Bay Roberts goes to the bank

During a public council meeting last month, Bay Roberts council approved two motions to request funding.

The first was for $750,000 for a portion of the Shearstown Road project. The remainder will be financed through operations. The loan will have a five-year fixed term, with a 15-year amortization period.

The second was for $500,000 to convert short-term borrowing into longer-term borrowing, with the same term as the initial loan (five years with a 15-year amortization.)

The requests will have to be forwarded to the Department of Municipal Affairs for final approval.

Both motions passed unanimously.

The loan amounts were agreed to in the 2021 budget.

Run-off, rocks, pandemic adds costs to Paradise public works projects

By Mark Squibb/January 27, 2022

Paradise council approved multiple change requests last week, some big, and some small, as part of its regular public works housekeeping.

The first on the agenda was a change order to the 2021 Street Rehab program.

“Prior to the rehabilitation of Hussey’s Road, residents had made repeated pleas to council to upgrade the road to address water run off issues, and resulting road defects,” explained infrastructure and engineering committee chairperson Deborah Quilty. “Residents were requesting a full rural-to-urban upgrade that would introduce a full storm system. As an upgrade of this nature was not planned or budgeted, staff determined the introduction of drainage ditches, designed in place to suit conditions during the rehabilitation, would be the best cost-effective solution to address all concerns.”

Quilty added that if the drainage issue wasn’t addressed, the life span of the newly rehabilitated road would be greatly reduced. And so, the ditch was installed in 2021, along with the necessary supports such as culverts, riprap, and a manhole.

The work was not included in the original tender, and the final cost could not be determined at the time of construction because the ditch was designed in place and final unit prices were not known until the work was completed.

“Weir’s Construction provided the following unit prices, which were well within expected costs, or even below this type of work,” said Quilty. “For example, the culvert installation, $12,350.50, the riprap installation, $7,500, the ditching at a cost of $5,257, and the cast in-place manhole, which was one at a cost of $2,608.69.”

The total cost of the additional work is $31,873 including HST, which was unanimously approved by council.

The next change order was for a fence on Diane Whalen Drive.

Quilty explained that on June 1, 2021, council awarded Pro Edge Construction and Maintenance a contract to build a privacy fence. The contract was valued at $41,630, including HST.

However, when the work began in December, construction crews found the soil was too rocky. The decision was made to switch building materials, opting for concrete instead of sonotube concrete foam. The concrete also required frost protection due to the cold temperatures.

The fence was completed by December 17, and the town received a revised invoice reflecting the additional costs, which totalled an extra $3,284.80, including HST. That brought the total contract value to some $44,914, including HST.

Council approved the change order unanimously.

The next change order was for phase 4 of the Paradise Road project.

The town had hired Pinnacle Engineering to complete a design and provide contract administration and full-time inspections of phase 4 construction.

“At the time of the signing of the agreement, there were 90 working days based on the funding amount at the time,” said Quilty. However, once the design was completed and the project issued for tender, the construction time had increased from 90 days to 135 days to reflect issues which arose during the design period, such as the contract spanning two construction seasons due to delays created by the pandemic.

“In addition to the 135 working days, the town has also approved an additional seven working days in contractor change order number one, which brings the total approved working days to 142 days,” she continued.

Despite adding the additional days, construction lasted even longer due to changes that became necessary during construction, such as the narrowing of the road and reinstatement agreements with some residents.

As a result, Pinnacle requested a contract change order for an additional 112 extra days, 52 of which were already approved. The remaining 60 days, said Quilty, is for time that has been worked, but not yet approved by council.

“The contractor, Modern Paving, will be liable for any additional engineering fees incurred beyond the approved working days,” Quilty noted.

The project was planned with some $410,000 in Gas Tax funding earmarked for it. Currently, the project is costing an additional $259,590, although Quilty said she hopes savings from unused line items can be applied to it.

“There is potential to apply for additional gas tax funds to decrease the deficit once all project costs have been finalized,” she added.

That change order was also approved unanimously.

Southern Shore tourism operators cautiously hopeful for 'Come Home Year'

By Patrick Newhook/January 20, 2022

With the province in Alert Level 4 and COVID-19 cases still higher than last year, tourism operators are wondering how this will impact their summer season. 

Since 2020, businesses have seen numerous setbacks due to COVID-19. Restrictions put in place to slow the pandemic have impaired their ability to work as normal. 

If the case numbers do come down, 2022 could be a busy year for tourism businesses. With the province promoting it as a Come Home Year, hopes are high this summer will be a busy one. 

