Celtic CBDC provided 10 loans last year

By Staff/November 4, 2021

The Celtic CBDC approved 10 applications last year and provided counselling to some 119 clients, according to figures released at its annual general meeting last month.

The organization is a not-for-profit community-based lender serving businesses and workers from Petty Harbour to Riverhead, St. Mary’s Bay. Its office is located in Ferryland. CBDC stands for Community Business Development Corporation. There are 15 CBDCs in Newfoundland and Labrador and others across Atlantic Canada. Celtic CBDC also manages the annual Youth Ventures entrepreneurial program. In its region.

One of Celtic’s earliest and most successful clients, Dianne Costello of Quality Home Care Services, which employs more than 100 people on the Southern Shore, was the guest speaker for the event. Costello started the company in her basement 15 years ago and has grown the venture into one of the biggest home care and compassionate care providers in the province, serving people from St. Shotts to St. John’s out of a newly-constructed headquarters in Ferryland.

In addition to Costello’s address, reports were provided on Celtic’s activities and financial statements.

Compared to the years prior to Covid-19, the Celtic CBDC’s activity appears to be down, but the organization was still busy, according to its numbers. The average size of loans issued for the period was $68,965. The total value of the assistance it provided during the year was $482,754.

Aside form loans and business counselling, Celtic helped seven businesses last year and helped maintain, or create some 43 jobs. It provided 10 Entrepreneurial Training Fund sessions and eight business client sessions to some 56 clients on topics including finance, management, marketing and business coaching.

Overall, Celtic CBDC has some $4.2 million in outstanding loans and investments, with about 30 per cent of its portfolio loaned to businesses in the accommodations and food services sector. Loans to fisheries enterprises make up 16 per cent of its portfolio, with arts and entertainment enterprises composing a further eight per cent, health care eight percent, and construction nine per cent.

Holyrood businessman eulogized at council

By Craig Westcott/October 28, 2021

Well known Holyrood businessman, raconteur and country music fan Brendan Hunt left a deep impression on most people who knew or met him over the years, including Holyrood Mayor Gary Goobie, who paid tribute to him at last week's public council meeting.

Hunt, who had a long and successful career in the investment business and also operated The Tea Room in Holyrood, passed away October 2 at the age of 69.  In addition to his business activities, Hunt also spent some years serving on Holyrood council in the 1990s.

"He was a trailblazer," said Mayor Goobie. "He was quite a guy in many ways. He was a builder and he was a difference maker in the business world, during his tenure on council, with the parish and in his family life."

Hunt established First Atlantic Financial in 1992 and expanded it to Ontario this past August under the banner of First Atlantic Private Wealth. 

“He and his wife Marie made incredible improvements and renovations to the former Carroll property on Northside Road, converting out buildings into beautiful dwellings and B&Bs," Goobie added. "On the southside of Holyrood they acquired the original Olaf Olsen (heritage) property in 1991 and turned it into the successful Tea Garden, which operated for many years."
During his time on council, meanwhile, Hunt was the driving force behind the creation of the Festival Grounds, Goobie noted.

"He and Marie were also very committed to supporting the church and (Holy Cross) parish in numerous ways over the years," Goobie said. "Marie was also his best friend. They were inseparable, and they were a team."

But it was Hunt's personality that particularly registered with Goobie, and many others who knew him.

"Brendan had a no-nonsense approach," said the mayor, "and never accepted the attitude that something could not be done. He was relentless in his pursuit of making things happen, both for his family and for his community."

Goobie said Hunt, whom he viewed with the utmost respect and admiration, served as a mentor during his own early years on council.

"So, I'd like to share a story that has stuck in my mind for many years," said Goobie. "It's about the Green Acres subdivision. Brendan was vexed one night at a council meeting that these residents were living in an unpaved subdivision for years, literally choking on dust from the gravel road. He said, 'You can't even hang out a pair of drawers on the line.' When we asked where the money was going to come from, his response was pretty blunt. ‘Well, there's lot of money over at the bank. Go get a loan and get it done,' he implored. And that was exactly the way he said it. Needless to say, when he got on a little rant, we weren't going to get in his way. And lo and behold, the pavement was laid sooner than later. So, when you drive down Green Acres, think of Brendan Hunt, because he was the guy who made that happen. And I could go on and on with the stories, and I'm sure many of his friends and acquaintances in our community could share many a story and pleasant laughs about this wonderful gentleman."

Goobie extended sincere condolences on behalf of the Town of Holyrood to Hunt's wife Marie and all his family, which includes four sons and a daughter, as well as grandchildren and a large circle of relatives, in-laws and friends.

Bay Bulls committee sets its eyes on museum, tourist kiosk

By Mark Squibb/October 28, 2021

Members of the Bay Bulls heritage committee hope that with a little funding, a town museum and tourist kiosk could be in the town’s future.

There is no member of council yet on the committee, so the Town’s chief administrative officer, Jennifer Aspell, provided a brief update during the October 12 public meeting.

“We’ve identified some priorities which are achievable in the short and long term, and we’ve also met with some potential funding partners to see what types of projects could be funded,” said Aspell. “Right now, the heritage committee seems to be keenly interested in a couple of things. One would be the construction of a tourism kiosk, because we currently don’t have anything in the town for tourists such as an information centre. Also, a long-term plan, because we know that there has been a lot of interest from the general public, would be to construct a museum.”

Aspell said there is a tremendous amount of heritage within the community, and the committee wants to capture and preserve as much of the town’s history as possible.

“So, the heritage committee is going to continue to meet and engage the business community and see what kind of activities the heritage committee could be taking on that might increase economic development within the town,” said Aspell.

She said the committee was not yet an independent body so that committee items would continually come back to council for consideration.

Council would of course ultimately decide which, if any, funding applications to submit.

As to Bay Bulls itself, the town name first appeared on a map drawn by Thomas Hood in 1592. During it’s 400-year history, the town, being a harbour community, was raided and attacked a number of times, but still stands firm to this day. The Bay Bulls Harbour is also a Provincial Historic Site, as it is the home of one of Canada’s earliest shipwrecks. The HMS Sapphire sunk in 1696 following an attack by a French ship during King William’s War (1689-1697). The wreck lies at the bottom of Bay Bulls Harbour.

Another week, another vacancy in Witless Bay

By Mark Squibb/October 21, 2021

The Town of Witless Bay is looking to hire a full time, paid fire chief.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because they did that just five months ago.

Maria Churchill was hired in late May, and began work on May 31, selected by L.W. Consulting from a pool of over 30 applicants.

Churchill is the latest in a string of town staff who have hung up their hats in recent months. Currently, the town has no CAO, no town clerk, and now, no fire chief.

