Witless Bay dismisses former town manager

By Mark Squibb/October 28, 2022

The revolving staff door at Witless Bay keeps on spinning.

Council voted — though not unanimously — to officially terminate its contract with former Town Manger Sean Kavanagh during last week’s public meeting.

Councillor Ralph Carey put forward a motion that Kavanagh be dismissed, without cause, as of June 9, with pay in lieu of notice.

Carey explained that as per the Municipalities Act, the matter had to be put to a vote first in a privileged meeting, before being voted on again in a public meeting.

Carey did not signify how many weeks pay Kavanagh would be provided.

Councillor Nancy Burke alone was opposed to the motion.

“I just want to say that I wasn’t here when all of these things went down,” said Burke, who had recently returned from a lengthy leave of absence. “I was still on my leave of absence. And I feel, because there weren’t things in writing for me to review, that I’ve just seen one side of things. So, for that reason, I’ll be voting against the motion, and I just wanted to make that known. I don’t want to make an uninformed vote.”

Apart from Burke, the other four council members present – Mayor Trevor Croft, Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard, councillor Carey, and councillor Gerard Dunne – voted in favour of the motion. Councillors Alex Troake and Jacob Hayden were not present at the meeting.

The motion passed without any further discussion.

The Town hired Kavanagh in February 2021, after Kevin Kelley, whom the town had hired in September, resigned in October.

At the time of Kavanaugh’s hiring, Yard boasted that council had saved taxpayers thousands of dollars by overseeing the hiring process themselves, rather than paying a consultant to do so, as is the typical protocol.

Upon hearing rumors of Kavanagh’s dismissal back in June, the Irish Loop Post reached out to the town hall, Mayor Croft, Deputy Mayor Yard, and Kavanagh himself.

Yard declined comment, saying the mayor was the official town spokesperson. Croft said Kavanagh was 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 that moment.

Mayor Croft said Monday he is unable to comment regarding the issue as of now. He added that he will gladly comment when able to.

The Irish Loop Post phoned the Witless Bay Town Hall during business hours on Monday, Tuesday, and again on Wednesday, and each call went to voice mail. Three voice messages were left asking town staff to return the call, but by deadline on Thursday, staff had not returned the calls.

Kavanagh too could not be reached.

During the February meeting in which council approved Kavanagh’s hiring, council also approved the hiring of fire chief Jack Gatherall. He was hired to replace former fire chief Maria Churchill, who was hired by the Town in May and then tendered her resignation in October.

Prior to that, longstanding assistant town clerk Barb Harrigan resigned in the summer of 2021, but then returned to the office for a brief stint before retiring in March.

Former Town Clerk Geraldine Caul, who herself had been on leave since well before the 2021 election, was called in to act as acting Town Manager during Kavanagh’s absence.

Witless Bay Heritage Committee wins Award of Merit

The Witless Bay Heritage Committee has won another provincial award for its work.

This past June, the committee captured the Manning Award for its book, Bygone Days of Witless Bay. The latest accolade is for all its work in the town since the committee formed in 2004.

The Museum Association of NL said it accorded the Heritage Committee its Award of Merit for the significant contributions it has made to the practice of museum and heritage work in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Award of Merit was presented to co-chairs Maureen Walsh and Bonnie Johnstone at MANL’s Annual General Meeting on October 15.

Among the committee’s work noted by MANL was the publication of Bygone Days of Witless Bay;  an inventory of houses built before 1930 that was compiled in 2011 by member Barry Norris and used as the basis for a celebration of the architecture of the community, which included providing plaques for the Historic Homes Project; the designation of the old cemetery as a registered municipal heritage site and one of Canada’s historic places; the collection and scanning of old photographs to ensure the preservation of the images; the hosting of events such as the ringing of the bells to celebrate the Armistice in 1918; collaboration with graduate Folklore students from MUN during field schools in the community; the organization of a heritage walk; provision of storyboards; visits to Alderwood Retirement Centre to display artifacts; design of an information brochure and bookmark for tourists; organization of the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the cemetery; the hosting of a Heritage Day for Come Home Year; participation in the annual Puffin Festival; the participation of members in Heritage NL workshops; teaching Girl Guides how to perform traditional dances; the sale of old photographs of postcards and note cards; and the hosting of a contest to identify older artifacts which was enjoyed by young and old alike.