Bay Bulls is home to several popular tourism businesses. 

Jonathan Earle is the co-owner of The Outfitters Adventures and Recreational Services. The business has a store in St. John’s and offers sea kayaking adventures in Bay Bulls. Since the start of COVID-19, their outdoor adventures have been halted. 

“Basically, our traffic stopped,” said Earle. “We really depend on people visiting Newfoundland, coming from outside of the province, outside of the country, around the world to visit and explore, and with travel bans in place, and people’s uneasiness with traveling, our traffic just dropped off and we decided not to operate our kayaking business from Bay Bulls.” 

The business hasn’t held its sea kayaking tours since 2020. Hopes were high for the business as it saw the upcoming summer as it’s comeback, but now with Alert Level 4, it’s not so certain anymore. 

“You know, if you had asked me this a month ago, we were starting to make plans and put things in place and have conversations with people,” said Earle. “We were feeling confident about this summer. With the Omicron variant that’s rolling around, we’ve sort of stopped and are wondering again. (We’re) less excited. It’s still five, six months away from that season and a lot can change and hopefully it will, but it’s hard to stay positive with the current situation.”  

Earle likes the idea of a provincial ‘Come Home Year,’ but isn’t sure if it will be enough for the sea kayaking business. 

“I think it’s a good initiative. I think there needs to be something to drive people home to visit Newfoundland or drive visitors to Newfoundland,” he said. “Will a ‘Come Home Year’ give us the kind of boost we really need? It will draw traffic, but I don’t know if it will give really the required traffic or the volume of traffic we’re used to, or that we would want when we decided to go into the sea kayaking tour business.”  

Earle is hoping to restart the kayak tours, but is expecting fewer tourists. 

“I think we’ll be operating on a reduced schedule. I don’t think we’ll have the volume that we had other years, typically late June, through July, August early September (when) we’re operating seven days a week, twice a day,” said Earle. “I could see us moving to a reduced schedule of three to five days a week, once maybe twice a day. I don’t think the volumes will be there to have a traditional operation. But the whales will be there, and the puffins will be there and likely the icebergs and the attractions will still be there. Maybe people will surprise me.”  

Bay Bulls is also home to several boat tours operations. Gatherall’s Puffin and Whale Watch is one of the oldest and most popular boat tour operators in Newfoundland. Co-owner Mike Gatherall said that prior to COVID-19, business was great. 

“In 2017, -18, -19 business was actually increasing,” said Gatherall. “2019 was a fabulous year and 2020, prior to the onset of COVID, was set to be the busiest year yet.”

When COVID-19 hit, it impacted the business hard. Gatherall teamed up with rival boat tour operator, O’Brien’s Whale and Bird Tours, to help keep each other weather the downturn. 

“It was one way we decided to work through COVID,” said Gatherall. 

This year, Gatherall is feeling ‘cautiously optimistic,’ saying that if cases are low and people can travel without isolating, then things will continue to look good. 

“Right now, advanced bookings and everything are back on par with what they would’ve been in the start of 2020. We are seeing that rebound, but again it’s going to come down to whether or not people are able to travel in or out of the province without restrictions,” said Gatherall. 

As for the Come Home Year, Gatherall welcomes it. 

“We certainly welcome people to come back home,” said Gatherall. “It’s a marketing initiative, we do have a lot of expat Newfoundlanders and a lot of them do come home anyway and I would anticipate a lot of people who were unable to come home in either 2020 or 2021 would be anxiously chomping at the bit to come home, ‘Come Home Year' or not.”  

While the ‘Come Home Year’ may help, Gatherall is still focusing on the traditional tourism market for customers. 

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt by any stretch, but it’s not necessarily what we are relying on,” he explained. “A non-resident, a person with no affiliation to Newfoundland who comes on a holiday, is probably going to spend in the order of five to seven times what a resident or expat returning home would spend. There is a considerable difference in the returns and revenue models. Of course, we are open to everybody.”

Greenslade brothers lease parking spaces to Town for new Long Pond park

The Town of Conception Bay South has entered into a lease with local property owners to provide additional parking for the new community Park in Long Pond. The fully-accessible, ocean-front park is under construction and expected to open late this summer, provided no construction delays occur due to COVID-19.

“The lease agreement with Doug and Derek Greenslade will provide approximately 90 spaces designated for park users when it opens later this year,” said Mayor Darrin Bent. “The park is an exciting addition to our community and ensuring adequate parking is available to residents for this multi-purpose venue is a priority of this council.”

