Trepassey monument committee pleased with progress

By Mark Squibb/November 4, 2021

Volunteers with the Trepassey Veterans Memorial Committee say things are moving along quite nicely, though there is still work to do.

“The monument itself is in place,” said committee chairperson Marina Halleran, a veteran herself. “But right now, we still have to place the flagpoles, flags, a bench, garbage bin, the painting of the poppy, smoothing out of the walkway, there’s still a bit of work to be done. And we’ll have to wait until spring to do that now.”

The monument arrived in three separate pieces in September.

Halleran said it was very emotional, and yet an unreal moment.

“When the first part was placed, it was like, ‘Wow, this is happening?’” said Halleran. “When it was fully put in place, then we realized that the dream had become a reality.”

The group secured a $25,000 Community War Memorial grant from the federal Department of Veteran’s Affairs back in July to cover the cost of the monument.

However, factoring in additional work, including site preparation and beautification, installation of the monument, concrete finishing, ornamental fencing, artwork and more, the estimated cost for the entire project is around $55,000. To be on the safe side, the committee has budgeted about $60,000.

“We are very, very excited,” said Halleran. “It is a long process, but when you see it from the beginning stages to where it is now, it’s unbelievable. And these things take long hours, and a lot of work. It’s not built overnight.”

The work has been moved along largely by personal and business donations, and Halleran extended her thanks to all those who donated to help bring the project to fruition with donations of both funds and materials.

The monument site will not be quite ready for Remembrance Day, and instead an opening ceremony is being planned for Canada Day.

All the same, Halleran anticipates the town will hold a lovely Remembrance service, as per usual.

“Here in Trepassey, we have a beautiful Remembrance Day ceremony,” said Halleran. “Remembrance Day, and the War Monument itself, links the past to the present. It enables people to remember and respect the sacrifices of those who died, fought, or participated. It’s important that people don’t forget these wars, and they don’t forget the sacrifices, and what the soldiers went through.”

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.