The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

Clarenville has seen unprecedented growth in the past 2 decades.   The existing town based systems that may have worked adequately in the 70’s and 80’s are now failing us.     Growth however is not the problem; rather it is our inability to manage that growth that is problematic.    The time has come to make the needed investments in people and policies to better deal with growth.         I feel we can and must  integrate modern and proactive strategies that increase our ability to better manage a modern town. The good news is that we 've already started this!   The citizen-led Strategic Plan the Council adopted in 2008 and the Municipal Plan adopted last year are roadmaps - now we just have to drive. T he actions proposed in these documents are designed to ensure that growth is managed and that the natural beauty of our town – the stuff that is truly valuable – is preserved.  People underlie the success of these plan...

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

I was glad to see Town workers painting the crosswalk on Huntley/Harbour intersection this past week – just in time for school.   There are several key crosswalks on high traffic roads in Clarenville and in this past week’s Council meeting I see that there was a decision to add another on the heavily travelled Memorial Drive route as it runs past the Seniors gathering centre. (listen to the Aug 22 meeting on THE PACKET's website at  http://www.thepacket.ca/media/flying/1208/cville_council_130820.mp3  ) Noble for sure, but even Council admits that these crosswalks give a rather false sense of security seeing that most drivers in Clarenville seem to be oblivious to them -and the pedestrian's ready to use them - as they zoom past.   We really need crosswalks that work better. If there is an admission of a problem – as indicated in the Council discussion – then measures must be taken to solve that problem before someone is hurt and before the town ...

Over the past few years, Clarenville has budgeted quite a few dollars for what has been dubbed as Economic Development activities.  The focused goal has been to spur business development in the town and generate money.  This has been met with varying degrees of success (depending on who you talk to)  (see my previous post on this  http://ourtownclarenville.blogspot.ca/2013/04/economic-development-or-community.html  ) I would like to propose a radical rethink of this approach. First and foremost, the term Economic Development is much too narrow and too focused on money rather than the people it is supposed to benefit.  What we really need to talk about is Community Development .  The goal of community development is to take efforts to improve the “livability” of our town by making it a better place to live for its citizens and by creating a positive experience for its visitors.   This is known as “Placemaking” and has been the subj...

I’ve decided to re-enter the political sphere – having never really left it in the first place and despite saying last year that I would not run this time.  Admittedly, I was on the fence about running this time.  I wanted to take the summer to make up my mind.   I received lots of encouragement from lots of people and I saw lots of things going on that I thought I could make some contribution to.  My son Harrison gave me the push I needed.  He and his friends spent their time this summer in the Town’s two skate board parks.  One afternoon he came home complaining about the fact that rocks were all over the park and that the equipment could be better placed.  I showed him the broom and before he went off with it, I proceeded to give him a ‘sermon’ on the need to make the Town aware – be a part of the solution – make suggestions by contacting the Town’s Recreation Director, Garry Gosse.   Quickly a calmly he suggest...

Election time is upon us and maybe you are considering running in the September 24th Municipal Elections.   Municipal politics sure is not as high profile as other levels of government, but I truly believe that it is the most important and most relevant to you.  Every day you turn on your tap, walk on a sidewalk, drive on a street, see in the dark because of  a streetlight, or go to bed knowing that there is a trained fire department ready to help you or your neighbour 24/7, it's because a Town Council and the people with will in your community have made that possible - with the help of your tax dollars.   I think it's critical to have a good cross section of people (particularly younger people and women)  vie for the available positions on our Council and even more importantly it is critical to have the opportunity to raise people's awareness of the issues facing our community and the future direction of our town.  ARE YOU INTERESTED?  ...

After listening to the July 23 Council meeting and reading the Council Notes in the Packet , I can't help but feel that the future of our town has been firmly placed in the hands of developers.  Unelected as they are, these developers certainly have a vision for Clarenville – I’ll give them that.  They see a 100 lots here and 50 lots there;  trails and hill sides moved and houses erected.  It’s a strong and solid vision and one that points to the opportunity that they see in 'our' town for growth potential - and the ability to capture profits from that potential. (Good on them for this! - they are critical to the growth of our town - I am just arguing that their vision needs to be actively managed) The Town's vistas, the security of our water supply and the capacity of our current road and piping infrastructure (the things that you and I value and pay for) are not as high on the developer's minds. That's our collective concern - through our elected bo...