The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

Join me in this light hearted placement of election signs around Clarenville...I call it Electionsigneering

On Tuesday September 24, townspeople in the Province's municipalities will vote for new municipal councils. Nomination Day is Tuesday, August 27.  In Clarenville there will be two votes; one for the position of Mayor and another for the 6 other councillors who will constitute our Town's government for the next 4 years.   If you are interested in running, Municipalities NL and The Department of Municipal Affairs have created a great resource called  MAKING YOUR MARK  - it has lots of useful information for would-be-councillors. Here in Clarenville, I expect there will be a lot of interest from people considering running.  I’ve been there and I have some insights on what a new Councilor can expect in his or her role. MEETINGS General Meetings: Structure and Schedule If you like meeting lots of people with great ideas, Council is the place for you.  Clarenville’s Council meets every second week on Tuesdays.   The work of Co...

After a three week hiatus, Council meet on Tuesday, July 8 and a lot of positive things got done - some of which have been visited before.    Here's a quick overview of key highlights and how the decisions could affect you: (the PACKET recorded the meeting for everyone to listen to and I encourage you to listen.)  VANDALISM There is a great look-out on the Shoal Harbour trail and seven years ago I was involved in helping get interpretive signage put on this lookout.  I was dismayed last week when I saw one of the signboards vandalized.  Since then vandals have done their utmost to destroy the works.  All four poster  boards and their mounts have now been damaged.   They will have to be redone at considerable expense to taxpayers. This was raised in Council and they agreed to issue a $500 reward for information leading to a conviction of the culprits.  Further Council will look at installing cameras on these problem areas. NEW P...

I see Councillors are getting an earful on the “old” mall parking lot. (see The Packet "Pot Holes Persist Feb 28/2013  )  The Town and the Mall owners have been at loggerheads for what seems like forever pointing fingers of blame at one another as absolutely nothing gets done to clean up what has become a decrepit part of Clarenville.    From the mall owner's/tenant's point of view, the Town owns the lot and IT is clearly the one responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the lot.  (This is thanks to an omission in the original 1960’s era development agreement that neglected to pass the ownership of the lot to the mall owners within a specified length of time)   From the Town’s point of view, it wants to be rid of the lot and the associated liability.  And their stand has a lot of merit from a taxpayer's point of view.  As long as the Town is forced to take care of the lot the owners & tenants are receiv...

It’s time once again for the provincial government to start putting its 2014 budget together and, as in previous years, the pre-budget consultation road show starts this coming week.   This year, it’s being held in Clarenville on Friday the 15 th of February from 9-11 am at the Clarenville Inn.  Are you reading this and listening Town of Clarenville? Last year, the Town of Clarenville was conspicuously absent from the pre-budget consultation process.  It  wasn't  too long after that that our Town officials went crying to government, on a couple of occasions, for money for “very important projects” such as an overpass for Clarenville.   Was this a matter of doubting the merits of the process or just someone dropping the ball? I'm sad to say I think it was doubting indifference. Regardless of the perceived merit of the pre-budget consultation process, the process at least forces Town officials to plan - identify potential projects, cost...

The broken glass still glistens on the TCH/Manitoba Drive intersection.  It should serve as a reminder to the decision makers of the fundamental problem that seems only to warrant consideration when another life is lost.  ( My condolences to the yet another grieving family.)    The people who pay for and use the TCH (we the taxpayers) need and deserve an overpass at the western entrance to Clarenville.   As a municipality, it is our job to lobby to make sure that it is done.     Listening to Mayor Best in the media last week, it seems that he has finally come around to recognizing the need for an overpass for the TCH's western entrance to Clarenville. Let’s ensure the entire Council sees fit to push government to include an overpass for Clarenville in its capital work's plans - we should accept nothing less.