No word on Paradise No Frills rumour

By Mark Squibb

The word on the street is that the new structure going up alongside Paradise Plaza near Octagon Pond is a No Frills supermarket, but no in any official capacity is willing to confirm that.

A staff person with the Town of Paradise would only say that approval has been granted for a commercial retail store, adding the Town is not permitted to identify a specific business being developed.

A spokesperson for the No Frills parent company, Loblaws, asked that The Shoreline “reach back out to us in a few months for confirmed details.”

Neither Russell nor Lee Hamlyn, who own the Cedar Plaza No Frills supermarket, which is about a ten-minute drive from the new structure, responded to several requests for comment.

Paradise inks new janitorial contract

By Mark Squibb

Beginning this month, it’s going to cost the Town of Paradise more to keep its facilities clean.

Back in 2023, council had awarded the 2023-2024 cleaning contract to Kellaway Construction in the amount of $421,038, HST included. The contract was renewed for 2025, but late last year the company notified the Town that it would not be renewing the contract this year.

That contract officially ended on February 7, and as a new tender had not been issued until December 15, council agreed to keep paying Kelloway for cleaning services on a week-by-week basis at a cost of $14,375, HST included, per week, until the tenders could be reviewed and a new contract inked.

All told, Paradise received seven bids for the new one-year contract, ranging from $239,760 to $571,831, HST excluded. Staff recommended that council award the contract to the lowest qualifying bidder, The Cleaning Company, in the amount of $478,584, HST included. The lowest dollar value bid did not qualify.

In order to expedite the approval process, as the Town was paying for cleaning services on a week-by-week basis, council awarded the contract during its February 17 committee meeting rather than wait until the February 24 public meeting.

All told, Paradise will pay $57,556 more this year for janitorial services at Town-owned buildings.

Council will be able to renew the contract for two additional one-year periods – should both parties be agreeable to the extensions.

The average bid amount in 2023 was $592,562. That actually decreased to $553,312 in 2026. In both years, the Town received seven bids.

CBS asking for $2.5 million roadwork money

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Conception Bay South this March submitted an application to the provincial government asking for $2.5 million in federal money for 2026 street upgrades.

A list of streets which will receive work has not yet been released.

Council also voted to close the Lawrence Pond Road upgrades project with a remaining balance of $194.47. That balance will be carried over for use on future projects.

“Looking at that $194.47, that’s not a bad job of estimates on a multi-million project, so kudos to our staff,” said councillor-at-large Rex Hillier.

Funding for municipal capital works is earmarked under an alphabet soup of provincial and federal nomenclature. The provincial program that the Town applied to is called the Capital Investment Plan. Some of the money for the Capital Investment Plan actually comes from the federal Canada Community-Building Fund. As with other municipalities, the funding that ultimately flows to the Town is usually a mixture of federal and provincial funds, with CBS itself on the book for a smaller portion of the total cost.

Paradise holds the line on line painting costs

By Mark Squibb

While the cost of everything seems to have gone up, the cost of line painting will hold steady, at least for now, in the Town of Paradise.

Last year, council awarded the 2025 line painting contract to Modern Paving. The contract included an option to renew the agreement for an additional year at the same price per unit, should the Town and company be agreeable.

The contract was initially inked in the amount of $210,950, plus HST. Additional areas requiring line markings were added throughout 2025, increasing the contract total to $238,609, plus HST, for a total contract value of $274,400, HST included.

The contract will be renewed for 2026 in that same amount, comfortably within budget of the $300,000 council had earmarked for line painting in 2026.

Councillor Glen Carew said he was very happy with the work done so far, but wondered whether council shouldn’t retender the contract given the additional work that was added to the project.

Councillor Erin Furlong said the reason the contract would not need to be retendered is that the unit rate remains the same, despite the scope of work increasing.

“It’s only the quantities that are changing, so therefore the total value will only change due to the quantities, and not the actual rate,” explained Furlong. “And the tender and the contract was developed with this expectation in mind.”

Beginning in the spring, roadways and parking lots at Town facilities receive three applications of paint during the year.

Holyrood making process on big ticket projects

By Mark Squibb

Infrastructure lead councillor Steve Winsor provided updates earlier this year on a number of big projects Holyrood council is managing this year.