The Award of Merit is based on outstanding, innovative, or creative achievement in the museum, gallery, or heritage field, or in any area related to the preservation and development of the province’s cultural heritage, including research, collection, documentation, exhibition, public programming, and management.

“We are pleased to have this award to acknowledge all the work that has been undertaken by current and past members, some of whom have passed,” said Johnstone.

“While we have accomplished a lot, there is much left to do,” added Walsh. “We are planning our projects for the coming year, so stay tuned.”

Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of Bygone Days of Witless Bay, can contact Walsh at 689-5087 or Lucy Carew at 725-9533.

Irishtown Road upgrades ratified

By Mark Squibb/October 21, 2022

Bay Bulls council rubber stamped two motions related to ongoing Irishtown Road storm sewer upgrades that had previously been approved through e-mail polls.

The first was a motion to ratify an e-mail vote of September 28 to accept material testing for the Irishtown Road Upgrade Project quote with North Consulting Ltd., at a price of $11,437, HST included.

Council also moved to ratify the e-mail vote of October 4 approving two changes orders for the project.

Those change orders were not explained, but the total price given by Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien was $12,247, HST included.

Councillor Jason Sullivan declared a conflict of interest and refrained from voting on both motions as his family owns a business along the road.

Both motions passed unanimously.

Two men arrested after spree of break-and-enters

By Mark Squibb/October 14, 2022

Police have arrested two young men they believe responsible for a number of early morning break-and-enters in both Witless Bay and Bay Bulls.

Jason Anthony,23, and Scott Conway, 21, were arrested on October 1. Police are investigating five separate crime scenes and allege the pair broke into the residential properties and stole various items—including three vehicles.

Anthony is charged with break and enter, mischief under $5000 (property damage), theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, prohibited operation of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, resisting arrest, breach of probation
Conway is charged with break and enter, mischief under $5000 (property damage), theft of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of break in instruments and breach of probation

Both men were remanded into custody over the weekend. The investigation is continuing, and police ask anyone with information about these crimes to contact Ferryland RCMP at 709-432-2440.

Holyrood Pond RV park gets conditional green light from Environment

The provincial environment department has released a proposal to develop the long dormant Holyrood Pond Provincial Park into an RV ground and day park from further environmental assessment.

But the developers, Frank Tobin and Rennie Tobin, must uphold all commitments made in their environmental assessment submission, said the Minister Bernard Davis.

 Some of those commitments include that near waterbodies, slopes with a grade of less than 30 per cent  must have a minimum 30 metre naturally vegetated buffer zone and that no activities involving grubbing, ground or soil disturbance, or timber harvesting will take place in those zones.

For slopes greater than 30 percent, the buffer zones have to be larger with similar prohibitions against the land use activities outlined above.

No vegetation clearing is to occur within 800 metres of a bald eagle or osprey nest during the nesting season of March 15 to July 31, according to the department, nor within 200 metres during the rest of the year. The 200-metre buffer also applies to all other raptor nests including those of the Northern Goshawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, American Kestrel, Great-horned Owl, Boreal Owl, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. The location of any raptor nest sites must be reported to the Wildlife Division.

The proponents are also required to update the Province’s Environmental Assessment Division on the status of the project, and provide copies of all permits, licences, certificates, approvals and other authorizations within one year from the date of the final approval of the venture, and to provide additional updates, if requested. 

BBBAA hoping to connect shared ATV, pedestrian trail from Bay Bulls to Ferryland

By Craig Westcott/October 14, 2022

The Bay Bulls - Bauline Athletic Association is asking the provincial Environment Department for approval to build and operate a multi-use trail along the north end of the Southern Shore.

The 4.1 kilometre  route would be open to ATV use, cycling, walking, hiking, snowshoeing, and other activities.

