Ronayne feels new policy for demolition permits is a dynamite idea

By Craig Westcott/March 31, 2023

Bay Bulls council is moving to speed up part of the development process by handing over its authority for the issuance of demolition permits to Town staff.

Councillor Corey Roynane made the motion to devolve that responsibility, which was seconded by councillor Shannon O’Driscoll.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien asked whether council will still be informed when the permits are issued.

Town Manager Jennifer Aspell said the permits will be included for council’s review in the monthly permit report.

“It’s really just an effort not to hang people up,” she explained. “Demolition is usually the first step in the process for a development. So, if we can get demolition permits out the door quickly, the individual can get their application (to build) tabled (before council earlier) if they want to do a development.”

Roynane said he thinks it’s a good idea as it will speed up the process for residents.

In other council news:

Council has denied a request to waive interest on a tax account.

“I’m going to motion to deny waiving that interest,” said councillor O’Driscoll, “due to the fact it has been outstanding for a while with no effort to make payment on this account.”

Deputy Mayor O’Brien seconded the motion.

“I think it should be noted that there has been no cooperation from the individual to make a tax payment plan,” said O’Brien.

Town Manager Aspell pointed out the Town does offer a number of options for people who are struggling to pay their municipal taxes. “The interest relief one is one that we’ve had great success with over the last few years,” she added. “So, we do work with account holders quite frequently.”

In other tax related news, Gully Designs, which was located at 151 Southside Road, has been removed from the business tax rolls effective January 2023.

Deputy Mayor O’Brien made the motion to remove the business and to provide remission of $450 for the company’s 2023 taxes.

Councillor O’Driscoll seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

And in the monthly report on the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic association, Mayor O’Driscoll noted the organization’s after school program had to be discontinued.

“But moving along for the month of April and into Easter, they are opening up for the Easter Camp,” said O’Driscoll. “That’s a positive event there.”

The BBBAA’s indoor soccer program is also continuing, he noted.

Council getting cautious with speed bump policy

By Craig Westcott/March 31, 2023

Bay Bulls council has approved new speedbumps for three more places intown.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien made the motion to implement the so-called Speed Bump Location Plan at last week’s monthly public meeting.

The speedbumps will be installed near the playgrounds on Sheldon Drive and Island Cove Road, as well as near O’Brien’s Boat Tours on Lower Road, “as that is a busy pedestrian activity (area) in the summertime,” said O’Brien.

Town Manager Jennifer Aspell asked council to clarify whether it is only approving speed bumps for the three areas identified.

“It’s just my opinion, but I think we have too many on certain roads,” said O’Brien, adding that unless there is a concentration of children in the area, the bumps are probably not needed.

“That’s fine. I just wanted to make sure we had the list complete there,” said Aspell.

“I think we should focus around playground areas and busy pedestrian areas that cross local roads,” said O’Brien.

The list was approved unanimously.

Town wants more detail before signing onto regional plan

By Craig Westcott/March 31, 2023

Bay Bulls won’t be participating for now with other municipalities on the Northeast Avalon in the creation of a new plan to govern development throughout the entire region.

Town Manager Jennifer Aspell explained the item was on last week’s public council meeting agenda because Bay Bulls was recently notified by the provincial Department of Municipal Affairs that it is interested in restarting the so called NEAR Plan, “which wasn’t really finished completely back in 2017.”

“It was originally stated in 2005 and as we know, quite a lot has changed on the Northeast Avalon since those times,” said Aspell. “Staff did reach out to the department to determine what kind of commitment was involved and what the financial cost might be. We were unsuccessful at this point in getting that information.”

Councillor Shannon O’Driscoll moved that Bay Bulls not participate “at this time.”

That was seconded by Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien. “It would be nice to get some more details about what’s involved and what we’re meant to do and need to do before we decide,” he allowed.

“The biggest would be (to determine), how is it impacting us?” said Mayor Keith O’Driscoll.

Aspell said when the project was launched back in 2005, the budget for it was set at $771,850, all of which was spent with the exception of $106,800. The cost was shared by the participating municipalities on a per capita basis.

In order to restart the plan, Aspell said, the municipalities will have to call for a new Request for Proposals from consultants interested in leading the project. “And as it’s been almost 20 years since it was initiated, I don’t know what the costs would be, but it would stand to reason that they would be significant,” she said.