Among them, the town has hired Greatario Engineering Storage Systems to complete a geotechnical assessment to determine the foundation design necessary for a new water tank.

“As you can imagine, a full tank of water is very heavy, and we want to protect that investment for the long term,” said Winsor. “So, that contract is drafted and we’ve secured funding from gas tax to cover those costs. Once they complete that design we’ll begin actual installation. Now, the cost of the project, overall, as you’re probably imagining, has increased, especially the tank and the installation. But the Town is working very hard for funding mechanisms to complete the project as originally planned with a minimal impact to taxpayers in Holyrood.”

Civil work near George Cove Mountain was completed back in 2024 in anticipation of the new 500,000-gallon water tank.

Work is also ongoing to secure an emergency water supply, which council hopes will reduce the number of water bans implemented during the dry season.

“A lot of work has been done in this area,” said Winsor. “We’ve studied it and engaged multiple engineering consultants. Currently, we’re investigating another well as an option for another water source without mixing surface water, which would complicate matters and lead to dramatically higher costs.”

Winsor said engineering consultant CBCL, which specializes in water sources, has conducted a well test on Tank Road, which is near the water tank. That nearness should, he added, result in cost savings. Council should have a complete report within the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, work on the replacement of the old septic system responsible for an off-putting odour around town is progressing, though slowly.

“Replacing that is going to be a lot more complicated than we had expected, and it’s going to be more expensive than expected,” said Winsor. “Schedule wise, what’s driving a lot of that is the environmental regulations.”

Winsor said the wait for environmental approvals is not a problem limited to Holyrood.

“As I understand it, the Province is having a hard time approving environmental permits in a timely fashion across the province,” said Winsor. “It’s not just Holyrood.”

Council is also seeking funding for a new outfall with a larger capacity.

“It’s a long time coming, but it’s so important to get it done right,” said Winsor. “We got the right players involved and, I must say I was impressed with the engineering design consultant (Innovative Engineering). A little bit of an adlib here now, but they’ve done their homework. The lead engineer has done an excellent job.”

Mayor Laura Crawley and councillor Charlotte Story also praised the engineers at Innovative.

“It is a very complicated process, and it is a very old system,” said Crawley. “I think we’re more behind than we even thought going into it. So, it’s going to take a little bit more effort than we originally thought. But it’s working.”

Plans for a new community centre, which was first approved in 2023, are also ongoing.

Winsor said council would be meeting soon with the consultant and following council’s review of the initial concept, residents will be able to provide feedback as well.

“Once we have a set design and a design freeze in place, we’ll begin the process of securing funding and hopefully get started in 2027 with an actual build,” said Winsor.

Council accepted $908,000 in government funding back in 2024 to help offset the construction cost.

CBN Joint Council concerned about NL Health Services’ plan to make patients go digital

By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Joint Council of Conception Bay North has some reservations about CorCare, the new health information system that NL Health Services will make public on April 25.

Joint Council members raised their concerns following a presentation by Fraser Fry and Steven Lockyer, two senior officials with NL Health Services.

The pair told the Joint Council that the health information system the Province has been using is outdated, having been implemented in 1982. CorCare will replace 150 legacy systems, integrating health information into one system. Fry and Lockyer said CorCare will enhance how healthcare is delivered, ease workflows for doctors and staff, and make personal health records more accessible.

“CorCare enables real-time, up-to-date health information across sites, geographics, and providers,” said Lockyer.

No matter where people live in the province, their health records will always be live and current.

“Our new system is patient-focused,” said Fry. “Anything we do within our healthcare system, we certainly have a patient-centred approach to delivering services.”

He added CorCare will have connections for family doctors and nurse practitioners.

CorCare has three parts, they explained: Hyperspace, the full version of the program that will be used in hospitals; CorCare Link, a web portal that allows clinicians to easily enter the system and track the progress of referrals in real time; and MyChart, the patient portal through which personal health records can be accessed.

Carbonear Deputy Mayor Fred Earle asked if the new system will require doctors who use physical records to switch to digital.

Lockyer said doctors will still be able to use physical records in their personal practices, but will be asked to use the CorCare Link web portal when interacting with NL Health Services.