The two sites, which are located at 196-198 and 200-202 Conception Bay Highway respectively, will be rented, starting this month, until January 1, 2026, for $2,000 per month, at which time the agreement may be renewed. The spaces are unpaved and mostly unused. They are located between the former Avalon Club and T & T Auto on Route 60. It’s not clear in the lease if the owners will be responsible for paving the lots. However, there is a clause that the tenant, in this case the Town, “will pay the cost of all alterations, additions, or maintenance...” The Town will also pay the property taxes on the lots.

The Town has first option to buy the property, should the Greenslade brothers decide to sell it.

The park’s adjacent parking lot can be accessed off Bishops Road and has 15 parking spaces.

The leased lot, which is a three-to four-minute walk to the park along Route 60 and then down Bishop’s Road next to Dominion Supermarket, or straight along Route 60 to the park entrance between Dominion and Jungle Jim’s Restaurant, means that more than 100 spaces have been made available for parking. The lease also allows the Town to designate more accessible parking.

The Town is continuing to look at the best parking solutions to ensure safety for families and visitors accessing the park, noted a town spokesperson. 

The lease was approved by council at the public meeting on December 21 and a copy is available on the Town’s website.

The park will include a playground and a dual-recreational, year-round surface, consisting of a splash pad in summer and ice-skating surface in winter. The park will have washrooms and change rooms, walking trails, a performance stage, and lighting.

Provided there are no unforeseen supply chain issues due to Covid-19, the splash pad will be ready for use this summer and the ice surface ready for commissioning next winter, said the spokesperson.

The park has been funded jointly by the federal government and the Province, which are each contributing $1 million, and the Town, which is spending $2.3 million for a total cost of $4.3 million.

Harbour Grace hoping for a big year in tourism

By Patrick Newhook/January 20, 2022

Harbour Grace council is hoping the provincial Come Home Year takes flight this spring so that the local tourism sector can benefit from the town’s aviation heritage.

At last week’s public council meeting, the chairman of council’s tourism and heritage committee, councilor Randy Wrice, discussed how the town is preparing.

“Over the last couple of months we’ve had many meetings with different interests and with people excited about the Amelia Earhart anniversary celebration happening from May 20th into August,” said Wrice. “It’s also our Come Home Year and we want all the committees input on taking part in the process of getting everyone involved on the same platform and how to proceed forward and to make it all a success. We have a zoom meeting tomorrow for a discussion on including the Harbour Grace Regatta into the Come Home Year events, and I guess that will have to do to with raising funds for the whole celebration. We have a lot of preparation ahead for all events and hopefully COVID restrictions will not limit progress.”

Mayor Don Coombs expressed confidence that 2022 is going to be good for the town.

“I’m looking forward to one of the best years ever in the history of Harbour Grace,” said Coombs.

He added that he has a positive feeling about Come Home Year. After two years of dealing with COVID-19, this is a chance to get the town moving and get some traction.

“We’re excited. We see so many opportunities and so many things happening in our town,” Coombs said. “Our economic development officer, again, is reaching out to the business community and we’re actually trying to get the business community in (for discussions)…. We’re making it attractive so that everyone can come in. The economic development officer and the committee that was put in place to spearhead that are doing a good job. We’re reaching out to everybody.”

Seeing the regatta go ahead will also be a benefit to the town, he said.

“It’s going to be exciting times, and it’s going to be a full schedule for kids, and adults, for seniors, for everybody and we are trying to tie in everyone which is important,” said the mayor.

City continuing to support business makeovers

By Patrick Newhook/January 13, 2022

Mount Pearl is continuing its Façade Improvement Program into 2022, in the hopes of beautifying more storefronts to sustain its small business base.

The city is spending $45,000 on the program. Initially set up in 2019, the program was created as an incentive for businesses in growth areas to make improvements and investments in their storefronts up to the value of $10,000 on a cost-shared basis. 

“It signals our commitment to continue support for the business community,” said councillor Locke.  

According to Locke, businesses have shown interest in the program. 

“The city of Mount Pearl continued our commitment to economic development issuing over $27,000 in façade improvement grants to businesses making improvements to the extension of their public facing spaces,” said Locke during his 2022 budget presentation speech last month. 

Businesses apply, and when approved receive a grant of up to 50 per cent of the project’s costs to a maximum of $10,000. 

The goal is to not only make the local businesses, but also the streets they occupy, more appealing.

Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley said this can help with the city’s sustainability. 

“This is, absolutely, not only a great way to support small businesses, but also do it in a balanced way where it is cost-shared,” Kieley said. “We are looking at improvements that now will change, literally, the face of some of our economic areas and drivers for years, so it has a great sustainability area there.”

