Witless Bay council turns down money..... twice

By Mark Squibb/July 8, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay is saying ‘no’ to two funding streams that have already been approved by the funders.

Councillors rejected both pots of cash during their June 14 meeting.

First off, councillor Alex Troake motioned that council refuse the funding approved from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for Asset Management. Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard seconded the motion.

“Essentially, what this is is a funding program that allow municipalities to bring in experts who look at every asset in the community and prioritize and look at what repairs and upgrades are needed,” explained Troake. “It would be a great thing for us to have, and the amount approved is $46,560. The unfortunate part is until we got the approval, we knew nothing about it. And so, perhaps in 2023 we can apply again and budget for the $11,640 plus tax that the Town would be responsible for.”

Ralph Carey agreed with Troake’s assessment.

“Unfortunately, because of budgeting, we can’t (accept the funding),” said Carey. “It would be a great thing to take advantage of, and I guess we could try again in the future, but right now our hands are tied in terms of the budget.”

Council was unanimous in its decision to reject the money.

The next funding stream to be denied was capital works funding for a new town generator.

Troake motioned that council reject funding for the capital works project, and Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard seconded the motion.

“The Town applied, at least on information from the town planner, I believe it was, that we would be eligible under a 10 percent cost share which was approximately $10,000, but it was approved under 60/40, so, to spend, $80,000 on two generators when we had budgeted $20,000… for now we will reject it,” said Troake.

Yard asked Troake to clarify that the approval was for only one generator, not two. Troake said the funding approval specified that the approval was for one generator at the Puffin Centre.

Councillor Jacob Hayden then spoke briefly to offer a clarification of his own.

“Just to correct one little thing that Alex said, it was the town engineer that issued these applications, not the town planner,” Hayden said.

St. Kevin's student speaks up on the national stage

Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove’s Olivia Taylor has earned a bronze medal in the 2022 Skills Canada National Competition, held in Vancouver, B.C., the last week of May.

Students competing had to prepare a five-to-seven-minute speech ahead of the competition, which they had to deliver without the aid of warning lights, sounds, or timecards to help them keep track of time. Students then had to respond to a question based on the speech. On the next day of competition, students were given a prompt and had a maximum of 2 minutes to prepare a three-minute speech. Timecards were shown at 2 minutes, 1 minute, and 15 seconds to indicate time left on the clock.

The Grade 11 St. Kevin’s High student had won the bronze medal for the same category in the 2021 competition, which was held virtually.

Witless Bay takes next step in playground upgrade

The Town of Witless Bay held a special meeting Tuesday, June 21 to approve a tender for site work for playground upgrades.

“The whole purpose, or the primary purpose, of calling this meeting was to get this tender awarded because we are on a tight deadline to have the new playground equipment installed, and we need to site prep,” said councillor Ralph Carey.

Carey moved that council accept Harbour Construction’s quote of $15,956 (HST included) for site work and equipment installation. Councillor Jacob Hayden seconded the motion.

“We need to get this done to have our playground equipment installed,” said Carey. “It’s been sitting in storage for, I don’t know how many months, but too many months.”

Council had issued the tender for Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) funded site work at the playground/ballfield during a special public meeting of June 1.

ACOA announced the $120,000 in funding in February.

The money, said ACOA, is to be used to “enhance outdoor space to improve accessibility and safety and increase recreational opportunities for residents and visitors.” As part of the funding, upgrades include new playground equipment, ballfield renovations and enhancements of the trail system.

During that same public council meeting, which lasted just under six minutes in total, council approved two Crown land applications for Dean’s Road and a commercial development application for a new childcare centre at 294 Southern Shore Highway.

Witless Bay called yet another special meeting for June 28, with one of the items up for discussion being the awarding of the ballfield tender.

The Irish Loop Post reached out to two members of town staff, as well as Mayor Trevor Croft, and Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard for details of the decision Tuesday night, and tried the Town Hall again on Wednesday morning, but received no response by deadline.

Witless Bay council split over supporting Canada Day celebrations

By Mark Squibb/June 17, 2022

When Witless Bay council underwent a complete overhaul in this last year’s municipal election, folks knew that change was coming to the town hall, for better or for worse. Controversy around funding for the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA), however, was probably not on anybody’s bingo card.

