CBDC Cabot saw loan activity increase in 2024

Regional lender CBDC Cabot celebrated its 35th year of operations during its annual general meeting earlier this year. Among those on hand were, from left: Director Kevin Pomroy, Director Wendy Taylor, Executive Director Margo Soucy, Business Coordinator Pooja Khokar, Loans Monitoring Officer Kathryn Anderson, Youth Ventures Coordinator Caleb Mercer, Program Coordinator Jill Jubabir, Business Development Officer Danny Reid, Administrative Assistant Trina Whelan and Chairperson Bill Scott. Olivia Bradbury photo

This past year saw CBDC Cabot celebrate its 35th year of operation.

The community business development bank, which serves communities girdling Conception Bay from Logy Bay to Marysvale, has approved some $42.5 million in loans over those years, its executive director Margo Soucy noted during the group’s annual general meeting held at The Launch in Holyrood earlier this year.

This year, Soucy added, Cabot hit a new milestone, with “over $3.5 million in approved financing for businesses and social enterprises across Northeast Avalon, supporting a wide range of industries.”

Soucy admitted it was an unusual peak but she hopes it is also the start of a continued trend following declines experienced during the pandemic years.

Besides financing small businesses and social enterprises, Cabot offers advising, consulting, and training.

Soucy’s presentation allowed members of CBDC Cabot to reflect on the corporation’s accomplishments. Local entrepreneurs were also commended for their success and influence on the community and economy. Soucy said that as the team behind CBDC Cabot is small, they rely greatly on volunteers and community and business partners.

“We’re just a team of five so you can imagine it’s very difficult to get into every community and learn about every business and social enterprise, so we really do rely on community partners to help us,” she said.

Soucy said the corporation has to stick to its roots and stay rural. Another goal is to be able to help their clients even more proactively. “A lot of what we do is dealing with clients in the moment,” said Soucy, “but we are trying to get to a point where we’re helping them five years ahead.”

More work planned at The Gateway

By Craig Westcott

The Town of CBS has hired Miller Equipment Rental to conduct site preparation work on Lot 1, The Gateway, in Kelligrews.

The Gateway is the Town’s industrial and commercial park at the top of Legion Road. After more than a decade of marketing, the over 100-acre site still hasn’t reached the goal of becoming a regional commercial centre as originally envisioned by the council that proposed and approved it. However, it does house the new CBS Arena, a large Kent building supplies store, a Tim Horton’s restaurant and Wingin’ It restaurant, and is also the proposed site for the Town’s new community centre, when funding to build it becomes available.

Miller Equipment will be paid $92,000 plus HST to conduct the site work. The work is unrelated to the proposed Rec Centre, but instead being done to have it ready for a potential industrial or commercial buyer should one turn up.

“We just have to be ready should anything come up in the future, we need to be able to receive materials and stuff for the site,” said Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy, who chairs council’s engineering committee. “So, we’re just trying to get ahead of it.”

Seal Cove development hangs on Billy Brook flooding study

By Craig Westcott

Developers anxious to build houses off Garden Road in Seal Cove are going to have to wait a little longer before the Town of CBS is ready to assess the applications.

That’s because the Town is itself waiting on a storm water study on Billy Brook, a stream running from Little Indian Pond to Seal Cove Pond. It crosses Garden Road between Woodview Place and Morgans Road. There is a lot of land on back of Garden Road going towards the western half of Seal Cove Road that could potentially be developed if the area is ever deemed suitable for building.

The latest application to come before council was for a single-family dwelling at 152 Garden Road.

Ward 3 councillor Gerard Tilley, who chairs council’s planning committee, told his colleagues at the last public council meeting that his committee was recommending that a decision on the application be deferred for now.

“We’ve received multiple applications for development in this area,” Tilley noted. “We’d be doing ourselves an injustice if we made any decisions or recommendations prior to having that report in our hands. So, we just have to defer it for now.”

Ward 4 representative Melissa Hardy, who represents Seal Cove, added there have been many discussions about flood zones in the area, so a consultant has been asked to review it to help the Town figure out how to address them.

“We’re hoping to have the report in the coming weeks,” Hardy said.

“It’s prudent to have that,” agreed Mayor Darrin Bent.

City approves land swap with humanitarian group

By Mark Squibb

The City of Mount Pearl and the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter of Habitat for Humanity this past November agreed to a land swap that should prove beneficial to both parties.

