The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

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 ...

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...