During this week’s meeting, councillor and finance committee chairman Alex Troake brought forward a motion that council deny a request for funding from the BBBAA for a Canada Day Celebration.

According to Troake, the BBBAA had requested $800 each from Bay Bulls and Witless Bay, in addition to their own monies, to host the Canada Day event.

“My concern is, one, I haven’t seen any information on the actual budget other than high-level numbers, and another point of concern is that we’ve approved $37,000 for them, so if we start approving money for each individual event, we’re setting a precedent,” said Troake. “And I guess the most concerning point for me is that we still have not received audited, financial documents. The most recent thing we’ve received is from 2020, so it’s quite old already, and its not audited.”

The $37,000 that Troake referred to is an annual contribution made by the Town as per a signed MOU, which is set to expire this year.

Back in March, council voted to deny a request from the BBBAA to increase that annual donation to $50,000, as had been done by the previous council the year prior.

Troake, at the time, said that he could not support that request as he felt the BBBAA had not made enough effort to raise funds throughout COVID, saying that “while every other business organization in the world has pivoted, the BBBAA chose to sit on their hands.”

Troake raised a number of other objections to increasing the donation amount, including an allegation that the Town has not received the proper audited documents, that the association is too ‘Bay Bulls- centric’ and that the Town increased the donation previously out of an abundance of government COVID funding — funding that was no longer available.

Council was divided on the matter, with councillors Jacob Hayden, Nancy Burke, and Ralph Carey, voting in favour of the increase, and coucillors Gerard Dunne, Alex Troake, Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, and Mayor Trevor Croft voting against the increase.

The BBBAA’s Scott Penny, meanwhile, argued that any funds raised by the BBBAA go back to the community through recreation and infrastructure projects, and that funding from the towns help cover operating expenses (“We are not going to fundraise to pay salaries,” said Penney.)

As to the audited records, Penney said that the Town has the records on file.

“They need to check they’re filing system,” added Penney.

Flash forward to this week, and Troake said those same concerns still hold water for him.

Councillor Jaycob Hayden argued that, as per the MOU, the money provided through the MOU does not go towards events such as the Canada Day celebration. Troake argued that according to a ratification form in the Town’s possession, money from the Town cannot be put towards operating expenses to begin with.

Hayden said that the detail of the MOU would have to be renegotiated once it expires, but for the time being, money for the event would not be found among the $37,000 that the Town donated.

“The event, which I believe last year was held in Witless Bay, and they usually alternate between Witless Bay and Bay Bulls, is a big event for the town and it’s something to go to, and something for children to go to, and it’s an important event for sure,” said Hayden.

The argument did not sway Troake.

“I’m troubled by the BBBAA board’s actions,” said Troake. “And from what I’ve read in the Irish Loop Post and comments that have been made about me, this has been made personal. But at the end of the day, I just hold the BBBAA to the same standard that I hold any group that is receiving money from taxpayers in Witless Bay. To date, we have not received the information we have requested, so to approve any more money for the BBBAA, I couldn’t do it. And until all my concerns have been rectified, I just could not support any more money being approved for that group.”

Deupty Mayor Lorna Yard sided with Troake.

“It’s a difficult situation because they do good work, and we do want these events for families, and I’m hoping we can find some kind of way forward, because it has been difficult, but that being said, as Chair of Finance I know that Alex has spent a lot of time reviewing records and going through the finances and putting things together, and so for me, I’m going to support our Chair of Finance and his advice,” said Yard. “It doesn’t mean we have to burn everything down with the BBBAA, but I do want to support Alex and his work.”

When it came to a vote, council reached a stalemate. Against the motion to deny the funding were Hayden, Ralph Carey, and Mayor Trevor Croft.

Yard, Troake, and councillor Gerard Dunne voted to deny the funding.

Mayor Croft carried on with the next motion, but Carey brought the conversation back to the BBBAA motion.

“If the motion was defeated, does that mean we will supply the funding, or does that mean we won’t supply the funding?” he asked.

Croft said that as the vote was tied, it was declared a stalemate.