“The trail is to link Cape Pond Road to Horse Chops Road in addition to the trail through Cape Broyle, Calvert and Ferryland,” according to a document filed with the department by the BBBAA’s regional recreation director Carla Sullivan. “The development is designed to be wide enough to allow pedestrians and motorized vehicles to occupy the space together.”

The application was registered on October 6. The deadline for public comments is November 11, with the minister’s decision due by November 20.

“Residents along the Southern Shore enjoy the outdoors and they are looking for opportunities to travel further on their ATV’s/snowmobiles right at home,” said the BBBAA document. “Many people in this region travel to the west coast of Newfoundland each winter for snowmobiling trips and our goal is to create an environment where people can stay at home for their annual snowmobile trips and to also bring people to this region of the island. A trail like this is something that residents have expressed interest in for a long time now. The Southern Shore is also a destination for cabin owners and campers, and we envision it to be a travel destination for those looking to plan ATV and snowmobile trips, with the opportunity to hike/bike/snowshoe as well. Linking up the already existing trials will provide users the opportunity to travel longer distances on their ATV’s/snowmobiles.

The trail is approximately 13km’s west of Tors Cove and approximately nine km’s west of Cape Broyle. It is located two kms east of the Avalon Wilderness Area and west of La Manche Provincial Park.

The trail will occupy Crown Land, but no buildings, shelters or look-out will be constructed, according to the BBBAA.

“We will be minimizing the number of trees that are cut in the process, however, the trees and logs that are cut during construction will be used for bridging along the trail,” said Sullivan “The size of the area affected by the undertaking is approximately 1 hectare or 2.5 acres… This undertaking will not go through any wetlands. There is currently an unofficial trail that goes through the wetland area and the whole point of our application is to the construct a trail that avoids the wetlands and goes through highlands.”

Sullivan noted that public consultation consisted of polling for a petition of support, which

netted 1,391 names. Construction of the trail will be done by volunteers, with fundraising efforts to cover fuel costs for the equipment.

The BBBAA consists f one full time regional recreation director and 14 volunteer board members.

Witless Bay beefs up fire inspection policy for businesses

From amending policies to purchasing equipment to borrowing money, Witless Bay council has approved a number of agenda items put forth on behalf of the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department.

Firstly, the Town approved two motions to amend town policies to include new very different policies related to Fire Department operations. The first was to give the fire chief the authority to “better enforce businesses’ emergency plans and annual inspections.”

“In the absence of Deputy Mayor (Lorna) Yard, who is the fire liaison, I would say that the intent here is not necessarily to impose on any businesses,” said councilor Alex Troake.

The measure gives the department the opportunity to perform annual inspections and investigate any concerns. “It’s not to be a fee, or something imposed or forced onto businesses,” Troake said.

The second motion was to include a plan for volunteer firefighters to ‘ease back’ after taking a leave of absence.

Both motions passed unanimously.

Later in the meeting, council unanimously approved three motions necessary for the Town to take out a loan to purchase a new fire vehicle.

Council first had to approve renewal of a line of credit from the Community Credit Union. Council then requested ministerial approval to borrow some $200,000 for the proposed vehicle. Finally, council voted to request the actual loan from the Community Credit Union, pending approval from the provincial government for the vehicle.

Council also unanimously approved motions to upgrade the phone system and security systems at both the town hall and the fire department.

Troake said council is considering a web-based phone service. Folks calling the Town Hall may receive an automated message asking them to punch in a number to be transferred to the appropriate staff member. Troake said this will enable staff to work remotely. There are also phone numbers listed within the town’s system that council say they do not know what they could have been used for.

Troake said that given the number of members joining the fire department and the number of keys that have been cut over the years, it may make sense to switch to an electronic card system.

“We could track who’s in and has access, and set any limits,” said Troake.

Council also authorized the fire department to purchase high-angle rope equipment. The price was not discussed.

One motion that was not met with approval was a request to raise a fire hydrant on Northside Track. Council instead deferred the request until at least the spring, when it will look into the matter further.

From January 1 to September 1, according to the liaison report presented by Troake, the Fire Department has had 197 calls for service. The number of members available during the day has begun to decrease, as people return to work after the summer months.