During the October 19 meeting, in which the news of the chief’s departure became public, Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard moved that council proceed immediately with the process of hiring a new paid fire chief.

The problem is that council is unsure how to proceed.

“My question to council is, how do you want to proceed with this?” asked Yard. “(Councillor) Alex (Troke) has done some research on our previous consultant, and they don’t really owe us anything because the position didn’t work out. So, we’re basically back at square one.”

Troake said it would be best to tender the position through a consultant, but the process will undoubtedly take at least a few weeks.

Mayor Trevor Croft noted the previous consulting firm had a number of applicants, and he wondered if that list was available for council’s use.

“There may have been good candidates there that weren’t chosen for whatever reason, it doesn’t make them a bad fire chief, it just means that they weren’t chosen for that position for whatever reason,” said Croft. “Could that be the quickest route, because now time is absolutely urgent. So, would someone have seven or eight names to give us, or do we go fishing for names, is my question.”

Council met with the outgoing fire chief last week.

“We met with the outgoing fire chief last week, and we had a great discussion with her, and she gave us some really good advice,” said Yard. “It was unfortunate that we couldn’t persuade her to stay. We tried, but that didn’t work out. So, we wanted to make sure that we moved ahead with this, and do it right, so we’re not in this situation again where we can’t hold on to a fire chief.”

Yard said the town also met with members of the volunteer fire department.

“Council had a very positive meeting last night with the fire department,” she said. “They’re a very busy department. Our town is growing, all the areas that they’re serving are growing, and it’s critical that they have a paid fire chief and the support of the town, which they certainly do.”

She said that volunteers at the station told council they felt like they had little input into the hiring, and she would like to see them more involved.

Council voted unanimously to move ahead with the process.

In the previous meeting, council voted unanimously to cancel the $500 limit on the fire chief’s spending.

Bay Bulls council finds itself short

By Mark Squibb/October 21, 2021

Bay Bulls’ new council ran into an old problem right off the bat at its first meeting last week – a lack of quorum, because some councilors were in a conflict of interest.

The item on the agenda was an application for a utility shed.

Councilor Keith O’ Driscoll declared himself in conflict as he had an immediate family member adjacent to the property.

His wife and fellow councillor Shannon O’Driscoll declared herself in conflict for the same reason.

Thirdly, Mayor Neil O’Brien declared conflict, as he lives in close proximity to the property.

As three of the five councilors had declared conflict, quorum was lost, and a vote could not be taken.

The town’s chief administrative officer Jennifer Aspell said council can request ministerial approval for the remaining two members to vote on the matter.

Councillor Jason Sullivan asked if Mayor O’Brien could retract his declaration, but Aspell said he could not as he had already declared.

Sullivan joked that council ought to just let the applicant put the shed up, seeing as council couldn’t vote on the matter.

When Aspell asked if council wanted to go ahead and seek ministerial approval, Sullivan said that by the time approval was granted the shed would be built, so it didn’t matter.

“Well, that’s not really the case,” said Aspell after a pause. “There has to be a decision on this matter, so either you ask for ministerial approval for the remaining two to make a decision, or we can defer it until next month and see if it can be dealt with then.”

A recommendation was made to defer the motion, but Sullivan argued there was no point to deferring it as council will not be able to deal with it at the next meeting for the same reason.

The agenda item will be back on the agenda once ministerial approval is granted. The actual location of the property was never identified during the meeting.

Earlier in the meeting, council grappled with a similar challenge with conflict of interest. The town had received an application for a family home on Track Road Extension.

First, councilor Keith O’Driscoll inquired whether he would be in conflict, as an immediate family member lives on the same street.

Sullivan made the motion that O’Driscoll was not in conflict. He noted that if he was, his wife Shannon would be too, and council would not have a quorum to deal with the matter.

Put to a vote, council determined the couple were not in a conflict.

But then Mayor O’Brien declared himself in conflict, because he lives near the proposed construction site.

That led to Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien assuming the chair.

After all the wrangling about who was or was not in a conflict, council denied the application due to a lack of information.

Following that motion, council unanimously approved construction of a commercial building on Winnonish Drive.

The previous council had, with permission from the provincial government, reduced the town’s complement of councilors from seven to five after numerous attempts to fill two vacancies fell short. This past election, 10 people ran for council, but the Town stuck with limiting the council complement to five positions.

Sullivan not on board with Joan for repairs to Lifestyle Centre

By Mark Squibb/October 21, 2021

During the first public meeting of the newly minted Bay Bulls council, held October 12, councilor Jason Sullivan made it known he was not impressed with the size of the cheque the town will have to cut to cover the cost of repairs to the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre.

“The town was awarded funding back in late August, we’ve been unable to make an announcement, and still not making an official announcement, to complete upgrades to the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre,” said Town CAO Jennifer Aspell.

She explained the funding was awarded on a 50/50 cost shared basis. The town’s contribution will be $346,765, and upgrades will include roof replacement, installation of a back-up generator, (Aspell noted there is currently no emergency warming centre in town, and that the back up generator would allow the town to offer such a centre), installation of air flow vents throughput the building and heat pumps for energy efficiency, and other upgrades.

Aspell said the Town has received approval from the Community Credit Union, and now just needs to make a resolution to sign the loan agreement.

Sullivan wished to discuss the matter before a motion was made, but Aspell pointed out that under the rules of order, a motion had to be made first in order to have a discussion.

Sullivan then made a motion to discuss the item, but quickly let council know that though he would vote in favour of the motion, he was not really for it.

“We kind of got blind-sided by this, as it is our first meeting,” said Sullivan. “I just want to make it very clear that I’m not really happy about how this building is only 10 years old and we’re pumping a million dollars into it now. So, I just want to make it clear that it’s a lot of money and we don’t take it lightly.”

The loan would be amortized over a 10-year period, with a locked in rate of 3.5 per cent over the first five years. It would be renewable after five years. Payments would by $3,400 per month during the five-year term.

Returning officer questions actions of new Witless Bay councillors

By Mark Squibb/October 14, 2021

Witless Bay returning officer Cathy Armstrong was none too impressed with an impromptu swearing-in ceremony that she says should never have taken place.

Armstrong says she was hired by the Town to work the advance polls, election, nomination process and swearing-in ceremony.

Unfortunately for Armstrong, she came aboard in the midst of a flurry of staff resignations that left the Town Hall empty.

“I guess you could say I was the last person working there,” said Armstrong.  She added that CAO Kevin Kelly, who she said was a very nice person, was the last employee to resign, leaving the job shortly after the advance poll. So, from September 14 onward, she was the town’s lone employee.

