Witless Bay defers approval of regional fire hall

By Mark Squibb/May 19, 2022

Witless Bay council has temporarily shelved plans for construction of a new regional fire hall to more closely consider the financial implications.

Talk of a new regional fire hall began in earnest back in July of 2020. In Budget 2021, the previous council budgeted close to $1 million over the next 10 years for the building of a new regional fire hall. At the time, the Town had anticipated that its million-dollar commitment would leverage a further $2 million contribution from the provincial government.

Although the exact dollar amount wasn’t disclosed, council has since received approval of provincial government funding for the project.

“We did recently find out that an application (for provincial funding) that was made for the new regional fire hall was successful, and so now what we have to do is meet with the town accountant about the financials and with the fire department,” said Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, who made the motion to defer approval of the new building. “Once we get that in order, we call a special public meeting to approve it. It’s not that we’re not going to approve it, it’s just that we want to make sure we have all the necessary information because we want to go ahead with this.”

Councillor Alex Troake added that it’s important that council do its due diligence as the approval of the fire hall could cost council at least $100,000 a year over the next 10 years.

“And that building might outlive all of us, so we don’t want to make the wrong decision,” said Troake.

In a follow up e-mail, Town Manager Shawn Kavanagh explained that “council was waiting on updated projected costs given a lot has happened with prices since the projections were formulated 18 months or so ago.”

Budget 2021 saw also the Town invest over $222,300 in fire department operations, over and above some $370,730 borrowed earlier in the year to purchase a new tanker truck. 2021 marked the year that the Town hired its first paid fire chief. That role, originally held by Maria Churchill, is now held by Jack Gatherall.

The fire department serves Bay Bulls, Tors Cove, Bauline, Mobile, and Burnt Cove-St Michaels-Bauline East.

Rebirth of St. Kevin's charity game raises money and spirits

By Mark Squibb/May 12, 2022

The St. Kevin’s High Mavericks Hockey Alumni Charity Classic continues to be a community success.

The sixth annual game, held on April 29, raised $7,570 for local causes, the highest yearly total to date.

“We set the goal a little high at $7,500, but we were really hoping to get there,” said organizer Jason Snelgrove. “Regardless of how much we raised, any bit of money is good money. But we had a lot of support, and certainly a lot of support this year from local businesses who provided some generous monetary donations as well as a ton of prizes.”

COVID-19 restrictions shuttered the doors last year, and Snelgrove said the crowd may have been a littler smaller than years past due to the continued concerns over COVID-19, as was anticipated by organizers, but those in attendance made up for any lack in numbers.

“To come out on the ice at the start of the game and to see the stands pretty full of fans was pretty exciting for everyone,” said Snelgrove. “It wouldn’t have been the same if we had to do it with an empty rink. And to be honest, I don’t know that we would have went ahead with the event if it had to be an empty rink. Because the fans in the stands and that kind of community support really makes it that much better, that much more special.”

After two years of pandemic restrictions which have seen hockey severely limited or cancelled outright at all levels of play, he said it was good for the guys, young and young at heart, to get back in the locker rooms together to share some laughs and tell some stories.

“Everybody was excited to return to some sort of normalcy,” said Snelgrove. “It certainly was nice to see everybody back together and back in the dressing rooms together, both in the alumni room and the high school room, because they’ve had a lot of ups and downs with their regular hockey over the last number of years. So, it was certainly nice.”

The alumni team, which suffered its first defeat at the hands of the young guns back in 2020, struck back and won 10-4.

“The alumni team were hyped up after their previous loss, but I don’t think anybody was looking forward to losing,” said Snelgrove. “The young team came out and scored the first goal within the first 20 or 30 seconds, a beautiful goal by James Stamp, to start the game, and we kind of got back on our heels, and we said, ‘Oh, don’t tell me we’re in for another tight, close game.’ But the old guys managed to keep it together and keep the game simple and go away with the win. But no matter what the score was throughout the game, there was that friendly banter and lots of smiles and lots of laughs. At the end of the day, everyone plays to win, but I don’t think anyone really cared at the end of the day what the result was. It was just about the reason that we were there, and that was to raise money and give back to the community. So, win or lose, everyone leaves the rink with a sense of pride and a sense of being successful.”

Family members were quick to celebrate their favorite players following the final whistle.