“The land exchange is intended to provide mutual benefits, enabling both the city and Habitat NL to acquire parcels that are better aligned with their respective needs,” said councillor Chelsea Lane. “For Habitat NL, this exchange would enable the development of a much-needed multi-unit housing project while the City would be able to construct a bulb (a wider turn area) in the Croucher Avenue location, eliminating a safety risk during the operation of heavy city equipment. The Committee discussed and agreed in principle to support the City proceeding with an exchange of land between the City and Habitat for Humanity.”

The committee had recommended that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) be signed, which was approved by council during a recent public meeting.

“I think this is great news,” said councillor Bill Antle. “Habitat NL have been asking us for a piece of land for I don’t know how long. Since I’ve been on council, they’ve been trying to find a piece of land, and we finally got this to work, and it’s to the benefit of both of us. Down on Croucher Crescent, it’s hard for the snowplows and garbage trucks to make that turn down there. And up on Glendale Avenue, that’s a fine piece of land that the City owns, so this is great. We’re looking for new housing within the City so this is good news all around.”

Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley voiced her support of the motion as well.

“When we talk about the larger picture, when we talk about a safer, violence-free community, these are the type of organizations, these are the type of initiatives, that support that,” said Kieley, who said financial stress and desperation can breed violence and crime.

Council delegates more power to staff

By Mark Squibb

Mount Pearl council recently approved a new delegation of authority that could see some developments contrary to City rules cleaned up quicker.

The move allows council to delegate authority to staff to administer orders to “pull down, remove, stop construction, fill in or destroy” a building or development that has fallen contrary to the City’s regulations.

Previously, the regulation required that a cleanup order be passed through a number of committee meetings before being presented to council for a public vote. The new delegated authority will allow the director to issue the order directly once non-compliance is identified by staff.

“I’m glad this is coming forward and I certainly support the recommendation,” said councillor Mark Rice. “We have a lot of areas in the city that are starting to get run down and dilapidated, so I’m glad this is coming forward. At least we have some autonomy and authority to move forward and make some decisions on behalf of the City.”

Councillor Bill Antle, who made the motion on behalf of the engineering committee, said he believed it was a great idea.

The motion passed unanimously.

Premier and ministers roll out firefighting money in Bay Roberts

On hand for the Province’s funding announcement for a new fire pumper for the Bay Roberts fire brigade last week were, starting in the back row, from left: FF Jamie Russell, Deputy Mayor Geoff Seymour, Mayor Walter Yetman, Safety Officer Newman Parsons, FF Hayward Butler, Assistant Chief Glen Bradbury, Training Officer Adam Russell, FF Roy Mercer, Chief Michael Murphy, Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis, FF James Newell, Captain Adam Norman, FF Jordan Power, Councillor Frank Deering, FF Lauren Newell; and in the front row, from left: Councillor Ross Petten, Councillor and FF Silas Badcock, Premier Andrew Furey, MHA Pam Parsons, and Captain Doug Mercer. Olivia Bradbury photo

By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Report

A bevy of provincial politicians were on hand in Bay Roberts last week to announce the town will be among a list of municipalities getting new firefighting equipment.

It fell to Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis to announce that in the case of Bay Roberts, the funding will be for a new pumper truck.

The announcement took place at the Bay Roberts fire station on November 29.

“Bay Roberts is a very efficient department,” said the area’s MHA Pam Parsons.

She said the department does not ask for much, but came to her about needing a new truck. “We’re a team out here in Conception Bay North. It’s not just simply within the borders of Coley’s Point, Bay Roberts, Shearstown, Butlerville. When the call comes in, you respond to CBN,” she said of the Bay Roberts firefighters.

Parsons thanked the members for their hard work, as well as the council for its support and advocacy for the department. Two members of council, Dean Franey and Silas Badcock, are members of the brigade.

Premier Andrew Furey echoed Parsons’ appreciation. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for keeping our communities safe, and thank you for standing up for the citizens of your communities and putting yourself often in danger to help others,” he said. “Certainly the word hero is not said enough with respect for the work that you guys do.”

Furey said when Parsons came to him with the department’s request, they and Davis worked together to ensure it got immediate attention.

Davis acknowledged the many roles firefighters fill.

“It’s not just fires that you’re fighting,” said Davis. “It’s collisions, medical calls, other emergencies — you’re there. The demands placed on volunteer groups can be overwhelming. To effectively do the job and help protect the community, you need to have the necessary equipment.”

The money for the truck is part of a fund the Province announced the week previous at a press event in Pouch Cove. The money will be shared among 39 fire departments across the province, and with contributions from the towns, will help pay for everything from bunker gear, boots, cylinders, and portable pumps to vehicle extraction tools. In September, Furey announced money to replace over four hundred self-contained breathing apparatus units and other equipment. That too will be cost-shared with the towns.