“Even simple things, like how to use the copier, I had to learn on my own,” said Armstrong.

She hired some help to count the ballots and help instruct voters on election day.

 “We had an enormous turnout of people, to the point where when we started counting the ballots, it took us right into 2 o’clock in the morning before we got them all done,” said Armstrong. “It was just a steady count.”

She said despite the long hours, election night went well, and that COVID protocols were followed and voters were patient and kind.

Wednesday morning, after not getting to bed until around 3 a.m., Armstrong said she went to the council building, called Municipal Affairs and sent in the appropriate paperwork.

Then came Thursday.

“Thursday was going to be a nice little holiday; I would finally have some time to breath — until all Hell broke lose,” said Armstrong. “On Thursday, I started getting hounded by some of the councillors, four of them, that wanted to be sworn in right away. But I was trying to explain to them that there was a window of three days that the other candidates have to decide if they want a recount. Even though there were no big margins, I still felt they had the right to have that three day (period) that was in the ruling.”

One candidate, Jacob Hayden, was out of the province, and Armstrong said she was being pressured by other members of council to swear him in through a virtual ceremony.

“They were telling me that I had to swear him in virtually,” said Armstrong. “You can’t swear someone in virtually, they have to sign that Oath of Office in front of me.”

She touched base with Municipal Affairs, which confirmed that a candidate cannot be sworn-in virtually.

Eventually, Armstrong decided to host the ceremony on Sunday, October 3, at 4 in the evening.

That was not soon enough however, for some councillors who wanted to be sworn in immediately.

She said one of them even came to her house.

“He came in very nasty, and in a shouting kind of way wanted to know where I was at,” said Armstrong. “He told me that, no way no how, that I had to swear him in right there and then.”

She said the councillor demanded to be sworn in right away because he was afraid the former council would spend all the town’s money before Sunday’s swearing in ceremony.

“He got very nasty about it, and very upset by it,” said Armstrong. “I couldn’t listen to him any more. So, I told him, ‘I am doing your swearing-in on Sunday at 4 o’ clock, and that’s it. I’m going to call all the rest of them and let them now the same thing.”

Armstrong said that the man told her he wouldn’t be home on Sunday, and insisted she do it before then.

“That night I got a message from someone, asking, “Did you know that Lorna Yard is planning a swearing-in ceremony in her living room at 1 o’clock?’” said Armstrong. “She can’t do that. She’s an elected councillor, she can’t override what I was put here to do. Who does that? I couldn’t believe it. So, then I called one of the council members, and apparently, they had been called and asked to be (there), because they were going to be swore in at Lorna Yard’s. And I said, ‘There’s something not right with this picture.’”

Armstrong said she then went to newly elected councillor Nancy Burke, and that Burke had heard of it, but wasn’t planning on attending.”

“Around 1:30 or 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, I got a call from a friend of mine saying that there were people entering the council building,” said Armstrong.

She said she was so disturbed, as she thought she was the only one who had a key to the building, that she phoned the RCMP.

“If anything was stolen or broken, because you know yourself that the council building is a very sacred place, there’s so much personal information held there, and no one has any business in that building unless they have authority to be there, and there’s management (present),” said Armstrong. “But there wasn’t, they just walked in, apparently got sworn-in, and did whatever they liked. So, I called the RCMP and told them the story, and told them that I just wanted it on file that I was not near that building on Saturday.”

Four members of council were indeed sworn-in that Sunday — new Mayor Trevor Croft, new Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, and councillors Gerard Dunne and Ralph Carey, who had served on the 2013 – 2017 council.

Armstrong immediately cancelled plans to hold the ceremony on Sunday.

“I could not do a swearing-in ceremony on Sunday for the simple fact that Lorna Yard and the other three council members were after going over my head and doing something that wasn’t ethical,” she said. “I can’t understand why they did what they did… They did it for power, not to help the people they said they were going to be council members for.”

Come Monday, she phoned Municipal Affairs and was told the ceremony was perfectly within the right of the councillors who had wished to be sworn-in. She said they then asked her to simply swear in the other three at a later date.

Come Tuesday evening, Armstrong did swear-in the remaining three members of council – Alex Troake, Jacob Hayden, and Nancy Bruke.

Croft came out on top of the municipal election, earning 520 votes. At council’s first public meeting, held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 8, he introduced himself as the new mayor of Witless Bay.

“It’s a bit daunting at first,” said Croft. “But you get into the swing of things. We’re after having one meeting already, and it went fairly smoothly. We’ll have another meeting on the nineteenth. So, the more I get involved with it the more comfortable I feel.”

Croft was declared mayor, while Yard, who finished sixth in the vote count, was declared deputy mayor.

The actual election of those positions, however, happened in a private meeting before the public meeting via a secret ballot, according to Croft.

He admits several members of council, himself included, wanted to be sworn-in immediately.

“I respect Cathy, and she’s done an absolutely fantastic job this entire election, but there were some issues that arose,” said Croft.  “She didn’t want to swear us in when we wanted to, so we decided, in order to get things done and get things moving as quick as possible, we went a different route… There were some issues on council, and we needed to get in as quick as we can to make sure that we didn’t fall behind. And we learned there was a lot more fallen behind than we actually thought there was. But we had to get in as quick as possible to make sure that everything was going to be worked out as quickly as possible. So, the majority of us got sworn in as early as possible, and the others that didn’t get sworn in right away got sworn in at a later day.”

He said the swearing in ceremony held on Saturday was completely above board.

“Everything was done completely legally,” said Croft. “We went to Municipal Affairs to find out the proper way to do it. They knew the situation in Witless Bay has never been easy.”

He said a commissioner of oaths came by to swear-in the councillors. As to how they got inside the building, Croft said Armstrong was wrong in asserting she was the only one with a key.

“There’s five or six keys to that building, so I think she was a bit mistaken,” said Croft. “I got my key off a past councillor. Once we were sworn in, that’s when I got the key.”

He did not provide the name of that councillor, as he said they had asked not to be named.

“Once Cathy realized the rules and regulations weren’t what she thought the rules and regulations were, that’s when everything started to move smoothly again,” said Croft. “It went a little hairy there for a little while, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle for sure.”

As for the supposed idea of a swearing-in ceremony in Yard’s living room, Croft said he had never heard of it. Yard herself was unavailable for comment, Tuesday, citing a personal matter.

Croft said one of the major issues that needs to be addressed is staffing.

As Armstrong alluded to, the town hall was unstaffed for a period of at least aa couple of weeks. Council voted during its Friday night meeting to appoint former assistant town clerk Barbara Harrigan, who resigned a few months back, to a temporary clerk’s position.