“After the game the kids will run down to the alumni dressing room and want pictures with their dad, or on the other side you have high school players that are graduating Grade 12 and they’re getting pictures with their parents, or brothers on the ice afterwards as kind of a send off to high school, so those kind of connections are really important and will put a smile on anyone’s face,” said Snelgrove.

He added that an event like this could not go ahead without the help and support of players, fans, businesses, and volunteers.

“There’s just so many people to thank,” said Snelgrove, who added that planning for next year’s game is underway.

“It certainly seems like the game isn’t going away any time soon,” said Snelgrove.

After a hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the St. Kevin’s High Mavericks Alumni Charity Classic was held once again this Spring. In the back row, from left to right, are Devin Kettlewell, Rylan Swain, Luke Pond, Thomas Deir, Riley Hutchings, Josh Clements, Brendan Ryan, Jacob McDonald, Zachary Brennan, Ethan Coady, Liam Morry, Jonas Foley, Andrew Brennan, Colten Ridgley, Sheldon Keough, Matthew Chafe, Jason Snelgrove, Chris O'Neill, Jeff Barrett, Shane Kennedy, Noah Dinn, Robby Boland, Dennis Galway, Darren McDonald, and Ronnie Pomeroy. In the front row, from left, are  Raymond Furlong, James Stamp, Colby Howlett, Ben Winsor, Jake Sullivan, Jonathan Dyke, Brandon Ennis, Jaeden Putt, J.T Tobin, Devin Bungay, Mark Fitzpatrick, Keith Dinn, Shane Forward, Geoff Stack, Derek Stone, Colin Howlett, and Patrick Galway. The young guns are wearing white jerseys, the alumni blue jerseys. Stacey Birmingham photo

Bay Bulls Council approves new subdivision

By Mark Squibb/May 5, 2022

The week before last the Town of Bay Bulls approved a couple of motions that will encourage further development in the town.

Council unanimously approved a motion to approve a subdivision at 15-21 Quay’s Road.

“With this approval in principle they would need to meet all the development regulations identified by our town planner, which are consistent with previous developments that the town has had,” said councillor Keith O’ Driscoll.

The Town also approved a Crown Land application for a proposed access road for the Bristol Landing Phase III Subdivision. That motion was approved unanimously, with no further discussion.

Bay Bulls Town Hall to undergo repairs

By Mark Squibb/May 5, 2022

The Town of Bay Bulls in the April meeting approved some repairs for the town hall that members of council say need to be seen to sooner rather than later.

“There have been a series of items around the building that have been identified that need to be addressed,” explained Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien.

Council unanimously approved $19,000 plus HST, worth of repairs.

“It’s work that has got to be done,” said councillor Keith O’Driscoll. “If anyone’s been down to the council building lately, they would notice some rot around the windows and around the doors. Unfortunately, the building is getting to the age where we’re going to have to start spending money on it.”

Councillor Jason Sullivan agreed with the assessment, saying that if council waited any longer the situation would likely only get worse.

The Town also awarded English’s Paving a contract worth $23,925 plus HST, to patch paving at  six areas throughout town.

Sections of Sheldon Drive, Southside Road, Quay’s Road, Jane Walsh’s Lane, Bill Joy’s Lane and Marsh Road will receive patching.

Troake at odds with colleagues on hiring of Town Clerk

By Mark Squibb/May 5, 2022

There were only a handful of items on the agenda last week, but Witless Bay councillor Alex Troake voted against two of them.

The Town of Witless Bay council held a special meeting last week to approve an emergency work tender.

Also on the agenda were motions to hire a new town clerk and award a tender for janitorial services.

Troake voted ‘nay’ on both, with another councillor adding his ‘nay’ as well, which, because of limited numbers of councillors available to vote, was enough to scuttle the awarding of the janitorial contract.

Troake first voted against a motion, moved by councillor Ralph Carey and seconded by councillor Jacob Hayden to appoint Katherine Doyle as a temporary town clerk, as town clerk Geraldine Caul is on leave.

“I was just going to ask, for the benefit of everybody listening, a recap of the recruitment process overall,” asked Troake.

Carey said that he himself wasn’t involved in the recruitment process, but as far as he knew, the Town had narrowed the choice down to “three worthy individuals,” and that Mayor Trevor Croft and Town Manager Shawn Kavanagh, “came up our new town clerk, Kathrine Doyle.”

Carey described Doyle as a native of British Columbia, a real estate agent by trade who’s also worked for the CRA and Canada Post and has experience in bookkeeping, customer service and in the travel industry.

