St. Kevin's High School Boys Earn Bronze

St. Kevin’s High School boys earned bronze in the Carbonear Winter Classic basketball tournament earlier this January. From left to right are Aaron Hennessey, Brendan Ryan, Noah Anderchyk, Coach Pearce Penton, Carter Hynes, Evan St. Croix and Ben Winsor.

Bay Bulls supports banquet

The Town of Bay Bulls has approved funding for the annual senior’s outreach dinner at Mobile Central High School.

During January’s meeting, council voted to split the cost of the dinner with the school 50/50, but not without some discussion first.

Councillor Corey Ronayne asked how much the cost associated with the dinner usually amounted to in years past.

Councillor Shannon O’Driscoll explained that the last time the school hosted the event was in 2020, and the cost ran somewhere around $1,250.

“But we’ve budgeted $2,500 in this current budget, due to grocery costs,” said O’Driscoll. “And it depends too on the attendance numbers. They’re trying to get the support now, and then they’ll plan the dinner. So, I can’t really give a firm answer because it depends on the amount that attend.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Witless Bay helping fund trail clean up

By Mark Squires/February 3, 2023

Witless Bay council unanimously voted to approve a request from the ATV Association for $2,000 to support efforts to repair the railway trestle and washout between Dane’s Road and Bear’s Cove Road during a meeting held earlier this month.

Councillor Jacob Hayden declared a conflict of interest as he is the chairperson of the ATV Association.

The association recently completed phase one of a multi phase cleanup and repair to the rail bed.

“As most of you are aware, the association just completed phase one of repairs to the railway bed between Dean’s Road and Bear’s Cove Road, creating a safe and successful area for all drivers,” said councillor Ralph Carey. “This funding will be used to help the association procure cost-sharing grants to go towards further upgrades.”

Carey reminded council the Town has committed to saving the railbed, and said that donating the money now will save Witless Bay money in the long run.

“Our next phase is to complete repairs to a washout between Dean’s Road and Bear’s Cove Road,” said Carey. “This will complete the connection of the railbed between Witless Bay and Bay Bulls, allowing the association to continue it’s efforts to make it a more multi-use trail that will benefit all residents of Witless Bay.”

Carey concluded the association, made up of volunteers, is doing good work, and recommended council approve the request. Councillor Nancy Burke seconded the motion.

Later in the meeting, Hayden gave a short ATV Association Committee report, highlighting the upgrades, include trail-widening and ditching, that the group has undertaken.

Back in February, the Association received $5,000 in Multi-Materials Stewardship Board (MMSB) Come Home Year funding for clean up along the trails.

Mobile Central High Grade 5 girls placed first in the Newfoundland and Labrador Athletics Association (NLAA) Cross Country Series late this past year. In the back, from left to right, are team members Rhea Doyle, Jenna Keough, Kayleigh Dalton, Bree Joyce, Abbi Sullivan and Ivy Brothers. In the front, from left to right, are Callie Coombs, Lauren Johnson, Emilee Martin and Olivia O’Driscoll. submitted photo

Stricken from the record

By Mark Squibb/January 20, 2023

Bay Bulls council has condemned some old records to the shredder.

Council approved destruction of all records that had met or exceeded their retention period as outlined in the retention schedule specified in the Town’s retention and disposal policy during this week’s public meeting.

That motion was unanimously approved by council.

The policy was not to be found on the Town’s website, and an inquiry to Town staff went unanswered.

During that same meeting, council voted to strike two businesses from the Town’s tax roll because of closures – Building Blocks Preschool and Healing Hands Massage Clinic.

Those motions were also approved unanimously.

Wait a minute - there's no minutes

By Mark Squibb/January 20, 2023

The opening moments of a Witless Bay council meeting are usually pretty unremarkable, as council, like all town councils everywhere, begins each meeting by adopting the minutes of previous meetings. The minutes are an official written record of the previous meeting’s proceedings and decisions and a staple of municipal recordkeeping and administration.

During last week’s public meeting, however, when council came to the part of the agenda where it was supposed to review and vote on the previous meeting’s minutes of December 22 it hit a roadblock; the minutes were not to be found.

“Because those are not in our package, I recommend we adopt them at the next meeting,” suggested councillor Ralph Carey. 

That suggestion was agreeable with the rest of council, who unanimously approved the delay.

During that December 22 meeting, council adopted the 2023 budget and tax structure, deferred making a decision on whether the Town will help fund the Bay Bulls Bauline Athletic Association, and approved closure of the Town Hall over the holidays.

Witless Bay moves to fire Town Manager for a record fourth time

By Mark Squibb/January 20, 2023

They say the third time’s the charm, but that wasn’t the case for Witless Bay council, which last week moved to fire former Town Manager Shawn Kavanagh a fourth time.

There was no explanation from anyone on council as to why they were firing Kavanagh again.

The Irish Loop Post reached out to Mayor Trevor Croft afterwards, who said he was unable to comment on the matter.

He suggested Town Manager Geraldine Caul would be able to respond.

Caul replied to the inquiry with the same response she has offered on previous occasions — “The Town does not comment on matters pertaining to Human Resources,” she said.

Kavanagh could not be reached by deadline, but in times past has claimed the Town has not followed proper provincial legislation for laying off town staff.

The Town appointed Shawn Kavanagh as new Town Manager and acting Town Clerk back in February 2022, with Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard and councillor Alex Troake boasting at the time that council was able to make the hiring without the use of an outside consultant or hiring firm, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Kavanagh was hired to replace former Town Manager Kevin Kelley, who had been hired in September and then tendered his resignation in early October of 2021. Prior to Kelly’s hiring, the position of chief administrative officer had been filled for about a year by Pat Curran, an experienced municipal and business consultant. Previous to that, the top administrative position in the Town was the position of Town Clerk, which was filled by current Town Manager Geraldine Caul.

The motion to fire Kavanagh a fourth time passed unanimously.

Witless Bay once again delays BBBAA funding decision

By Mark Squibb/January 13, 2023

Witless Bay town council has once again delayed making a decision on how much — if any —funding it will commit to the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association (BBBAA) in 2023.

The issue was on this week’s agenda, but councillor Nancy Burke, council’s BBBAA representative, moved that council defer the matter once again to “give us a chance to make a decision and communicate with the parties invovled.”

Councillor Jacob Hayden said the Town has yet to review documents submitted by the BBBAA prior to the December 22 council meeting, noting that folks were busy over the holiday season and away from their offices.

“We just haven’t had the time to meet back-and-forth with the BBBAA and discuss what was going to be laid out, so hopefully we’ll have all that laid out and figured out in time for the next meeting,” said Hayden.

The item was on the agenda for a special meeting held December 22, and was deferred during that meeting, with Burke noting that more discussions were required.

Though council has not made a firm decision either way, it has budgeted $37,000 for recreation administration this year, money normally earmarked for the BBBAA.

Under the former agreement, which expired at the close of 2022, the Town gave the organization a $37,000 annual operating grant.

Council was divided earlier this year on whether to give the BBBAA a boost of $13,000 on top of the $37,000 to match the previous years funding, which had been boosted because of Covid measures.

Councillors Hayden, Nancy Burke, and Ralph Carey voted in favour of granting the increase, while councillors Gerard Dunne, Alex Troake, Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, and Mayor Trevor Croft had voted against it.

At the time, Troake had noted the MOU between the Town and the BBBAA was set to expire in 2022 and that it may be time to reconsider how the town funds recreation in the region.