“She came out of retirement to help us out for a couple of months,” said Croft. “We’re going to be hiring somebody here soon I assume to be her assistant and get trained in. So, we’re very thankful that Barb is back, she’s going to help us out a lot.”

Croft said getting the positions of CAO and Town Clerk filled are among the highest priorities of council.

“The most important thing is to get the town hall opened up so that people can get their taxes paid and get their permits and stuff like that,” said Croft. “If we don’t have anybody in the office, we can’t get anything done, and it’s been backing up for a while, so Barb has her work cut out for her over the next couple of weeks.”

Croft said he didn’t know whether folks on the payroll, such as maintenance workers or the fire chief, had gone without pay due to the lack of staff.

“We’re on damage control right now, which we really shouldn’t be, we should be concentrating on other issues, but we have to fix all these problems before we can start making things better,” Croft said.

The first public meeting of council was short, lasting 15 minutes, with more of a focus on hitting the brakes than the gas pedal. One of the first items of business was to rescind the motion of the previous council which had issued a contract for an extension to Mullowney’s Lane. That was followed by a motion to order law firm Stewart McKelvey, which represented the Town against groups such as Yard’s that opposed that work off, to cease all activities on behalf of the town. The new council also ordered O’Brien’s Contracting, which was constructing the extension, to cease all activities on behalf of the town pending a review.

All three motions passed unanimously with no debate.

Another motion that passed unanimously was that the locks on the town hall and Puffin Centre be changed, which effectively locks out community groups that use the Puffin Centre, at least for the time being.

Councillor Jacob Hayden said it was simply a matter of council wanting to get a grasp on how many keys have been distributed to community groups, and that those who should have keys will get new ones.

The next public meeting will take place October 19.

'No harm in applying' says Witless Bay fire chief

By Mark Squibb/October 7, 2021

Those interested in becoming a member of the Witless Bay Volunteer Fired Department ought to get their applications in sooner rather than later, as the Department is actively recruiting new members.

There are currently 27 members and Fire Chief Maria Churchill says the hope is to one day reach a complement of 40.

“I’m not sure at this point and time with a single recruitment drive that we’ll be able to reach that number, but 40 would be an optimal number,” said Churchill.

And if you’re on the fence about applying, Churchill says to just give it a try.

“If you’re not sure about applying, there’s no harm in applying,” said Churchill. “Once you go through the interview process and you understand what the department does and what the department focuses on, then you can decide whether or not you’re able to commit to the fire department or not. But I do encourage anybody who’s on the fence, wondering if they should or shouldn’t, to apply, because there really is no harm in trying.”

Applications are due October 7, although Churchill said that late applications will receive consideration.

The station just hosted a hazardous materials course which was attended by 13 folks representing seven fire departments across the Avalon, with some people driving from as far as Victoria.

“It shows that people are willing to travel to access the training when it’s available,” said Churchill.

Mullowney narrowly falls short of re-election

By Mark Squibb/October 7, 2021

For the first time in over three decades, Harold Mullowney will not have a seat at the Bay Bulls council table.

Mullowney earned 243 votes for himself. It was 21 votes less than he needed to land a seat.

He isn’t terribly disappointed by the outcome.

“It was a bit of a relief,” said Mullowney. “I’ve been there 31 years, and pumping in 25, sometimes 30 hours a week into council and other activities I’m involved with. So, I have a chance now to step back and rest and relax a bit and let someone else take the reins and see how they can do for a while.”

He looks back at his time on council with fondness.

“I’ve had 31 good years there,” said Mullowney. “I’ve been mayor and deputy mayor for most of it. I’ve seen a lot of things change in Bay Bulls over those years and in the region, and I’m proud of many of the accomplishments we’ve made, especially in the last four years. We had a good council, we worked very well together, and put in place a number of initiatives that helped the community a great deal. We did a lot of road work and a lot of other activities. It’s unfortunate that most people did not recognize how involved the council was, and how much had been accomplished. But I’m proud of what we’ve done collectively. We have a great staff and had a great council, and I just hope that those who are taking over have the time, and the energy, and the commitment to continue some of the initiatives that we’ve started.”

Residents voted out all five incumbent members of council who ran for re-election.

“Sometimes people just want change for change, and sometimes change is good,” said Mullowney. “Only time will tell.”

Interestingly, the exact same scenario played out in Witless Bay, with residents voting in an entirely new slate of candidates.

Had Mullowney been running in Witless Bay — or pretty well any other council across the province — he would have actually been re-elected. Bay Bulls confirmed the week before the vote that only five candidates would be elected, rather than the typical seven.

For a number of years, council had tried fruitlessly to fill an empty council seat. Calls for candidates went unheeded. The resignation of Evelyn Tucker some time back left a council already struggling to meet quorum with a second vacancy.

The town applied for special permission from the provincial government to operate with a complement of five councillors. That permission was granted.

“It was getting tiresome to constantly go back to the minister to get permission to vote on things,” said Mullowney. “So, we had it reduced to five so that our quorum changed, and we could run the town more effectively. That being said, there will always be an issue around getting quorum in small towns.”

Even with the election approaching, Mullowney said council thought it best to keep things as they were. He said after discussions with council it was more or less taken for granted that council would stick with a complement of five.

“Seven was a good number to work with, but to go back to the minster and ask to go back to seven, when we had such difficulty getting anyone to step forward, and the minister’s first question I’m sure would have been, ‘Well, what’s the rationale for this?’ And before the election we had no concept of who was going to run, so we had no rationale for it,” Mullowney said.

Ten people ended up putting their names forward, including the five former members.

Mullowney said his fear was that had council opted to elect seven then they would soon be back to the minister to request another reduction to five.

“That being said, I will not be surprised if you see the complement reduced to five in much of the province as we move forward, because many towns are having that very same issue,” said Mullowney.

Former councilor Eric Maloney would also have made it to council, had a full complement been elected.

Mullowney thanked those in the community who have supported him over the years.

“I will still be very active in my role with the East Coast Trail,” said Mullowney. “And I might actually get a chance now to get out and walk some of that beautiful trail. We have a gem here on the east coast of Newfoundland.”

He hopes the new council will carry out the initiatives laid out in the town’s strategic plan, and noted upgrades to the Regional Lifestyle Centre and recreation fields have already been approved. He would like to see council continue to work on the hiking trail near Long Pond.

“Much of the planning has been done, and some of this work is ‘shovel-ready,’ so you can start it immediately,” said Mulloweny.

He added that he would like to see the next phase of Irish Town Road, along with other roads in the community, completed as well.

Witless Bay's top candidate excited about town's future

By Mark Squibb/October 7, 2021

When Trevor Croft saw the election results for the Town of Witless Bay, he admits he was just as much asleep as awake.