“You don’t need to be a firefighter to understand how important those breathing apparatuses and equipment are,” said Davis. “It will play a significant role in protecting our friends, our families, and our loved ones.”

Davis said thanks to $2.8 million from the government, 13 communities will receive funding to help them buy new fire protection vehicles. Bay Roberts Fire Rescue will receive approximately $450,000 for the purchase of its new pumper truck.

Fire Chief Michael Murphy offered his thanks for the funding. “I’m sure they’re going to feel the exact same way on how important reliable equipment and vehicles are to provide a fire service,” he added, referring to the other departments.

Murphy said the new equipment and vehicle will make his department’s response time better and serve not only Bay Roberts, but the whole area. He also thanked council. “It’s great to have a council that supports us,” said Murphy.

Politics on the menu at Topsail - Paradise District PC Association Breakfast

By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Topsail–Paradise member Paul Dinn was busy serving up grub and handing out smiles at his first ever ‘Meet the MHA’ breakfast event at the Topsail United Church hall last month.

Members of the parish’s Men’s Club helped prepare and serve the fare.

As the area’s MHA, Dinn has attended quite a few events at the Church over the years, but this was the first time he has served breakfast, an event organized by the local PC District Association.

“I come down and try to help out whenever I can,” Dinn said. “It’s such a wonderful group down here.”

Dinn said the Topsail-Paradise PC District Association likes to give back to the community where possible. The night before the breakfast, Dinn and members of the association went to Tim Horton’s Paradise to decorate Smile Cookies, with the proceeds from cookie sales going to local charities and groups. Dinn said some of the proceeds from the United Church breakfast would go back to the church and the association’s programming, but the rest would be donated to the community.

“I try to get to as many events as I can so no one can say to me, ‘Well, I can’t get ahold of Paul Dinn,’” the MHA said. The breakfast was just the first of a number of events Dinn had planned to attend that day.

“There are many groups in Topsail-Paradise who do great work,” said Dinn. “And I always said there’s no government around that would be able to fit the bill for all these volunteer groups and what they do. I mean that’s how I got into what I am (doing). I was an active volunteer. I still am.”

Dinn said as the area’s MHA, it’s important to be available.

“As MHA, we’re sort of last resort for people who are out there with issues or concerns,” he explained. “We’re sort of last resort for them, and you’ve got to be available.”

He added that when it comes to private or confidential issues, people might not be comfortable calling officials or staff members, so it is important to him as MHA to be as available to the public as possible. “You may not help everyone, and you may not get them the answer they want, but at least you’re approachable and people can come up to you,” he said.

Asked for his thoughts on the timing of the next provincial election, Dinn said he could not guess that. Whenever it is, he said, it won’t change what he has been doing since he was first elected.

“The big part about it is: have you done your job?” said Dinn.

Traffic planners to give Dunns Hill another go

By Craig Westcott

Harbourside Transportation Consultants is getting a second crack at trying to figure out how to improve traffic safety at the intersection of Dunns Hill Road and Route 60 in Foxtrap.

At last week’s CBS public council meeting, a motion to pay the engineering firm $22,500 to devise a new pilot study and “complete a revised assessment” was given unanimous approval.

Harbourside came up with the current assembly of traffic calming barriers and routing for a year long pilot project that ended last spring. The changes, which included a ban on turning left off Dunns Hill Road onto the CBS Highway or crossing the four lanes of traffic to access Lodge Road, were made permanent this past July. The other significant change as a result of the first pilot project was that cars heading west on Route 60 were no longer allowed to turn left onto Dunns Hill Road; only cars heading east were allowed to access the road by turning right.

The impact on the intersection has met with criticism from residents of Dunns Hill and other attached streets, as well as from All Saints Parish, which corners the intersection and has ended up contending with impatient drivers using its driveway and parking lot as a makeshift route around the intersection.

“We’ve had multiple conversations with some residents in the area,” said Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy, who chairs the Town’s engineering committee. “Council has met and we’ve agreed to move forward with an amended pilot project assessment.”

Hardy said the pilot project will last a year, like the first one did. “However, the allowable traffic movements will be adjusted,” she added. “The traffic consultants are currently drafting a new layout and once that’s completed council will determine when the changes can be made and advise the public.”

Council also intends to gauge public opinion with a survey when the new pilot project is nearing completion, Hardy noted.

“Once all the information comes back, council will assess and then we’ll decide on how we want to proceed,” she said.