Aspell said the per capita rate that will be charged to each municipality is unknown.

Put to a vote, council voted unanimously – with the exception of councillor Jason Sullivan who was absent from last week’s meeting – to refrain from participating for now.

Witless Bay council promises to resume public meetings

By Mark Squibb/March 31, 2023

After over three years of tuning in by phone due initially to pandemic restrictions, residents of Witless Bay will finally be able to attend in-person council meetings again next month, as council has committed to re-open the chamber.

Witless Bay is one of the few municipalities in the province whose council continues to meet out of public view since the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March of 2020.

“I wanted to let people know that meetings will be open again to the public in April,” said Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard following a short council meeting held via teleconference on March 23.

Yard added that Mayor Trevor Croft will be back from the west coast to chair the meeting.

For the last number of months, Croft has been helping with the Clean Harbours Initiative on the island’s west coast, and the duty of chairing the meeting has fallen to a handful of councilors who took turns chairing the sessions.

During last week’s meeting, from which councilors Alex Troake, Jacob Hayden, and Ralph Carey were absent, council voted to hire a temporary office assistant through Advantage Personnel, a national staffing agency. The Town Hall is down to one staff person following a couple of years of hirings, firings and resignations among staff. The Town Hall has been frequently closed for business since the new council was elected in September 2021 and council has yet to say whether it will extend deadlines for permits and other matters that are set to expire as residents and developers have been unable to complete their business because of the unpredictability of operations at the Town Hall. With 1,640 residents, according to the 2021 census, Witless Bay is the largest populated town on the Southern Shore.

While people living in larger municipalities such as Mount Pearl, Conception Bay South, or Paradise rarely attend council meetings in person, unless to give a presentation, Witless Bay and neighbouring Bay Bulls often attracted full houses before the pandemic closed chambers across the province. Bay Bulls too is continuing to meet via teleconference. No date has been set for its return to full public meetings.

The official date for Witless Bay’s return to regular in-person meetings has not yet been announced other than it is said to be in April.

Council hoping feds will see the light on trail application

By Craig Westcott/March 24, 2023

The Town of Bay Bulls is applying for an Age Friendly Building Grant from the federal government.

At Tuesday’s public council meeting, Mayor Keith O’Driscoll explained that council had actually approved the application in a phone poll earlier this month. That was done to meet the deadline for applications. On Tuesday, council voted to ratify that decision with all of council voting in favour of it, except councillor Jason Sullivan, who was absent.

If successful, the Town will use the money to install solar lighting along the Long Pond Walking Trail.

“Mayor O’Driscoll, we should probably just mention it was a quick turnaround on the funding,” said Town Manager Jennifer Aspell. “Council had suggested solar lighting (would be better) on the trail – I believe it was councillor Roynane who brought it up, but if we’re successful we will be installing 40 solar lights on the existing section of trail.”

In other development news, council has approved two applications to demolish buildings situated at 56 – 64 St. John’s Road. One was for a house, the other for an accessory building.

“The demolition must be completed in accordance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Occupational Health and Safety Regulations,” said councillor Shannon O’Driscoll.

The demolitions appear to be needed to make way for a new business, as council shortly afterward approved a new commercial development permit for the same address, namely an eating establishment and lounge.

Council also approved a residential development permit for a single family dwelling at 185 Northside Road conditional upon approval from the relevant government departments related to septic and other matters.

“It’s good to see more dwellings and more development,” said Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien. “People deciding to move to Bay Bulls is a good thing to see.”

And council also approved an application to erect an 8’ X 12’ utility shed at 16 Southside Road.

The Mobile Monarchs won the Grade 7 Provincial B Championship held at Beaconsfield Junior High last weekend defeating Paradise Intermediate in the final. The team includes, from left: Coach Chris Doyle, James Choke, Grady Dalton, Olive Pike, Cam Maloney, Grady Williams, Braden Joyce, Jordan Cahill, Cohen Doyle, Rower Power, Cameron Barnable, Raiden O’Reilly, Austin Cahill, Jacob Sullivan and Keith Dalton.