“I was half asleep, so I didn’t even know if I was awake or dreaming, or what exactly was going on,” he laughed.

Croft can hardly be blamed for feeling sleepy — it was well after 2 a.m. when the results were finally released.

“I’m pretty sure I aged 10 years in a couple of hours,” said Croft. “I’m pretty sure I went gray and everything. It was extremely stressful, just waiting and waiting and waiting… It’s like when you’re a kid trying to go to sleep on Christmas night — it doesn’t happen no matter how much you try.”

In the end, he commended staff for taking the time to make sure things were done right.

Out of the 13 candidates who put their names forward, Croft amassed 520 votes, the most of any of them.

According to the Town’s election document, 684 people cast ballots in Witless Bay, meaning that 76 per cent of residents ticked his name on their ballot.

“I was a bit shocked,” admitted Croft, who chalked up his success at the polls to good old fashioned legwork.

He knocked a number of doors on his own, and him and fellow candidate Alex Troake, who was also elected to council, teamed up to knock doors.

“Ninety percent of the people that we talked to wanted basic things — speedbumps, new stop signs, simple stuff like that,” said Croft. “Even the high tax base that we have in out town right now, a lot of people said they don’t care how high the taxes are as long as they can see their tax dollars going towards something good for the town. I think that really helped, just us going door to door asking people exactly what their issue was. Some people lived in town their whole lives and they never had somebody from council knock on their door.”

Residents in Witless Bay of course voted in a whole new slate of council members.

Croft said the group of seven collectively were amazed to have all gotten in.

“We were all shocked, every single one of us,” he said. “I’m still amazed that all seven of us got in like that. It’s crazy.”

He said that residents have long desired change in the council chambers, and that the election was proof of that.

“We’ve been waiting for change for a long time,” said Croft. “It’s nice to see people get out and support change.”

He said the 2022 budget and snow clearing contracts will likely be some of the new council’s first items.

Ragged Beach is also an issue that Croft said council should look into — eventually.

“It affects two percent of the population in town, and we really need to move away from Ragged Beach and bring the rest of the town into the light that it deserves as well. But we definitely need to address that issue,” said Croft.

Overall, Croft said he is excited for the future, and believes the town to be in good hands.

“We are a good group of people, with a lot of different backgrounds,” said Croft. “I think it’s going to work out phenomenal for the town, I really do.”

As to the six who ran but did not get elected, including four members of the previous council, Croft said there ought to be no bad blood between the two groups.

“There’s definitely no bad blood between us, and I’d like to keep us that way. I‘d like to be able to support everybody in this town and what they stand for.”

Pennell is back and fighting to keep second ambulance

By Mark Squibb/September 30, 2021

Like many folks in Trepassey and surrounding area, Rita Pennell heard that her community would be losing one of two ambulances not through an official government release or announcement, but from others in the town.

Pennell, who just last week was made mayor of Trepassey following her acclamation to council, said she first heard about the issue on June 29 and phoned into Open Line that same morning.

Pennell, and others, have been fighting to keep both ambulances in Trepassey ever since.

“We have written letters, probably four or five hundred, we have called, our MHA has sent texts and e-mails, (Avalon MP) Ken McDonald has sent e-mails, and up until this morning he hasn’t answered any of them,” said Pennell of Minister of Health and Community Services John Haggie.

The Health Department views the matter differently.

The Irish Loop Post inquired about the situation this past week and received an answer that was similar to a reply received back in June. The Department maintains that Trepassey is not losing an ambulance, but that the ambulance is simply being relocated.

That ambulance, says the Department, is being moved to Ferryland Emergency Services based in Cape Broyle, while the other will remain in Trepassey.

“This relocation was required due to changing demographics in the region,” read the government statement. “Over the past three decades, Trepassey has witnessed a significant decline in its population without an adjustment in ambulance coverage. Over the same time period the population in and around Cape Broyle/Ferryland has grown, again without an adjustment in ambulance resources. Emergency call volume in the Cape Broyle/Ferryland region is now twice that of the Trepassey region. “

The note from the Department concludes by saying officials will continue to monitor the demand for services in the region and, if the demand warrants it, consider moving the Ferryland ambulance to a community closer to Trepassey when the Trepassey ambulance is engaged on a call.

That explanation is not enough for Pennell, who for years drove an ambulance based in Trepassey prior to her retirement.

She said keeping the ambulance in Trepassey is a matter of common sense.

“If I had a heart attack or a stroke tomorrow, I would have to call Cape Broyle, and, providing there’s one there, it would take between an hour and fifteen minutes or an hour and thirty minutes on a good day,” said Pennell, who worked as a paramedic with Ryan’s Ambulance for 40 years.

“There’s nobody in Cape Broyle, going to come up through our country on a winter’s day,” said Pennell. “I know it, I was 40 years at it. People are going to be left to die. Or they’re going to die in the backset of a car. We’ve gone back one hundred years.”

Pennell said she is disappointed the community found out about the relocation not from government, but from ambulance workers.

Th official confirmation from Haggie did not come until July 7.

“They didn’t consult with us,” said Pennell. “Why didn’t they sit down with us?”

Pennell said that she, and others, will keep after them.

“I don’t know what will happen, but I hope they listen,” she said.

Pennell was first elected to council in 1985 and was elected mayor in 1989. Following her term as mayor, she stepped aside from municipal politics. She won a seat at the table during a by-election 1999, and has since served as councilor, deputy mayor, and mayor.

“I promised myself one time this would never happen again,” laughed Pennell when asked how it felt to be back in the chair. “But it happened.”

Joan Power, who served as mayor for the last seven years, did not run for re-election.

Pennell, however, has been busy since being named mayor last week. She arranged to have MHA O’ Driscoll and Avalon MP McDonald visit Trepassey to view breakwater damage sustained by Hurricane Larry, as well as meet with the Harbour Authority about funding.

“It was a really productive meeting,” said Pennell.

She also had the misfortune to have her town overrun with pirates over the weekend, but fortunately they turned out to be the fun kind of pirates who helped raise funds for the Trepassey Lion’s Club.

“And this weekend I got tied up because the pirates were here, and I had to welcome them,” she said. “So, I had supper with them and then had breakfast with them Sunday morning… We had a very fun filled weekend.”

Voters opt to sack incumbents in Witless Bay and Bay Bulls

By Mark Squibb/September 30, 2021

The wheels of change blew as firmly as fall hurricanes Tuesday in both Witless Bay and Bay Bulls, as residents in both communities voted out all previous members of their respective councils for entirely new slates of people.

