The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

Clarenville's 2014 Budget

I imagine by now I/We have upset some 'local' farmers. This week's edition of the PACKET has reported correctly that the Community Development and Communications committee of Council, which I am the Chair, turned down a request to take part in a buy local campaign for farmers. (see The Packet Down on the farm - Dec 12, 2013 Edition).  We did indeed turn the opportunity to participate in the campaign down, not because it was a bad idea, but rather because it was a much better project for our farming oriented neighbouring towns of Musgravetown & Lethbridge. There are no farming businesses in the Town of Clarenville I am a firm believer in building on strengths and the fact of the matter is that farming is simply not one of the Town of Clarenville's strengths.  It is strength for the Musgravetown area - they know the farmers, the farms and the area, and as a result they would be much more informed, credible and supportive player in the initiative. As as Town, o...

Municipal News is the monthly publication of Municipalities Newfoundland & Labrador.  This month's edition features former Mayor Fred Best on the occasion of his retirement.  I have included the article here, the full newsletter is available at    http://www.municipalnl.ca/userfiles/files/MNEWS%20Dec%202013%20low%20res(1).pdf

This past weekend, Clarenville's tourism community celebrated two significant milestones.  First, White Hills Resort launched its new season with an open house in the beautiful main building at the Resort.  2014 marks the 25th year of the resort and with newly appointed manager Jason Crawford, coupled with some major events planned for the resort over the winter, it is shaping up to be a great year for the Resort's Silver anniversary.  Take this opportunity to see a short video of the event here: Second, the Resort, the Town and their Partners launched a "one-stop" web space that will be promoted to tourists and residents alike. GottaLoveOurWinter.ca reflects the fact that there is a lot to love about winter here in Clarenville and we want to share its joys with others. Below is a video of the launch.  Be sure to check out the website at  http://gottaloveourwinter.ca/ . Historical White Hills Resort The Resort operated as a private business...

After 50 years as a Club, the Clarenville Lion's Club has many traditions that have contributed to making Clarenville what it is today.  One of these traditions is the annual Lions Santa Claus Parade.      If you're new to Clarenville, a lifelong resident, or a kid or a kid at heart,  you should never miss out on the opportunity to take part in the annual Lion's Santa Claus Parade. This year's parade will be held on Saturday Dec. 7th. 2013. 2013 marks the 50th year for the Lions Club and they are looking forward to making this parade the best ever. To take part please contact Ches Stanford at 466-2520 or Roy Fisher at 466-2514. Through the dedicated efforts of many volunteers in the Lions Club and participating organizations the parade creates a new set of memories each year.   You have a month to think about how you can be a part of the parade, build a float, or be a Mummer in it - try it - be a part of  50 years of traditions! ...

Clarenville High school's award winning Robotics team has added boat building and driving to their repertoire of engineered capabilities. Despite this is the first year CHS has taken part in the competition, the 8 student team rocketed their way through the zig-zag course at Memorial University's Marine Institute with their winning entrant - the E.S. Minno (Electric Ship!)

On October 8, 2013 Clarenville's new Town Council was sworn in at a public ceremony held in the Clarenville Events Centre.  Outgoing mayor Fred Best officiated the event.  Please click the video to start. Council Sub-Committees Community Development and Communications Tilley/Avery/Monk Finance and Administration Smith/Tilley/Avery Public Works Bailey/Harris/Smith Recreation Harris/Monk/Bailey

Ever wonder what Clarenville looks like from the air? Here's a bird's-eye-view that gives you an idea of just how great we look and how much we're growing. Thanks to Newfoundland Helicopters!

Looking to help out in Clarenville?  There are plenty of volunteer opportunities that can help you get to know people and help you in your career. One such opportunity is a program called COMPUTERS FOR SENIORS.   This initiative is run by the  Random Age-Friendly Communities group and the goal is to train seniors in the use of computers.  Over the past number of years Computer training volunteers have instructed over 150 seniors of Clarenville and the surrounding communities in basic computer usage.   Random Aged Friendly and its partner, College of the North Atlantic, is currently recruiting resource persons to assist in the delivery of our next class which will run from October 22 to November 21 on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 – 9 p.m. at Clarenville campus. The training to be offered to seniors will be very fundamental, so it is not necessary for resource persons to have extensive training in or instructional experience w...

