The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

It was a beautiful pre-winter morning, perfect for the 48th running of the Lion's Clarenville Santa Claus Parade. This parade has grown with the town, this year's featuring almost 50 floats/vehicles.  The work and dedication that goes into the Parade each year is clearly demonstrated as the parade rolls by.   Most importantly, I am always impressed with the number of people who are actually in the parade!  The Clarenville Volunteer Fire Department,  Nancy Stanford's Dance Studio, Newfoundland Power, the Salvation Army are just a few examples.  They seem to have every member of thier respective organization's there - that is fantastic to see and it speaks so highly of their dedication to the event. The members that make up the Clarenville Lion's Club, have done an outstanding job at growing the quality of the annual event.  For almost 50 years they have been the ones who have organized it and it speaks to their dedication to the community. Finally, the Triple

Over 60 students and staff at Clarenville campus attended the Day of Remembrance event Thursday, December 6, marks the 23rd anniversary of the Montreal Massacre in which Marc Lepine walked through l’Ecole Poyltechnique in Montreal , separated the men from the women, and then proceeded to shoot and kill 14 women while making anti-woman statements.  A new generation of students now attend postsecondary schools like Clarenville Campus all over the world.  These commerations ensure we will never forget this tragic event and others like it - many of which happen closer to home..

It's often a challenge to show people the potential impact of mixing booze and driving.   Over the past few years, some innovative approaches have been taken in the form of mock disasters.   Such a disaster took place in Clarenville today.     First Responders from Clarenville held such a Mock Disaster Drill Thursday, November 29, 2012 in front of the Clarenville Middle and High school complex.   Members of Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), the RCMP, the Clarenville Volunteer Fire Departments, & Fewers Ambulance Service extricated volunteer “victims” out of two smashed cars.    About 600 students, teachers and parents looked on as a very real rescue and recovery played out.

It’s a cool Saturday morning as I write this in Clarenville. The temperature is hovering at the 5 degree mark.   At this hour, on Harbour Drive, crews from a paving company are in the process of repaving damaged parts of the road. This “scratching and patching” as it is known, started Thursday morning.  Numerous pieces of equipment and numerous people swarmed over the road at the Huntley Drive intersection – at 8:30am.  10’s of vehicles, including school buses full of children were lined up to get in the single entrance way to Riverside school and 10’s of vehicles were lined up trying to get out. It was, for anyone caught in it, anarchy. Exactly one week before Council crews were busy doing a similar road repair in the middle of the intersection of Memorial and Manitoba Drives – again at 8:30 am at the height of morning traffic, causing further traffic anarchy and making a dangerous situation for Council crews. Arguably these jobs are necessary and have to be done some ti

We LOVE WINTER in Clarenville! Our community owned White Hills Resort has had some great improvements over the summer that will make your winter that much better. Thanks in part to a significant investment by the Federal Government through ACOA ,  $441,000 has been invested into upgrading two critical parts of the visitor experience in the 2012-2013 seasons.  First, improvements have been made to the interior of the day lodge and an extension has been added to the ski rental shop.  These changes will improve customer flow and reduce wait times. Second, there is a new point of sale booking system installed for 2012-2013 that will allow for a speedier and more efficient processing of skier registrations.  Through it, the resort will be able to book ski rentals and other equipment in advance, reducing congestion at the rental kiosks during peak periods. Our White Hills Resort offers winter  enthusiasts access to 18 ski runs and over 750 vertical feet of tra

On October 30, Clarenville Town Council invited interested parties and groups to present to them recommendations towards developing the 2013 Town of Clarenville Budget.  This is my submission: My presentation has three major themes: 1) Clarenville needs to focus on its people:  We need the right people, with the right skills (working for the town and living in the town) to grow Clarenville. 2) Clarenville's growth needs to be managed.  Rules are important, but more importantly these rules need to be applied and monitored. 3) Clarenville's future success relies on NEW people coming to town.  Without the luxury of a baby boom, our future success will rely on attracting and retaining younger, better educated, community oriented people.  To be attracted and to stay these people require that the Town be an attractive place to live, professionally run and with the amenities that they want.  If we don't do this other towns will. (Greater St. John's, CBS, CBN is our im