The Town of Bay Bulls announced the week prior that only five candidates, and not the usual seven would be elected to council. The council has been operating as a complement of five for some time now, with ministerial approval.

The decision to not elect a full slate cost former mayor Harold Mullowney, who had been a member of council for the past two decades, and former councillor Eric Maloney their seats.

Both men placed sixth and seventh respectively. Mullowney collected 243 votes, while Maloney got 164.

Newly elected members in Bay Bulls, in order of votes from highest to lowest, are Keith O’Driscoll (402), Jason O’Brien (369), Neil O’Brien (359), Jason Sullivan (302), and Shannon O’Driscoll (264).

Former members Wendy O’Driscol l(147), Patrick Coady (135), and Joan Luby (128) were defeated.

Meanwhile, Residents in Witless Bay were left on tether hooks for most of the night as the hours ticked by with nary a word from town hall.

Witless Bay didn’t release its results until 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, hours after much larger communities including St. Johns, Mount Pearl, Paradise, and Conception Bay South had released their numbers.

All incumbent councillors who put their names forward for re-election, including Dale O’Driscoll (267), Vince Swain (187), David Ryan (186), and Fraser Paul (162) were defeated.

Former members of council who did not run for re-election include former mayor Derm Moran, former deputy mayor Maureen Murphy, and Colleen Hanrahan.

Elected to council in order of votes from greatest to least were Trevor Croft (520), Jacob Hayden (508), Nancy Burke (468), Alex Troake (449), Gerard Dunne (394), Lorna Yard (364) and Ralph Carey (323).

Town of Bay Bulls reduces council compliment to five ahead of election

By Mark Squibb/September 23, 2021

Exactly one week out from the municipal election, the Town of Bay Bulls publicly confirmed that only five, not seven, councilors will be elected to council.

A press released published to the town’s Facebook page Tuesday evening, September 21, pointed out that the reduction was made in 2020 due to concerns about quorum, and that no thought was given to increasing the complement in time for this election.

“Prior to the reduction in seats, seven seats meant that four councilors were required for quorum to vote on a matter. With only five of seven seats filled, there were many items that could not be dealt with because we lost quorum for reasons such as conflict of interest or when councilors were unable to attend meetings,” read the release. “These items include the approval of accessory buildings, cheque releases and awarding tenders for major projects. Having to request ministerial approval to have less than four councilors approve items frequently was problematic and caused unnecessary delays.”

The press release notes that for several years the town has been unable to fill a full complement of seven councilors, and that ministerial approval, following a request from council, had been granted in September 2020 to reduce the compliment to five, reducing the number needed for quorum to three.

The press release then ends by saying that council did not anticipate that so many folks would put their names forward for this election.

“On August 31, 2021, we had 10 candidates put themselves forward for election to council. The town did not request to have the number of seats increased, as we could not have foreseen this level of interest prior to nominations closing.”

Witless Bay mayor says town hard pressed to retain staff

By Mark Squibb/September 23, 2021

Witless Bay Mayor Derm Moran said the town has been having troubling filling a key position.

It opened up when former assistant clerk Barbara Harrington resigned earlier this summer.

Moran said it’s not a matter of finding appropriate applicants, but keeping them. Moran said that an applicant was hired earlier this summer, and subsequently quit a week later. Another new hire was brought into the fold shortly thereafter to fill the same position. Again, according to Moran, they quit about a week into their tenure.

He suggested that tensions between the town and special interest groups might have something to do with the speedy departures.

“We’ve had several people hired on, and I’m not saying it is the case, but they were there for a week, and we are now looking for staff again, which is difficult,” said Moran. “And I’m not saying that it is (due to the pressure from some special interest groups) … but I’m hoping it’s not. Young people that are getting employed do not need to be subject to, I can’t say it’s a threat, I can only say there’s words that one could take to be… the comments being made, one could take it to be somewhat of a threat, and that doesn’t help the town.”

Moran admitted he did not ask the individuals why they vacated the position.

“I felt like they were very informed individuals, and I didn’t ask why, because that’s their personal reasons,” said Moran. “And I’m not saying what caused it, but it seemed out of the norm. They were capable individuals. It was not a case of not knowing how to do the work… And so, we’re looking again, and the new town councillors will have to deal with that, and I’m hoping they’re successful.”

Sullivan giving municipal politics another shot in Bay Bulls

By Chris Lewis/September 23, 2021

Former Bay Bulls councillor Jason Sullivan, whose seat was vacated a previous term ago for missing three council meetings in a row, is throwing his name back in the ring.

Sullivan is one of 10 names on the ballot for council, and a familiar one to those who have followed council over the last decade or so. His time on council was characterized by accusations and counter accusations of conflict of interest involving fellow councillors. He was also part of a council group who evicted councillor Joan Luby from her position over what she described as a trumped-up accusation of conflict of interest. Their move was later overturned by the court and Luby was reinstated with the Town having to pick up the legal bill.

Sullivan admitted his past experiences on council had not been the best leading up to his removal from his seat. At the time, he had missed three council meetings in a row: one, he said, was due to him attending his son’s sports game, but the other two were associated with the sudden loss of his father.

“If you miss three in a row, council has the opportunity to eject you,” Sullivan said. “I had put in for a bereavement leave to deal with some stuff, but they denied that and booted me off. Because it was so close to the upcoming general election (at the time) I wasn’t replaced and the seat was vacant.”

Although he said it was not in his nature to give up, he decided to hold off on putting his name in for the 2017 election in order to deal with personal things.

Now, Sullivan is hoping for another chance with a potentially new slate of council members this fall.

Sullivan said one of his biggest gripes with the current council is its taxation policies, which he attributed to the Town’s stagnant growth over the last few years.

He highlighted in particular the Town’s craft tax, stating that it would be one of the first things he would work to axe entirely. That, and some of the development regulations.

“If you want to change the colour of your siding, you’ve got to go down and get a permit for that,” Sullivan said. “I don’t agree with that. If you’re upgrading your property, that’s making the town more beautiful as it is. So, I don’t think you should be burdened by an extra little fee. That’s nonsense, if you ask me. I want to try and get rid of a lot of that.”

Sullivan would also like to develop a Southern Shore trailway. If elected, he said, he would like to approach neighbouring municipalities and see a trailway established that would stretch from the Goulds to Trepassey, which he believes would be a solid economic benefactor for the entire region.

“Most of the other regions in the province now have a good trailway,” he said. “They just got $650,000 to put a foot path around Long Pond in Bay Bulls, which is outside of town and kind of out of the way. So, there’s obviously money available for those sorts of things. I mean, I could put a trail from Bay Bulls to Trepassey for $650,000. They must be paving that one in gold.”