Carey, however, thought the motion, as it was a tie, would be defeated, and Troake concurred.

As to the question of whether the motion passed or didn’t, Croft said they would have to move on with the rest of meeting and have a discussion about the motion at a later date.

‘Well, we can’t delay it too long, because the event is July 1,” said Carey. “So, it won’t be tabled again until our next council meeting, which would be too late for the event.”

Troake noted that if they voted again, the result would be the same, and Croft moved on to the next item.

Absent for the vote was councillor and BBBAA representative Nancy Burke, who has been on a leave of absence for some time.

In fact, council, at last week’s meeting, voted to extend her leave by three additional months.

Burke had, in the past, voted in favour of increasing the BBBAA’s funding from $37,000 to $50,000.

Bay Bulls to install new crosswalk lights on Route 10

By Mark Squibb/June 9, 2022

The Town of Bay Bulls will be adding crosswalk lighting to help pedestrians safely cross a busy stretch of provincial road.

At its May 11 meeting, council made a motion to obtain quotes for the work. The Town received three bids, and councillor Shannon O’Driscoll made a motion during this week’s meeting that council contract Construction Signs Ltd., to supply and install the lights at a cost of 19,550 plus HST.

“I think this is a very dangerous intersection, and I really think the town needs some type of signage here,” said O’Driscoll.

She is not the only one to think so — the intersection has been a topic of conversation in the council chamber for years,

“A few years back, the crosswalk lights that had been there for some time… stopped functioning,” said Town Manager Jennifer Aspell. “We bought new battery packs but quickly learned that the equipment was obsolete. Various options were looked at at that time in consultation with the Department of Transportation and Works.”

The problem with the particular section of road, said Aspell, includes a heavy volume of foot traffic (including a number of young children), a blind turn, and high speeds.

“The posted speed limit is 50, but people rarely travel that,” said Aspell. “We have collected some data from one of our speed signs that said the average speed on that road was in excess of 70 kilometres an hour.

“The system that you’ve just approved will include two crosswalk lights, and they will both flash when activated, and then one each side, as you approach from St. John’s and as you approach from the Witless Bay area,” Aspell added. “Prior to the crosswalk there will be warning lights that will also flash when activated. So, if a pedestrian presses this button at the crosswalk, then the warning lights will start to flash to warn motorists that the crosswalk has been activated. And we’re hoping that creates an extra level of safety.”

In some ways, councils’ hands have been tied over how much they could do, as the road is the responsibility of the province.

Still, council felt that something had to be done.

“I think we have a responsibility to the pedestrians who cross there,” said Mayor Neil O’Brien. “We know it’s a high traffic area, we know people drive fast there, so I think it’s a worthwhile cause.”

Deputy Mayor Jason O’ Brien warned that even with the new system in place, folks should still be careful when crossing the road.

“This is certainly about the limits of what we can do as a council,” said O’Brien. “But you’re still probably going to have to make eye contact (with drivers) and not trust to the lights. It’s still a dangerous intersection, and there is the blind turn, so this is only an added measure, but its not a safeguard.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Petty Harbour park getting $25,000 spruce up thanks to TD and Arbor Day Foundation

By Craig Westcott/June 9, 2022

Ron Doyle was throwing dirt Sunday, but not the slanderous kind, which would have been out of character for the easy going, well-liked mayor of Petty Harbour – Maddox Cove. Doyle was instead tossing soil on some new trees that have been planted at the Cribbie’s Road Park and Community Garden overlooking the picturesque fishing village.

But first, Doyle had to cut the ribbon to open the rejuvenated park, which had received a $25,000 grant from TD Bank in conjunction with the Nebraska-based Arbor Day Foundation.

The Town worked with its local Development Corporation and Recreation Commission to land the money.

The Development Corporation’s treasurer, Vonda Hayes, noted that Petty Harbour is among 20 towns across North America getting a Green Space Grant this year, but the only one in Newfoundland.

“The goal of this grant is to reforest Cribbie's Park into a true green space,” Hayes said. “And thanks to a second grant of $10,000 that (the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer) Stephanie Stack applied for and accepted on behalf of the Town, we're going to have a wheelchair accessible pathway to access the park (as well). That will be happening this summer in July.”