Surely by now, if you own property, you have received your 2012 property assessment in the mail.   It’s been a jaw dropping experience for most people as we have seen the appraised values of our properties go up by 25% or more over the last assessment 3 years ago.   Because of this, the Municipal Assessment Agency, the provincial agency that calculates the values, has become a lightning rod for taxpayers and municipal governments alike. Tuesday night’s Council meeting was no exception.  The MAA received an impassioned bashing – but I’m not convinced. If you look at your assessment, I am sure that you will agree that it is a truer reflection of the actual value of your property.  Ask yourself honestly – could I get at least this much for my house if I sold it?  I am sure you will agree that it’s a more realistic value.   Because this assessed value is more realistic, banks will more readily acknowledge the value of your assets – making loans easier and cheaper to get. As well,

If you have been at Walmart of Kent lately, you will have noticed the land development activity that is going on behind these stores.   That development is designed to open up commercial development space in that Shoal Harbour Drive / Coish Place area.      The developer, in this case, is the Town of Clarenville. The Town has borrowed and spent a good chunk of change in order to make that land usable.  At the Council meeting this past Tuesday, the Town accepted a tender from Cougar Construction for $293,000 to do further work.  The problem is that this tendered amount was 30% more ($93,000) than what was predicted by the Town’s own estimates.  That’s a significant overage and a large amount of money that the Town will have to unexpectedly borrow.  It could also potentially affect the town’s ability to borrow for other things - like much needed road improvements.  Although I have no doubt that over time the newly developed land will be sold and the Town will recoup its

This past week, an ad appeared in the PACKET for a position at White Hills that would focus on marketing the facility.  That, coupled with the Town's pronouncement that it would renew efforts to build a Winter Tourism Strategy, started me thinking about some of the tangible things we could do as a community  to take better advantage of the tourism opportunity.   (I use WE because we own the WHITE HILLS RESORT so its future affects us).   I ca ll my suggestions: "Strategic Doing". Of course, these are only my thoughts, I'd like you to share your thoughts here as well.  Together we could all benefit. OUR GOAL I’d like to see a very clear goal spelled out for everyone (especially employees of the Hill) who has anything to do with winter tourism in Clarenville:   OUR GOAL:  The Winter Customer Experience in Clarenville (White Hills) will exceed or at least equal what we promise IT’s ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS: Communication is critical for Winte

Clarenville is gearing for the Kraft Celebration Tour coming to our town and our province!  We want to invite everyone to take part in the celebration and the live NL broadcast of SPORTSNET from Clarenville.  (If you can't come we'll have pictures on our companion Facebook page). So if you live in Clarenville - head down to the SHORELINE MARKET on the waterfront next Saturday (Aug 18). If you are not from Clarenville, here's your opportunity to visit - we'd love to see you!      YOU HELPED US GET HERE AND NOW TSN & CLARENVILLE ARE INVITING YOU TO COME OUT TO THE KRAFT CELEBRATION TOUR 10 in 10's CLARENVILLE STOP on SATURDAY, AUGUST 18th! This Community Celebration is taking place in Clarenville on the Waterfront at the SHORELINE PARK on Marine Drive from 5:30 - 9:00pm.  It's going to be a great evening featuring the LIVE BROADCAST of TSN Sports Centre, hosted by Jay Onr ait & Dan O'Toole from 7:30-8:30. Before the broadcast there wil

People dumping trash wherever they choose. It’s an old story and one that we see evidence of all too often.   Every once in a while such a mindless trashing gets reported to the authorities, and even more rare is that sometimes it is so heinous and so bold that such a blatant offence gets reported in the media.   This latest case of “dumping stupidity” managed to make it through all three stages - I‘m glad it did and I feel that that‘s a very positive sign.  (see the PACKET “In your own backyard” by Ross Mair Aug 2, 2012 ) This dumping got noticed, it got reported and it written up in the local paper.  Many people are now aware of it and with any luck the perpetrator is feeling pretty ashamed. It’s a sign that as a town we are moving forward in developing a stronger notion of community pride.  The the Town too has to be commended for acting so quickly to get the mess cleaned up. So yes there was bad - but the good that came out of it far outstripped the crime.  It’s a win for C

Ahh the Newfoundland Kitchen party was alive and well at the Clarenville Events Centre this week as we began Clarenville Days 2012 Enjoy! Goowiddy Adam Randell Accordion Time Bond Peddle Evelyn Avery Curtis and Joseph Blackmore Darryl Duke Fireworks