Sullivan said, due to the currently small size of the council, there was not enough people to volunteer for a public works position. So, for the first time, the Town hired a public works director.

“They’re paying him between $50,000 and $100,000 a year, and I’d like to eliminate that job to roll that money back into the community for different things like a tax break for people living on old age security,” he said. “I’ve got a number of ideas. It seems like, over the last few years, they’re (the current council) just trying to drain more money out of people for no good reason.”

He said, when he was on council, there was plenty of money and he would like to see those funds go into more things that directly benefit residents.

Rookie candidates take aim at incumbents in Witless Bay

By Mark Squibb/September 23, 2021

There are 13 people running for council in Witless Bay, and while some may consider that number a bad omen, the candidates are optimist about the future of the town.

In particular, a number of young candidates have put their name forward for election.

Jacob Hayden, who turns 28 at the end of the month, is one such contender.

“I was getting kind of fed up because people would ask me where I was from, I would say ‘Witless Bay,’ and people would give a bit of a sigh, and people would say, ’Oh, Witless Bay.’ And I’m really tired of the reputation Witless Bay has gotten over the last few years,’” Hayden said.

Born and raised in Witless Bay, Hayden said he wants to work to see the town’s public image turned around, whether he is elected to council or not.

“I’m hoping, whoever gets in, I’ll be able to work with them to better Witless Bay to the standard that we’re used to,” he said. “It’s something that really has to change, because I’m really tired of telling people I’m from Witless Bay and having them belittle us, really.”

If he were elected, Hayden said, he would strive to encourage more community engagement, while trying to secure more government funding for the town.

“There’s not really a whole lot in the community for youth to really do,” said Hayden. “It’s kind of sad to see that there’s not much for youth to really do, and we’ve really missed the ball with the Puffin Patrol. We lost that Puffin patrol to Bay Bulls, and we’re the community that’s named for it. So, it’s sad to see those type of things go to the wayside when they could be great assets to our community and bring in great tourism.”

That tourism sector is also something Hayden would like to zero in on.

“People come here from all over the world,” said Hayden. “I’ve talked to tourists walking the streets of Witless Bay that come from Japan, that come from Africa, that come from many different places, just to see the puffins here in Witless Bay. It’s a beautiful asset to our community, but unfortunately it’s not promoted, and it’s sort of fallen to the wayside. We’re not using it as the asset that it is. It’s been kind of cast aside, which is very unfortunate.”

Hayden has worked with Pennecon in Bay Bulls since 2014, and besides volunteering with the Witless Bay Heritage Committee, has helped spearhead the recent ATV Association.

An avid ATV user, he regularly grooms the trails in and around the community, and helps with community clean up events.

Trevor Croft, 29, like Hayden, is also active grooming trails and keeping the town clean.

He’s also put his name on the ballot for election.

“I’m basically running because a lot of people in this town don’t feel like they have a voice,” said Croft. “Some people are actually afraid to speak out against council for anything, and I want to bring back a voice to the people and have a council that actually works for the people, versus the other way around.”

Croft said there is a lack of communication between council and residents and that it is oftentimes too difficult for residents to get a hold of members of council with their questions or concerns.

“People don’t know if they can get a permit for this, or they don’t know the rules and regulations for certain things, and they feel they don’t have anybody to talk to at council. It’s been an issue for a while. I’ve had my own situation, where I didn’t know the rules and regulations, and getting hold of council members is extremely difficult. It’s nice to have somebody in place that you can easily get hold of. I’d like to put my email and phone number out there to make sure that if people have questions, they can contact me, and I’ll be able to find out the answers for them.”

Croft’s issue with council concerned a piece of the old railbed that was part of a subdivision development. He said it’s been an uphill battle, and he’s still not 100 percent sure of the rules in place to protect the trail.

Croft has lived in Witless Bay much of his life, often flying to the mainland or the United States to work for various railways. He moved back in 2018, and currently works at Maloney’s Plastic, while also volunteering with the Railway Costal Museum and other groups.

“People deserve someone who is fair, and who will fight for small issues, as well as large issues,” said Croft. “People in Witless Bay need someone that they can trust and that they’re comfortable yet.”

He said he would like to lower taxes, encourage sensible development, protect waterways, and attract businesses. He suggested council re-evaluate its business taxes to attract businesses.

Alex Troake, 35, is the business development manager with TMSI Ltd., a container shipping company, and also a candidate in the election.

Troake grew up in central Newfoundland, and studied French at McGill University in Montreal, before moving back to Newfoundland to study economics and political science at Memorial University.

He moved into an historic home on Harbour Road in 2018, which he and his partner Dylan are in the midst of restoring.

“I’m a community-minded person,” said Troake. “I’ve always had that mentality of, ‘What can we do to make the community better? What are the issues, and what groups need assistance?’”

He said his priorities have not been represented at the council table.

“If we get a majority of like-minded councillors, we can probably make some big change here in the next four years,” said Troake.

He said the town has good assets, like the ecological reserve, the East Coast Trail, heritage buildings, and whale and puffin tours and he would like to see them used to build a bigger tourism sector while promoting activities for local residents.

Troake said he would like to see a more fiscally responsible council. He pointed out that in a recent council meeting, councilor Colleen Hanrahan asked how the town retained its lawyer. Then CAO Pat Curran explained it was the lawyer recommend by Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador.

One topic that all three councilors had opinions on is the seemingly never-ending Ragged Beach saga.

“The whole Ragged Beach debacle is something that really needs to be ironed out and dealt with properly,” said Hayden. “The last 12 years it’s been a saga of back-and-forth and of who is telling the truth. I’d like to see that come to an end, because that’s been a thorn in the side of Witless Bay for many years.”

Hayden suggested the town hire a moderator to work out a potential solution between the town and the Save Ragged Beach group.

“We would have to get both parties to sit down, and it would have to be moderated because they’re not going to talk to each other in a sensible manner and come to a conclusion,” he said. “Personally, I’d like to hire an independent consultant to come in and review all the history on it, and the documents…. Once it’s decided upon, I’d like to see the two sides to agree that this independent person could decide what the proper way to go about it is.”

Hayden said he’s talked with the principal players involved, and that each seems to have their own version of events.

“It’s something that’s got to come to an end,” said Hayden “It’s not feasible to keep going on like this and keep going through the courts and spending town money on something that really shouldn’t be the focus of our town. Yes, it’s a great asset, it’s a jewel in our town, but it’s not all that Witless Aby is about. And that seems to be the big drag on Witless Bay — Ragged Beach.”

Similarly, Croft said there has to be a middle ground found between the two groups.