While Carey, Hayden, Gerard Dunn, and Croft voted in favour of the hiring, Troake voted against the motion.

Next, Dunn made a motion that the Town hire Trillium Services for janitorial work. Carey seconded that motion.

“If I’m not mistaken there were only two applicants, weren’t there?” asked Troake.

Carey confirmed there were only two bidders, but added there is no guarantee that if the Town put the tender out a second time it will receive any more bids. Later in the meeting Carey noted that one of the bidders back out, leaving only one true applicant.

In a follow up e-mail, Kavanagh clarified that in March the tender was awarded to the lowest bidder, but that that company had since backed out. As far as he knew, the Town has never had a contract with the runner up.

“The previous years that we’ve had our cleaning services out to tender, we’ve only had one applicant, and it was that same service that we are probably going to go with,” said Carey.

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable if we’ve only got one option,” said Troake. “It’s ‘take it or leave it.’ And in that case, I would prefer we put it back to tender and actively recruit because I’m sure there’s others in the area that would apply if they had seen the original job ad.”

The ad was not advertised in the local newspaper.

Carey argued that the Town had put the service to tender, and received only two applicants.

“I’m just saying, that sometimes you might have to recruit, or call people, and get them to participate in the tender,” said Troake.

Council discussed the matter for a few more moments, with councillor Jacob Hayden adding that he agreed with Troake that more choices would be nice.

The motion was put to a vote, and councillors Hayden and Troake both voted against the motion.

In favour of hiring the remaining bidder were Dunne, Carey, and Croft. Both Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and councillor Nancy Burke, who is on leave from council, were absent form the meeting, and thus did not vote.

The motion, having only the support of three members of council, did not pass.

The Southern Shore Breakers are once again Newfoundland’s senior hockey champs, defeating the Clarenville Caribous for the Herder Trophy. The members of the Breakers include, starting in the back row, from left: Mick Cutler (Trainer), Gerry Dalton (Assistant Coach), Darryl Costello (Assistant Coach), Josh Lunden (Head Coach), Blake Dalton, Connor McCarthy, Daniel Dalton, Steven Fowler, Brandon Baird, AJ Doyle, Brendan Houlihan, Dan Cadigan (A), Edward Farrell; and in the middle row:  Kieran O’Driscoll, Ian Sullivan (General Manager), Riley Spurrell, Michael Chafe (A), Bobby Upshall, Peter Kavanagh; and in the front, from left: Andrew Gale, Shayne Kavanagh, Mark Power, Keenan Kennedy, Jeremy Nicholas (C), Mark Yetman (Goaltender), Stephen Oates (A), Matthew Oates, and Andrew Brennan. Missing from the photo are Brandon Pye and Bradyn Brown.

Council approves contract to make emergency repairs at pool, North Side Track

By Mark Squibb/May 5, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay, in a special meeting of council last week, approved over $10,000 worth of work to help repair recent flood damage.

Councillor Ralph Carey made the motion that council approve the work, valued at about $10,290. Councillor Jacob Hayden, seconded it.

Councillor Gerard Dunne declared a conflict of interest as he works for Harbourside Engineering, the company contracted to do the work.

Carey said there was an urgency to get the work done as soon as possible, and that it would be completed within 14 days of awarding the contract.

The work will focus on two locations: the swimming pool/playground area and a section of North Side Track Road.

Councillor Alex Troake asked if the work was government funded or out of the town’s pocket.

Hayden said the town has submitted an application for emergency funding to help repair the flood damage from two previous storms.

“We’re going to apply for the funding but whether we’re successful or not, this work has to be completed, as it’s a safety hazard to anyone in the area,” said Hayden.

Troake asked what the safety issue was, and Hayden explained there was debris in the pool area, that fencing had been knocked down, and that culverts along North Side Track had been washed out, amongst other safety concerns.

Carey noted that as the weather warms up, more families are likely to visit the area, which makes the work even more urgent.

McDonald delivers ACOA cash to firms in Cape Broyle, CBS and Harbour Grace

Avalon MP Ken McDonald was in Cape Broyle Tuesday to splash around some ACOA money for a company there as well as businesses in Harbour Grace and Conception Bay South.

The Liberal MP announced that PD Industries Limited, headed by president Paul Dalton, is getting $600,000 to buy a “fuel-efficient” tugboat to provide services at St. John’s harbour and other harbours on the Avalon peninsula.

