bulls Mayor Neil O’Brien opened the December 13 public meeting on Tuesday by apologising for his behaviour during the previous council meeting, held on November 8.

“I’d like to take this opportunity first to apologize first to the people of Bay Bulls, my fellow council members, and town staff, for my deportment and etiquette at the last public meeting, on November the eighth,” said O’Brien. “On that day, I had travelled after rearranging my work schedule so I would be able to participate in the meeting. I never got any sleep, so I took over the counter medication to try and get some rest that day. This caused a complication with a new medication I had just started the previous day before leaving home, which left me very incoherent and unable to participate in the meeting. Moving on, I take full responsibility for my actions and I can assure my fellow councillors, town staff, and the people of Bay Bulls that I will make every effort to ensure that this will never happen again.”

During the November meeting, Deputy Mayor Jason O’ Brien took over the mayor’s chair after O’Brien was unable to continue with the meeting.

Cape Broyle entering new year with revamped Recreation Committee

By Patrick Newhook/December 16, 2021

The Town of Cape Broyle has high hopes for what it can now do with its newly expanded Recreation Committee.

On Tuesday, December 7, council held a meeting and expanded the committee, which has done yeoman’s work over the years organizing events such as the Santa Claus Parade and other activities.

The key difference between the old committee and the newly updated one is mainly size. For some time now, the committee had been down to two members. Now it has been increased to include more members and will operate as a more formal arm of council.

Mayor Beverly O’Brien is hopeful that will enable the town to tap into more grants that can help the community.

“The government is offering a lot of opportunities around recreation and grants and stuff like that, and I just felt that we were probably missing out on some of them because we didn’t have a formal committee,” said O’Brien. “Now we do have a formal committee.”

The mayor is also optimistic about what the new Rec Committee can bring to the town of some 489 residents in other ways.

“It’s not about sports, it’s not about arts, it’s about everything, it’s about bringing recreation activities to our town,” said O’Brien. “We have Come Home Year coming up the summer and it’s just nice to have a formal recreation committee to help out. They’re going to be doing stuff for all ages from babies to seniors.”

One of the new committee members, Heather Shannahan, is excited about the potential of the revamped Recreation Committee. Shannahan is originally from Cape Broyle and moved back last year. She wants to see the town have more opportunities for people to get together and have fun, which motivated her to become part of it.

“I think we’re going to… provide new interests for people to partake in the town and for all ages,” Shannahan said. “We’re hoping to have programming for people of all different ages, interests and abilities.”

One key thing Shannahan wants to see happen is more activities created to get the community to come together.

“We want to give them the option of, instead of on Tuesday evening going out on the road, maybe there’s an activity going on down at the hall, the community center, that might interest you,” said Shannahan.

Group activities like that help build a sense of community and memories, she argue

Southern Shore residents rally to welcome Afghani children to Newfoundland

By Patrick Newhook/December 16, 2021

During the season of giving, one group on the Southern Shore has decided to lend a hand to those arriving here from far away.

On October 26, some 116 Afghan refugees arrived at St. John’s International Airport, with the provincial and federal government aiming to help them establish new lives in the province.

The refugees have been here for a month now, and people are trying to help in whatever way they can.

A couple of women in Ferryland decided they were going to collect and give to the Afghan children this Christmas.

Annette Mooney and Mary Boland worked through and with their parish, and collected donations of activity type materials for two weeks to help give during the holiday season.

Every Christmas the pair works through their church to collect goods for groups in need. One key aim of doing this is to highlight the importance of giving to the younger generations coming up.

“We did this through our church which is Holy Family Parish from Brigus South to Cappahayden,” said Mooney. “Every year we try to have some kind of a project so that children can understand the whole idea of service and how important service is and giving, especially during Christmas, because it’s all about giving and helping the less fortunate.”

In previous years, they have donated to groups including the Gathering Place. For this year’s Christmas season, they decided they would try to help the Afghan refugees in St. John’s. Mooney got in touch with the Association of New Canadians and began to learn about what they needed.

“They told me that what they needed the most is activity type material for the children, especially when they’re in isolation and they need to occupy themselves,” said Mooney.

So Mooney and Boland went to work collecting colouring books and puzzles to help the kids stay entertained and busy.

“For two weeks, we put the notice in the church bulletin, and we put the boxes in the church and the priest spoke about it on the alter and we encouraged the parishioners to bring in items for the collection,” said Mooney “Everybody donated colouring books and markers, puzzles and games, that’s what we collected.”

After the two weeks had passed, they had received a ton of support and lots of donations.

“Thursday past we collected something like eight full recycling bags of all kinds of things,” said Mooney. “People were very, very generous.”

Alice Keough, the community connections coordinator with the Association of New Canadians, knows how donations like these can make the children feel special and welcome.

“They were so excited and they were so pleased,” said Keough. “Overall the day was filled with so much joy and happiness for these kids.”

Moving from Afghanistan to Newfoundland and Labrador is big change, especially if you’re a child, Keough said, and donations like these can go a long way in helping people out and making them feel wanted.