Councilor Mark Rice applauded the program’s positive effects, both for the city and its applicants. 

“I think initiatives like this are really important for council and really important for the growth of Mount Pearl,” Rice said.

Cutback decision wasn't easy, but was necessary, says Harbour Grace Mayor

By Patrick Newhook/January 13, 2022

Mayor Don Coombs is confident that Harbour Grace residents won’t be hurt by a cutback in municipal spending this year. 

On December 15, Harbour Grace presented its budget for 2022. It included a 1 per cent cutback across all departments. That included the fire department. 

Coombs said council had to make difficult decisions and cooperate with all departments to make the budget work. 

“We realised that we got to be able to pay our bills, so we looked at the operation and we streamlined it as much as we could for this year,” said the mayor. “And we came up with that (10 per cent cut) after the department heads brought it in and we needed that. So they did the budget themselves and presented it to finance for council and it is something we’ve got to live with. This is a budget for the taxpayers of the town. There are no tax increases and what had to be done had to be done. We have to start paying down our dept and getting things back in order, and, you know, all council and department heads were absolutely great at it.” 

But making a 10 per cent cut wasn’t easy, Coombs admitted, especially to places such as the fire brigade.

“Nobody wanted to cut it back, but we explained it to him, the chief, it had to be done and there’s ways to get it done and they brought back a budget which showed the 10 per cent (reduction). It’s not only the fire department it’s our snow clearing, it’s everything else. We need everyone on our side… The 10 per cent cuts won’t have any effect on the town, whatsoever. There’s no loss of service to anybody.”  

The fire department, meanwhile, has been given the responsibility again for collecting fire protection fees from the residents of Bristol’s Hope, something it had been looking to see reinstated for some time. For a couple of years, the Town had taken over the management of the collection. 

“The town of Harbour Grace entered into an agreement in 2013 to collect the money from the community, the local service district of Bristol’s Hope, and now that’s being collected by the fire department again which is giving them some more revenue.” 

Despite the cutback, Coombs said he is proud of the budget. 

“I feel really good about it about it that we don’t have to increase taxes, we won’t see service interruptions, and everybody took it and worked on it,” said Coombs. “It’s good for the taxpayers of the town.”  

Mayor mystified by missing bank staff

By Mark Squibb/January 13, 2022

The Royal Bank in Holyrood is not closed permanently, says Holyrood town council, though Mayor Gary Goobie says it could do a better job of communicating with its customers.

Councilor Curtis Buckle raised the concern during the Tuesday night meeting, saying the town should reach out to RBC to ascertain why the bank is closed, and when, or if, it will open again. He noted the bank has been closed for some time, and a sign posted at the bank simply said it was closed due to a shortage of staff, but would reopen later in January. He noted many people prefer to do their banking in person rather than electronically, and further still, some may not be able to drive to the Royal Bank in CBS.

That was when Deputy Mayor Michele Woodford said she had already reached out to the Conception Bay South branch and a staff person told her the bank in Holyrood was closed because staff members were taking their annual vacation.

“They have to use up so much of their vacation, or they’re going to lose it,” said Woodford. “So, you have a lot of people on vacation right now and they’re working on a skeleton crew. Of course, I was concerned as well, because you hear rumors that the bank is not opening up in Holyrood but that’s not true, the bank is staying in Holyrood, they are reopening on the 24th, right now, pending that all of the annual vacation is used and that people are coming back to work.”

Mayor Gary Gooble joked that Buckle stole his thunder in bringing up the bank closure, as he had intended to raise it. Goobie said that while speaking with MHA Helen Conway-Ottenheimer’s office about potholes along Route 60, he was asked if he knew anything about the situation, at which time he did not.

“And the only thing that I can say is that the Royal Bank could do a better job in their public relations department,” said Goobie. “They have customers from Colliers right to Holyrood, parts of Conception Bay South, and in around St. Mary’s, and for some of those folks, customers, some of them long time, long serving customers, they probably make that trip from St. Mary’s to come to the bank, only to find out there’s a sign on the door saying we’re closed. And in my personal opinion, I don’t think that’s good enough. I think they could have communicated that a little better, with their customers, in advance. Regardless of the situation that caused or precipitated this closure, temporarily, I think they could have done a better job of communicating with their customers, if they want to keep them. I deal with the Royal Bank as well, and I didn’t receive anything, I didn’t even know about it, so it’s disappointing, to say the least.”

Councilor Laura Crawley said that she had heard of the same situation unfolding in other communities too, such as Placentia.