“Ragged Beach is an important issue to everyone here in this town. It’s been ongoing for as long as I remember, 12 or 13 years I believe,” said Croft. “I don’t know enough about the development regulations when it comes to Crown Land and road construction, but I will say that I won’t refuse anyone the right to use their land if they’re legally able to do so. But, I’m against public spending on centrist projects while other parts of the town crumble… There is a happy medium for both parties, if we’re able to get together in a sensible environment and work something out. I think we’ll be able to work something out.”

Troake said most folks aren’t necessarily concerned with the construction of the road itself, but they are concerned with the way in which council has conducted itself regarding the matter.

Troak said it has been the Save Ragged Beach group which has been speaking the loudest, which means the public conversation has not at all been balanced.

He said it’s time the town move past the issue.

“Unfortunately, 99.9 percent of the residents have absolutely nothing to gain, whether that road is built,” said Troake. “It doesn’t affect most residents of the community. And what people are telling me is they want to see the council focus on something else… Community spirit has not been nurtured, and the focus of council for the last four years has been on Ragged Beach and it’s draining the town resources… The Town has only got so much money, and at the end of the day, and if it’s being spent on lawyers, its not being spent on something else. And for the amount of time the staff is spending on this, and the amount of time the staff is spending talking about this, it’s got one neighbor against another neighbor.”

In his own pamphlet, Ragged Beach is not mentioned once.

“It’s not my focus,” said Troake. “I’m not going to go to town meetings for the next four years and talk about Ragged Beach. It’s been beaten to death. Let’s move on.”

Bay Bulls revisiting playground for Sheldon Drive area

By Mark Squibb/September 16, 2021

Bay Bulls could use another playground, say members of the outgoing council.

Deputy Mayor Wendy O’ Driscoll brought the item forward towards the close of the September 13 meeting as a piece of new business.

“Sheldon Drive and the Dunne Drive area has a very high concentration of children,” said O’Driscoll, who noted the town has undergone a lot of community-minded projects in recent years, including the new community pavilion outside town hall constructed largely with Come Home Year funds. “And so, we are inquiring about getting some land up there to build a playground… There’s an enormous number of children up there, and we definitely need a playground there.”

Mayor Harold Mullowney concurred, and said he felt government ought to pitch in more for such projects in rural areas like Bay Bulls.

“As I keep telling various levels of government, this is one of the fastest growing areas of the province, and we need all sorts of resources,” said Mullowney. “Because the number of kindergarten students each years keeps growing. The daycare that we have is overflowing… We have been here working diligently for so many years, and have faced so many challenges, and have so many young people. And it’s like, maybe we’re so close to the city that we don’t get noticed. But I think finally we are getting noticed, because you look at the last few years, and we have been successful in receiving funds for quite a number of initiatives. And I keep telling people in all levels of government, that this is a fast-growing area, so it’s time to step up.”

Mullowney said that for many folks, a town like Bay Bulls is a sweet spot— outside the city, but not so far away you can’t make a day trip there.

O’Driscoll made the motion that staff research land acquisition for development of a playground, which Joan Luby seconded.

The motion carried unanimously.

Protest group appeals Witless Bay road again

By Mark Squibb/September 16, 2021

Less than 24 hours after the Town of Witless Bay voted to move ahead with plans to build an extension to Mullowney’s Lane after a judge quashed the original motion due to a conflict of interest, the Save Ragged Beach group submitted an appeal to the Eastern Regional Appeals Board shutting down construction again.

A stop work order is in place until the Board can hear the appeal.

at least that hearing can be scheduled.

Council voted to move ahead with the work during a special meeting Monday. That meeting was held because an earlier meeting, held on Tuesday, September 7, had to be scrapped and rescheduled when it was discovered the public conference call had been accidentally muted, so that members of the general public heard only dead silence during the meeting’s entirety.

“We went through the whole meeting, and we thought we were finished and that, but some people called back in and said,’ What about the meeting? What happened?’” explained Mayor Derm Moran.

Monday’s meeting was short and called largely to appoint Kevin Kelly as both chief administrative officer and acting town clerk, as well as pass the motion on continuing with the Mullowney’s Lane Extension tender.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t know that nobody could hear us,” said Moran. “Once we realized that, several councillors were gone, so we sent out notice that we would have another meeting…. It was a public meeting, but we didn’t have the public as such,” said Moran.

The original motion to extend Mullowney’s Lane passed in May of 2020, and Moran said the new motion is virtually similar.

“The motion itself is just sort of a copycat of the motion that was before the courts,” said Moran. “It just states to extend Mullowney’s Lane in regard to those 168 metres. And also included in that particular motion was to tender the original tender, which was $58,000 plus HST. We checked with the contractor, which was O’ Brien’s Contracting, in regard to the tender and they did up a note stating that they would honour the same amount that was tendered. So, we just included that in the motion too.”

Justice Glen L.C. Noel overthrew the May 2020 motion on the basis that Deputy Mayor Maureen Murphy ought not to have voted on the matter due to a conflict of interest, as her brother Ron Harte would benefit from the work.

Murphy herself had asked council whether she was in conflict, and council voted that she was not.

Moran said the town made an honest mistake.

“We did err,” said Moran. “There was no intention of doing that. And the judge somewhat said the same thing, ‘Look, it was just one of those things where you’re only volunteers and you’re only trying to do what you can, and sometimes these things happen.’ So, he squashed the motion, and because he squashed the motion, we will have to make a new motion with regards to extending Mullowney’ s Lane. The judge has signed off on stating the fact that the town has the authority to handle roads, lanes, and right of ways, and that right of way falls under that, and he said once you make that motion, you can proceed.”

Moran said the motion approved during last week’s ‘silent meeting’ did not pass unanimously.

“There was one individual, wondering with regards to whether the judge had signed off, and I explained to her that our lawyer had informed us that that would be looked after tomorrow.”

Moran said he didn’t want to identify the councillor, as it was not a legitimate vote, as it was not made public.

Councillor Colleen Hanrahan, however, did vote against the motion during the September 13 meeting.

Councillor David Ryan did not vote as he declared a conflict because he works with O’Brien’s. Councillor Vince swain made the motion, which was seconded by Fraser Paul.

Immediately following the vote, the Save Ragged Beach group made plans to protest Tuesday morning.

Moran said that in advance of the vote there was already protesters on site.

“They have a tent pitched down there,” said Moran. “They pitched that the other night, right in the middle of the right-of-way… I noticed it there, naturally you would, and I just took it for what it was and said, ‘Okay, they have a tent there.’”

The mayor added at this point, it’s all he expects, although he hopes that protesters will honour the judge’s decision.

“I’m a believer in the law, and you just can’t shun the law as such, and if necessary, the town will take the necessary steps,” said Moran.