Monday marked the beginning of Clarenville Day's here in Clarenville.  Clarenville Days is a week long celebration of what we have in Clarenville.  Last evening we celebrated what could be. After a year long development process, last night the Town unveiled its new branding strategy and logo - Real - Life - Potential . Pilot Communications designed the logo, slogan and the marketing material including a new town website ( www.clarenville.net   ) that you will see compliment the branding strategy.  kudos to them for suggesting such a  bold move and kudos to the Town Council for buying into it. (The degree to which we see the town buy-in and live up to the "Brand Promise" remains to bee seen - I am watching to see real change - See my previous post on this  http://ourtownclarenville.blogspot.ca/2012/04/sizzle-steak-brand-aid-for-clarenville.html  ).   The new logo is a complete departure from the traditional wheel and goose logos that we have seen in the past.

  "...nothing happens in a community unless you (are) were a part of it"                                                                                                                                                  Mayor Fred Best His name is synonymous with Clarenville.  He's been mayor forever and he's been on Council before that.   In his previous life he was a teacher, a principal and he and his wife raised their family here.   Fred is know across this province as being the mayor from Clarenville.  He has, quite literally, overseen the growth of this town for close to 40 years (He's been mayor for 31). Having served on Council, I know that that job is not always the most pleasant and certainly not the highest paid. Regardless of one's political viewpoints of the job, the people in it do their best - because nothing happens in a community without such people's efforts. To do that for 4 decades, like Fred has done, is something worthy of

The Shoal Harbour River is a relatively short river by Newfoundland standards.  It's a 19km network that captures water from Shoal Harbour Pond and Andrew’s Pond as it flows into the ocean at Random Sound. Despite its short length, it is an important habitat for seven species of fish and it is the sole source of drinking water for the 6000 plus residents and 250 businesses of Clarenville.  Its security is vital to our town. In recent weeks, information has surfaced that there is a proposed quarry development along the river system that Council is going to be asked to consider.  Council (and the public) had been silent on the request until the river’s conservation group; the Friends of the Shoal Harbour River (FOSHR) raised the alarm in the PACKET .  This project, located at the start of the river and within approximately 500 feet of it (150 feet minimum), is deemed a “discretionary use” project meaning that Council has the right to turn down the project.  Unfortunate

Over the past couple of weeks I've been experimenting with editing video and playing it at high speed.  You see, I am developing course related videos and this sideline gives me the opportunity to learn new tricks and techniques.  So, here's my "Pitch to Aways" and "Treat to Tourists".  If you are neither Away nor a Tourist, just sit back and enjoy the ride...

Deputy Mayor Fraser Russell is right to raise the issue of (better managing) traffic flow on Manitoba Drive.  ( See Trials of travelling Manitoba in this past week’s edition of the Packet ) Roads & traffic problems have become a perennial issue in Clarenville – Overpasses and Manitoba Drive this year, Huntley Drive last year, before that it was Balbo Drive and on it goes.  The real problem is that, as a town, we have not addressed the issue of growth and the associated growth in traffic with a well though out long term plan.    It seems as if each year we identify a new traffic problem and each year a host of people (myself included)  come up with an ad hoc solution to that problem that may or may not address the problem in the long term.   Coupled with this, each year we also hear the cry for a professional traffic study to be conducted by the Town to address the street / development planning issue.   To the best of my knowledge despite the talk, such a traffic s

The Clarenville Dump - Where Trash should end up... So what are we to do with our trash?  That’s a common problem that confronts many of us. Most of us dispose of it properly.  Unfortunately some people do not. Thank goodness for the Ross Mair and the Packet who reported on the problem in this week’s edition of the paper (Resident Points to Problem p. A3).  Without the Packet reporting on illegal dumping,  the Town of Clarenville would remain blissfully unaware of the problem. It seems as if a few people only get their trash as far as the dump road, and that’s as far as it goes, they then give it the heave.  I find it incomprehensible that our town’s CAO claimed in the story that the Town is not to be aware of the problem, especially in light of the fact that the Town’s dump contractor says that illegal dumping is quite a problem.  There’s a real disconnect here that the Town has to answer for.  In greater St. John’s, CBS has installed hidden cameras in areas known f

It took some skilled flying on this warm  Tuesday evening to get one of the Province's new "Peas and Carrots" colour schemed Bombardier CL415's to target a stubborn fire in Deep Bight. Members of the RCMP, Provincial Forestry and Clarenville Fire Dept. aided in the effort.

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.