“It helps them by engaging them and making them feel safe and making them feel secure and special,” said Keough, “There’s a lot of people who have reached out to us and have donated things for these children, for these families. I think it certainly gives them a sense that this can be their new home and that they are welcome and the community certainly welcomes them with these gestures.”

Inside one of the bags that came from the Southern Shore was a hand written letter from a parishioner with a message welcoming the refugees to Newfoundland.

‘Welcome to our beautiful province of Newfoundland and Labrador,’ it read. “May you find love, peace and happiness in whatever part of the province you will make your home. We hope you love this place as much as we do.’

“That little gesture is just so special,” said Keough.

Ferryland courthouse makeover 'more than just a restoration project'

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2021

The old Ferryland courthouse, home to the Ferryland Museum, is a historic jewel of the Southern Shore, its steep gable roof, wooden clapboard, and green and white colour scheme instantly recognizable.

The Town, with help from community partners and provincial government funding, is hoping to breath new life into the old structure, which was built in 1916 by the Bank of Montreal and later converted to a courthouse, complete with jail cell and police residence.

Jon Butler of Fresh Fruit & Architecture is one of the key players in the restoration project.

Back in February 2020, Butler and his last business partner Grant Genova were called in to do an assessment on the old museum building.

“Essentially, they were asking how much it would cost to demolish the building, or how much would it cost to restore it?” said Butler. “I don’t think there was ever a really serious conversation about demolishing it. It was more to set a baseline for what we would be looking at.”

For Butler, it was his first visit down the Shore in quite in some time.

“I hadn’t been to Ferryland or along the Southern Shore probably since I was in high school,” he admitted. “You see the main Ferryland sign and then it just opens up, and you see that vista. In that moment I looked at Grant, my business partner, and said ‘There’s something special here.’ And we went to the building, and stood up on the deck there, and it just reaffirmed the fact that this is more than just a restoration project.”

The partners sought input from the community and prepared a presentation for a town hall meeting at the Tetley Tea Room back in August, 2020.

“We had about 20, or 25 people show up,” said Butler, who added that, given the pandemic, he would have been glad if only three folks showed up. “It spoke to me to say that people care about this building, that there’s something here and people have something to say about what they would like to see in the future.”

Throughout the fall of 2020, the partners collected more data and conducted more research.

In January they were awarded some provincial government funding to take on the project, which he said kickstarted project planning for work in the spring.

He said he didn’t feel he was at liberty to go into the financial details regarding that funding.

Butler said he’s concerned not just with restoring the building, but giving it new purpose.

“And so, over the course of this too, what we were looking at was not just restoring the physical building itself, which is of huge importance, because from the perspective of the project, we want to make sure the historical integrity of the building is preserved… but the other side of it, the major component from our perspective, was what is this building going to function as?” said Butler. “So, obviously, structurally it needs to be preserved and we need to maintain its heritage and its history, but the building also needs to be able to support itself financially.”

The partners were trying to gauge how the building could operate 365 days of the year — not just during tourist season.

He joked that a craft brewery and Air BnB, would be the knee jerk reaction ideas, and while those would be good notions, it wasn’t what he was hearing from town folk.

“What we started to hear loudly and clearly, was that there is definitely a need, or a desire, for a local community centre space,” said Butler. “And the way we think of that is not to necessarily just to think ‘community centre,’ but a space that could be used for lots of different types of purposes, based on the needs of the community.”

He said that given Ferryland’s location on the Shore, it could serve as a creative centre for the region.

Butler has been in talks with groups including the Irish Loop Artisan Cooperative, who hosted an event in October with a pop-up café, art activities for kids and adults this fall, about the building’s potential as a community art space.

“It was quite positive,” said Butler. “We had a lot of input and feedback and suggestions and ideas… This building could potentially help provide a space for that group. And over the course of December and early into the new year we’re going to potentially open the space to folks that might like to use it and collect a little bit more information on how it functions with the things that they plan to do.”

He said that ‘pop-up’ and ‘multi-functional’ have been the crucial words, whether that’s a pop-up art exhibit or concert that can be projected out over the bay for a dory ‘drive-in theatre.’

“The intention and the goal is to treat this as more of a long term evolving project, where it’s not just the typical, fly-in by night, do the work and get out,” said Butler. “That’s part of the reason we’ve been taking a very slow pace with this… It doesn’t necessarily have to be just one thing. And that’s the idea behind it all. And the cool thing about it is if one thing is not working, or there’s a negative reaction from the community, we can say ‘Well, we tested that, but it’s maybe not for here, or maybe not for right now.’”

Butler added he hopes the community will be instrumental in shaping the building’s future, and that through a social media campaign and open houses, the group hopes to door knock to gauge folks’ interest.

“What are people thinking about?” asked Butler. “What’s missing from the Southern Shore or the Irish Loop region in general that a place like Ferryland or a building like this can fill the void or support some of that activity?”

Butler even invites residents to visit the building whenever possible to see the upgrades for themselves.

The next phase of the project will begin in the spring or summer, dependent on the receipt of more government funding.

With many hands involved, it may be confusing as to who’s in control. Butler said it’s definitely the town’s project and described Fresh Fruit & Architecture as a ‘support partner.’

“The town is taking the lead on the project per say, and we’re more or less there for support,” he explained.