Pressed for more details by Mayor Darrin Bent about the planned traffic changes, Hardy said the layout of the traffic calming structures will be changed. “We’re just waiting for Harbourside to come back with some information for us,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse, who represents the area as part of Ward 2, pointed out the new pilot project will encompass more than the intersection itself.

“We had a number of meetings with residents who were very concerned about the area and expressed their concerns about safety, the All Saints Parish parking lot, the Greeleytown Road and All Saints intersection, and all these things are being looked at in this amended pilot project,” Gosse said. “We realize that in this pilot project adjustment, new data will be collected, so we’ll be looking at some numbers on the traffic. Hopefully this will help All Saints Parish with some of the safety issues they’ve been having with traffic, and also make a difference at the Greeleytown and All Saints intersection. So I just wanted to let residents know that we have listened to them and that we are looking at this going forward (to see) what’s the best option.”

That lead Mayor Bent to ask again if anything has been decided as to how the new configuration will look. “Or are we waiting on Harbourside to tell us that?” he asked.

“We’re currently waiting for Harbourside to come back with the recommendations,” Hardy said. “We’ve certainly voiced what we’d like to see there, but we’re waiting for them to come back to see what’s able to go there.”

Paradise breaks from policy to assist hockey school

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Paradise will have to bend the rules a little to accommodate a hockey camp hosted by the Danny Cleary Hockey School next summer.

During the November 19 public meeting, recreation committee chairman Patrick Martin explained that, due to operational changes, the Double Ice Complex will only have one ice surface open next July, which will lead to a reduction in available ice time for users.

Martin said the facility rental policy states that community groups, schools, sports, and not-for profits are given priority for ice-time ahead of private rentals, including rentals to privately owned hockey schools.

“Danny Cleary has been operating out of the Double Ice Complex for the last eight years, yet if the policy is followed, other users will be prioritized ahead of them,” said Martin, who then moved, at the behest of the recreation committee, that the Town allow one week of ice time to the hockey school for one week in July 2025. The motion further acknowledged the move was not aligned with the Town’s facility rental policy.

Council approved the motion unanimously.

Ecological group manages to KEEP it going

By Mark Squibb

The past year was at times a challenging one for the long running Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program (KEEP), says its chairperson Jenna Scott, who gave a detailed report at the group’s recent annual general meeting.

“It’s been a slower year,” allowed Scott.

The group had one new member join, but membership remains low. The group also had difficulty holding meetings from April through August as it was unable to obtain quorum. The organization had planned to hire a Green Team to monitor the Kelligrews River and collect data on water temperature, vegetation cover, wildlife diversity, and more, for two weeks in July, but was unfortunately unable to host the team due to transportation issues and a lack of an adequate, onsite shelter.

But it did get some work done. The organization submitted letters of concerns to the provincial government regarding three quarry proposals and a concrete plant proposal. Despite the group’s concerns, all four project proposals were released from environmental assessment.

“Our main problem with quarries like this is that many companies don’t have the proper remediation plans in place, or they just don’t follow through with them,” said Scott. “Why it’s unrealistic to ask the companies and the government to put a stop to development all together, we do at least ask that there are greater environmental plans beforehand and that they clean up the mess that they make.”

On a more positive note, the group made some headway in its study of siltation that occurs in the Kelligrews River after heavy rainfalls, persuading the Province to install a mobile environmental monitoring platform (MEMP) in July.

The group also purchased a drone, which it will use to search for the source of the siltation. Members suspect the silt is coming from a high dirt embankment on Incinerator Road. Determining who would be held responsible for the cleanup, said Scott, could prove difficult, as the road itself is within the St. John’s City boundary, but the silt— which can wreak havoc on fish and animal populations — accumulates in CBS.

This year also marks the organization’s 25th anniversary, and Scott highlighted a number of the group’s accomplishments over the years, including the construction of the outdoor classroom on Pond Road, the removal of concrete barriers from the Kellgirews River, and 15 years of hosting the Kelligrews Railway Folk Festival.

The group is a volunteer, non-profit organization that aims to maintain and preserve waterbodies within the town — more specifically, the Kelligrews River and the Lower Gully.

“It’s important that we protect these rivers for a lot of reasons,” said Scott. “They act as a carbon sink (something which absorbs more carbon than it releases), they can filter out hazardous materials before they reach the ocean, they prevent flooding by holding water, and they support biodiversity.”

At the end of the AGM, the group hosted its election of officers. Brad Strap was voted vice-chairman, Karen Morris treasurer, Stephanie Pink secretary, and Phyllis Smith a director. There are still some directors’ positions that need to be filled.