St. John’s South—Mount Pearl MP Seamus O’ Regan presented over a dozen Local Hero Awards last weekend at a ceremony held at the Church of The Good Shepherd in Mount Pearl. The award recognises those who go above and beyond to help others in need. Recipients included Scott Hillyer of Coffee Matters, known for hosting free community suppers, the Goulds Lions Club, Branch 36 Legion volunteer June King, Ross King Memorial Library librarian Cindy Hall, who provides homeless people with Ziplock bags filled with essential items, Luke Thompson, who raised over $100 for the Red Cross this summer through his homemade lemonade stand, Knights of Columbus member James ‘Jimmy’ Boland, 14-year-old musician Alex Taylor, who has hosted a number of benefit concerts, community volunteer James Bulger, volunteer and Celtic Fiddlers founder Korona Brophy, Roger Chafe, who maintains the Petty Harbour graveyard free of charge, and James and Bernice Hart, residents at Bishop Meaden Manor who work tirelessly to obtain grants and organize activities for the Manor’s social club. Frank Scurrey, a life member of the Royal Canadian Legion, who passed in August 2022, was awarded a posthumous Local Hero Award. Pictured is O’Regan presenting Chafe with his award.

Annual Goulds charity hockey games raises almost $7,000 for charities

By Mark Squibb/March 17, 2023

Current members of the St. Kevin’s Mavericks and the St. Kevin’s Mavericks Alumni All-Star Team hit the ice for an evening of competitive hockey and fundraising last Friday night, as community volunteers hosted the 7th Annual St. Kevin’s High Alumni Hockey Charity Classic.

Jason Snelgrove helps organise the game each year.

“You’re always wondering if the support is going to lessen, if it’s going to get a little bit stale, a little bit old, but there were lots of people in the rink,” said Snelgrove. “We had lots of students in the rink, lots of young kids and families.”

Lots of laughs and smiles.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, support for the game has held steady over the years with $6,500 becoming a sort of fundraising benchmark.

Volunteers raised $6,900 this year through donations and ticket sales. Organizers donated about $2,600 to the Curtis Hudson Memorial Fund, and about $4,300 to the Newfoundland and Labrador Down Syndrome Society.

“It seems like every year we get a few more monetary donations prior to the game,” said Snelgrove. “So, it’s kind of nice going into the game knowing that you have a little bit of a cushion.”

And though the main order of the night is raising funds, both the young and young at heart dress for the game hungry for the win.

This time around, the alumni team earned the bragging rights.

“The older fellows managed to squeeze in a win,” said Snelgrove. “It was a very clean, intense hockey game.”

He said tat the game was tied 3-3 early in the third period, but the alumni were able to get a few ‘fluky’ goals and empty netters late in the third. The final score was 9-4.

“The final score didn’t really indicate what kind of a game it was,” said Snelgrove. “I think it was one of the most competitive games we’ve had. They’re starting to show us that the old guys are going to have to buck up their game a little bit if we want to continue our winning streak, because those young guys are right at out heels… it was a very close hockey game.”

Snelgrove said the event is a chance for young people to learn about doing good for others, and that it helps bring the community closer together.

The day of the game, members of the high school team, decked out in their jerseys, went to Goulds Elementary to read to elementary students and promote the charity event.

Snelgrove said the elementary kids treated the high school boys like rock stars, cheering them on and asking for autographs.

“That’s what it’s about,” said Snelgrove. “Making those connections and building positive role models within the community.”

Witless Bay looking to tighten security at Town Hall

By Mark Squibb/March 10, 2023

Witless Bay council is looking to spend some money to tighten security at the Town Hall, although council has not committed any monies as of yet.

“Essentially we are looking into some upgrades,” said councillor Alex Troake at a February 21 meeting.

That was before the latest departure of staff from the Town Hall, which has all but shuttered town business.

Troake said town staff and members of the volunteer fire department had identified some security concerns.

“Right now, we are not prepared to finalize any one provider or a scope or work or a schedule but will continue to look at the budget and what’s needed and report back when appropriate,” said the councillor.

The matter was put forward as a point of information only, and as such, council did not take a vote on the matter.

When the current iteration of council was elected back in September of 2021, one of council’s first orders of business was to change the locks on town buildings, including the Town Hall, Fire Hall and Puffin Centre.