As for the MyChart patient portal, Lockyer said, it will not just allow people to see their medical history and updates, but also that of their dependents.

“That’s what will transform and really enable patients to take charge of their own healthcare,” Lockyer said.

People will also be able to use MyChart to book appointments and compare the wait times at different hospitals.

Harbour Grace councillor Christina Hearn expressed worry that less tech-savvy people may have difficulty using CorCare.

Lockyer said they are doing a media campaign about the new system, and are looking to work with town councils and other groups to help people learn how to use it.

NL Health Services would also like to partner with libraries throughout the province as they offer computer access to the public and have staff who can help visitors go online.

There will also be a phoneline that people can call for help when using CorCare.

Spaniard’s Bay Mayor Tammy Oliver shared an anecdote about her daughter, who is a nurse. During a course on how to use CorCare, Oliver’s daughter witnessed an older nurse walk out in frustration and say she was done.

“We don’t want to lose any doctors or nurses over this for any reason whatsoever,” said Oliver.

“Sometimes change is difficult,” said Lockyer. “And we anticipate the road to be bumpy, we truly do. And that’s why we’ve got an enormous support.” He said that, in addition to the support phoneline, there is in-person and peer support

Concerns were also raised about sensitive health information, such as cancer diagnoses, being delivered through the system rather than in-person. Through CorCare, patients will have access to any information their doctor chooses to make available. Lockyer says there is an option for doctor’s to hide information on the system until they can speak to their patient in person. It will be up to individual healthcare providers to decide to share information in person or online.

Mount Pearl appealing to minister to maintain say at the ERSB table

By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Mount Pearl council has sent a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs calling attention to proposed changes to the membership of the Eastern Regional Service Board (ERSB) that will leave around 80,000 residents without a voice at the table.

Councillor Bill Antle, who has been an ERSB board member for the past five years, told council at the March 31 public meeting that Mount Pearl, Paradise and Conception Bay South would see their membership change to an ex-officio status under the proposed change, meaning they will not have the ability to speak or vote on matters before the board.

Mayor Dave Aker reported that a letter has been sent to Chris Tibbs, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, that argues continued representation on regional service boards for waste, fire protection, water and wastewater services is at stake.

“The board’s motion is not binding on the minister, the minister has discretion,” said Aker. “As good regional partners, constituents, we have carbon copied other mayors in the region, as well as the MHA, so hopefully Minister Tibbs will reach out and we can consult a bit more and see if we can enhance representation to ensure that the governance structure is responsible and representative and that the rural areas get the representation that they need a little bit more of.”

Antle said representatives from all three affected communities voted against the proposed change at a March 26 ERSB meeting. He pointed out that Mount Pearl paid around $633,000 last year to the City of St. John’s, which owns the Robin Hood Bay regional waste facility used by Mount Pearl.

“Despite that financial contribution we will have no say around the board when the budget comes up. We will have no say,” Antle told council. “How can an Eastern Region Service Board be called regional when three of the largest municipalities in that structure aren’t included? Mount Pearl, Paradise and CBS represent nearly 80,000 residents, so that’s 80,000 residents that don’t have a vote.”

Councillor Mark Rice, who has attended several past ERSB committee meetings, said the proposed change calls into question the nature of the relationship, especially considering there is a planned regional wastewater project where municipal contributions are being asked for up front.

“When I look at it, are we a partner or are we a customer? We’re a partner when they want us to be a partner, but now I look at it as being a customer, so why are we putting a share up front for wastewater – because it all goes together, it’s all connected,” Rice said, adding that he checked with the City’s legal department prior to the meeting and it was determined there are no signed memorandums of understanding for regional services except for fire services.

Another proposed change to the membership and structure adopted by the ERSB board incudes a reduction from the current level of 20 directors down to 12, with St. John’s continuing to hold half the voting power with six appointed directors, and the remaining spots going to elected representatives from six other rural areas.

The proposed changes to the ERSB board structure would be effective upon receiving ministerial approval.

Antle said he first received notice of a desire to restructure the board via a September email.

The ERSB was created by the Province in 2012.

The Pearl News requested a copy of the letter sent to Minister Tibbs, but it was not made available prior to deadline.