“Help Wanted” signs adorn our town.   If you're a teenager, and looking for a job, odds are you’ll be in luck. What’s good for youth and for people looking for retail type jobs however is not so good for the businesses that are busy trying to recruit for them.   Last week’s edition of THE PACKET told the story of how a shortage of retail labour in Clarenville is challenging some businesses, and how one business has taken advantage of the Foreign Worker Program to hire staff from the Philippines ( Local businesses recruit foreigners to fill the gaps Sept 26)  .   This situation is not unique to Clarenville.  In Happy Valley-Goose Bay over 200 foreign workers are employed in the fast-food/retail industry.  These stories come as a prelude to the Province launching a Discussion  road-show to discuss the challenges being faced by communities and business as baby boomers retire/die while and fewer young people enter the workforce/communiti...

Over 100 residents came out to the Clarenville Chamber of Commerce sponsored Candidate Forum on Tuesday, September 17.   10 of the 11 candidates for council spoke for 7 minutes each on what her/she could contribute to the leadership of Clarenville over the next four years. Frazer Russell has been acclaimed the Town’s new mayor, and he was also in attendance. Forum Chair: Susan Hollett Timer: Adrian Power Photo/Video: Harrison Tille Representing the Chamber:   Richard Power The Candidates: Candidates were assigned their turn in the order by draw  Jill Russell-Monk      David Harris Rod Nicholl Heber Smith Ashling O’Mahony Avery  Bill Bailey Paul Tilley Brian Smith Graham Bursey Add caption  John Pickett Candidate Jeff Bursey was unable to attend the ...

It was a nice presentation that demonstrated the the potential impact of the next generation of oil developments on our east coast.  There was lots of information, but no audience. Very few people came to the AMEC sponsored information session held Wednesday evening at Clarenville inn to see and hear it and voice their comments. Here are some background links Open House Session Information  Press Release - Article in The Packet Here's a virtual tour of what they had to present.

The official 2011 Census population for Clarenville was 6,035.    This represented an increase of 14.4% since 2006 (6,035 in 2011, up from 5,275).  That's one of the highest rates of community growth in the Province (We are the highest growth area outside of greater St. John's). That's good right? Well, aside for the issue of how we can better manage that growth, it certainly means that our town is becoming a place people come to live. But how can we do a better job at making it a place to call home?.   Where is this growth coming from?   We really need to look at the numbers a little more closely and consider where the growth is coming from and how it can be sustained.   The Province keeps a great website called Community Accounts (www.communityaccounts.ca).  This site, among other things, presents the population data for all NL towns. If we look at the numbers for Clarenville we can see that only about 1.5% of our pop...

On September 24 you will have the opportunity to vote for candidates in the 2013 Clarenville Municipal Election.  Between now and then you have the opportunity to take part in the discussion around forming a vision of what we want our town to be . On Tuesday, Sept. 17, come to the Clarenville Events Centre beginning at 7pm for the Candidate's Forum.  Please participate in the discussions and then VOTE!

We are in the middle of some boom times in eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.   With Hebron and Vale in full swing and on our doorsteps, the demand for housing has shot up in Clarenville and prices have risen as accordingly.   This has meant that far too many people who have limited financial means are getting squeezed and squeezed pretty hard.  We know there is a real problem because volunteer organizations, like the REACH Board ( Regional Action Committee on Housing)  have been formed to help address some of the problems associated with affordable housing, and the demands on the Clarenville food bank have never been greater.  These should be natural and powerful partners with the Town in addressing the problem of affordability. The Town officially acknowledges its role in helping to provide affordable housing in its Municipal Plan (p7). Towards this end the Town has adopted some low maintenance,but equally low effect, measures towards addr...

It may have worked okay 20-30 years ago, but getting Town assistance by calling the Mayor or Councillors out of bed when an incident occurs during the night is no longer a suitable approach for a modern town.    As we have grown and as experience has shown, situations occur time-to- time, day and night, where citizens need to contact the town in order to address a situation.    As we witnessed many times over the past few years, if a water line breaks overnight, few people would have any idea who to call – while time is important.   The non-emergency telephone number 3-1-1 exists in larger municipalities in Canada and the United States.    Dialing this single number would allow a resident to obtain important non-emergency services through a central, all-purpose phone number quickly and effectively. The implementation for Clarenville could be relatively simple.   We can either contract the existing 24/7 fire call service or we can ...