Hayes noted Cribbie’s Park, which is located on a hill overlooking the harbour where people used to plant vegetables and keep animals, is probably the first site in Petty Harbour that was ever developed for a recreational purpose. In past years, the Town operated an outdoor rink there in winter and later it put in a ballfield, which was well used by the community’ storied softball players, a number of whom represented the province at the Canada Games and internationally.

“That was probably in the 70s and 80s,” Hayes said of the softball pitch. “Then it transformed again into a local park. Then it kind of, unfortunately, went a little bit downhill. The equipment had to be removed because of safety (concerns). So back in 2014 we wanted to revitalize this ground as a useful space for everybody in the community to enjoy. In 2021, the Town had a grant to remove all the trees that were there and put in sods. Now we've got this new grant where we will reforest the park. We've got about 30 trees altogether. There's about 16 shrubs and about 110 perennials that we're going to plant. And we're looking for volunteers. This is just a kick-start to many things that are going to happen up here this summer. And the finale is going to be August 7 when we're going to have a concert up here that everybody is going to be welcome to come join and help celebrate the completion of this. So, this is a summer long project and we'll be looking for lots of people to help us out."

Mayor Doyle complimented the members of the Development Corporation, Recreation Commission and previous and current town councils for seeing the project through.

"It's amazing the work that has gone on here over the last couple of years," Doyle said. "I guess we never thought we'd see it come to fruition. But we're delighted… It's amazing what they've done with this piece of ground. I see a great future for this area. "

Doyle said the August 7 concert will mark the start of the town's Come Home Year festival, which will run for a week and include lots of activities. Many volunteers will be needed, he added.

"Probably the reason we didn't have a festival over the last number of years was the lack of volunteers,” said the mayor. “This year, all of the committees came on board, and we have 10 or 12 people on our (planning) committee. It's a great committee."

In an interview later, Doyle explained how valuable the Green Space Grant is given the Town mostly relies on cost-shared government funding programs to pay for its recreation infrastructure.

"In this case we were fortunate to get an Arbor Grant... and we're delighted to be able to get that,” said the mayor. “It's not every year you can budget recreation money, but it's very, very important, especially for a town like us to be able to get a green space in Petty Harbour. There are not many green spaces here. This is a great day for the community."

Witless Bay mayor says new Town Manager just on leave

By Mark Squibb/June 9, 2022

The Town of Witless Bay is down another body, as Town Manager Shawn Kavanagh has taken a leave of absence.

Upon hearing rumors that Kavanagh was no longer working with the Town, the Irish Loop Post reached out to the Town Hall staff, Mayor Trevor Croft, Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, and Kavanagh himself.

Four phone calls to the Town Hall made between Tuesday and Wednesday last week went unanswered, although town staff did respond to an e-mail inquiry, stating that Kavanagh was “currently off on leave.”

Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard said that she could not comment on the matter, stating that the mayor is the town’s official spokesman.

Mayor Trevor Croft, when asked if Kavanagh still worked for the town, said that Kavanagh was currently on a leave of absence.

Kavanagh himself confirmed that he was technically on a leave of absence, but that he wasn’t at liberty to discuss it at the moment.

Currently, the Town is staffed by Town Clerk Katherine Doyle and Financial and Administrative Assistant Cassie O’ Rielly, while former Town Clerk Geraldine Caul remains on leave.

O’Rielly, Doyle, and Kavanagh were all hired within the last seven months.

O’Reilly was hired in late November of 2021 to fill the position left vacant by Barbara Harrigan, who had quit last year, but returned briefly following the election to help the new council transition.

Kavanagh began working with the town February 21. He was hired to replace former Town Manager Kevin Kelley who quit in October. Kelley quit just a month after he was hired to replace former chief administrative officer Pat Curran.

Doyle was hired at the beginning of May to fill the position left vacant by Geraldine Caul. Councillor Alex Troake, who had inquired of council about the recruitment process, voted against that hiring.

As to the unanswered phone calls to Town Hall, O’Rielly, Croft, and Yard all said that staff were extremely busy at the time.