Harbour Grace Ocean Industries Limited is getting $473,500 to upgrade its equipment in order to improve its productivity and serve customers in the aquaculture industry.

And Bursey Manufacturing of CBS is getting $140,000 to buy digital technology, including a computer-controlled press brake, to be used in the manufacturing of steel tanks.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is designating all three contributions as “repayable,” which essentially means they are loans.

McDonald said the three infusions of money, for a total of more than $1.2 million, will create 13 jobs.

“Over the past two years, our local businesses have had to adjust how they operate to respond

to the challenges created by the pandemic,” said McDonald. “Supporting resourceful companies like PD Industries, Harbour Grace Ocean Enterprises and Bursey Manufacturing will help them pursue new

opportunities, increase productivity and create jobs here in this region.”

PD Industries Limited, located in Cape Broyle, is a family-owned marine service business that

provides rescue towing, anchor handling, barge towing, vessel towing, and other services.

Harbour Grace Ocean Enterprises Limited repairs and refits vessels, and also provides construction services for the fishing industry, tug and barge companies and the offshore oil sector.

Bursey Manufacturing Inc., of Long Pond, makes residential and industrial septic and oil tanks, as well as environmental double wall and waste oil tanks. The company also provides welding, sandblasting, industrial painting and plasma table cutting services to the oil industry, plumbing and heating retailers,

and industrial businesses.

Councillors denied access to plow monitors

By Mark Squibb/April 28, 2022

Councillors in Bay Bulls will no longer have access to a snow equipment monitoring system following an investigation from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

At their April 13 public meeting, councillors acknowledged the results of the investigation and rescinded a February motion in which they had granted themselves access to the AVL (auto vehicle locator) login system. The system tracks snow clearing equipment.

Back in February, the decision to access the AVL system caused a fair amount of debate.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien moved the motion to give councillors access to the system, while councillor Keith O’ Driscoll, opposed the idea, but seconded O’Brien’s motion so that council could discuss it.

“For myself, I don’t know if we actually really need to have a log in,” O’ Driscoll argued at the time. “At our last meeting that we held, we requested to see if the software could provide us an email or text message. If that’s something that the software is unable to do, maybe we can be given the ability to contact the contractor if we were to have a request from any of our residents.”

O’Driscoll suggested that if the AVL system is unable to e-mail or text councillors as to the whereabouts of snowclearing equipment, perhaps they could contact the snowclearing contractor directly to pass on requests from residents.

Mayor Neil O’Brien, however, countered that AVL is a common tracking system, and that if councillors had access to it, they could use it to keep residents updated on snow clearing, or answer specific snow clearing questions.

“With a log in you could do on your phone, you could answer some questions, like if someone had a question on if equipment is working or not, it would be easy to address,” said the mayor. “We have the tools and we’re paying for the service.”

Councillor Jason Sullivan said that as the motion involved access to a private contractor’s equipment information, the Town should check with the Privacy Office before proceeding. He also suggested that maybe just the chairperson of the Public Works committee have access to the log in code.

“Again, he’s a private contractor, yes, but he’s doing a public service,” said Mayor O’Brien. “He’s providing a duty to the residents of the town.”

Sullivan said he was just suggesting council tick all its boxes before moving ahead with the action. Councillor Keith O’ Driscoll voiced his agreement with Sullivan’s idea.

“I don’t see why elected town officials can’t have that same access,” said O’Brien. “I just don’t see why this is such a roadblock. I don’t see it.”

O’Driscoll made a motion that the Town make any inquiry to the privacy commissioner before voting on the matter.

Aspell then said that as a motion had already been made to grant access to the AVL log-in, council could either amend the first motion, or let it go to a vote, and, should that motion fail, make a second motion to check with the privacy question.

“Let’s go ahead for a vote,” said the mayor. “All in favour?”

Mayor O’Brien, Deputy Mayor O’Brien, and Jason Sullivan voted in favour of the motion to grant councillors access to the system. Councillors Keith and Shannon O’ Driscoll voted against it.

That vote set up the debate and vote for the April meeting.

Councillor Keith O’Driscoll noted the Privacy Commissioner’s ruling that councillors’ access to the AVL system was prohibited and that the Town should limit the number of staff who have access to it.

He then moved to rescind the February motion, which was seconded by councillor Shannon O’ Driscoll. Council then voted unanimously to rescind it.