The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

Have you noticed the price of houses in Clarenville.   Prices are bumping into the stratosphere and this s taking a bigger bite out of every new buyer's budget.   If you are of limited financial means this this means that buying a house is becoming next to impossible and renting is becoming a major challenge. So what are we to do as a community? That's the question that the Town has posed and has generally it has been answerd by saying that the the market dictates price and if the price is too high there is little that the Town can do. A role for the Town? The Town's municipal plan clearly spells out a role of the Town.  Corner Brook  has the workings of a potential model for Clarenville.   That city provides non-profit organization's who are involved in developing affordable housing tax relief....if the Town of Clarenville sees a role for itself, this may be an idea worth pursuing here.    

I've been doing a lot of beating around over the summer, walking, running, driving and the like and I have come across a bunch of things that caught my eye that I think add greatly to the value of the town (Potential),  can be improved with minimal effort (Real) and that are downright scary (Life).  Here's what I saw: POTENTIAL Outstanding Community Involvement - The Kraft TSN Celebration Tour.  Clarenville won this competition with over 350,000 votes.  If ever person that voted, voted an average of 100 times that would mean that 3,500 people and businesses were engaged.  In fact Clarenville had the highest vote total in Canada!!  Now, if we can get that many engaged for the opportunity to win $25,000 and an hour of national TV coverage, surely we should be able to get as many involved in other critically important town issues - like voting. Dog poop on the trails is one of the banes of my, and many others, walking existence.  I was so glad to see this disp

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.

WOW! You could feel the tension inside the Clarenville Events Centre tonight.  Over 250 people packed the hall to hear a 3 second announcement. Here's what it looked like: After an all-nighter of voting and the dedicated support of many-many people and businesses CLARENVILLE won the Kraft Celebration Tour match-up! Final vote count: 385,717 votes for Clarenville to 354,727 for for Canning, NS. For two "small" towns that's a lot of community spirit in both! Elizabeth Swan Memorial Park will now be awarded $25,000 by Kraft foods to help make improvements.   TSN SportsCentre will also broadcast live from Clarenville on August 18th!  This was a huge community building effort that literally extended across the country - thank you all for your active involvement in making it such a success.  If you don't live in Clarenville please visit - and make sure you stop by the park that you will help improve. Emcee - Councillor Rod Nicholl Mayor Fred Best

The day is here! Today, Clarenville is paired in voting competition with Canning NS for the Kraft/TSN Celebration tour Competition prize of $25,000 for park upgrades. The voting window opens at 1:30 pm NL time for 24 hours. We are asking you to vote and vote often for us. On Wednesday evening the winning announcement will take place on TSN's SportsCentre at 6 pm EST (Wednesday 7:30 pm Newfoundland Time). Clarenville's video will begin running Tuesday at noon EST (1:30 pm Newfoundland time)both both on TV and online. OUR VIDEO TSN Video about the Clarenville/Canning Challenge Here's the voting process (Starting a 1:30 NST Tuesday):   1. Go to www.kraftcelebrationtour.ca    2. Click the Blue VOTE NOW button at the top of the between the pictures of both communities.  3. VOTE for  Elizabeth Swan Memorial Park Clarenville . 4. You have to read and type the "Captcha" code (It consist of two separate jumbles of letters. If you cann

    When Jill Monk first sent me an email on her plan to nominate Clarenville‘s Elizabeth Swan Park for the Kraft/TSN Celebration Tour, I have to admit that I knew little to nothing about neither the plan nor the tour.  But it intrigued me. I did not need to be convinced of the value of Elizabeth Swan Park.  Quite a few years ago, when our children were younger the Moody family and our family proposed to the Town that we upgrade the town’s playgrounds. With a lot of work it happened.  Elizabeth Swan’s playground was renovation #1 and we feel good about the work we had done there to make the park better.  Having been a park user for so many years, and having seen other similar community parks across the country; I am always interested in dreaming up ways to improve our park.  I noted in an earlier blog the opportunity to add a new multipurposechalet .  Jill’s thinking was truly aligned with my way of thinking.   After a bit of research (anyone can be an expert on any is

Random Thoughts...: Arts Under the Stars Unveiled : Arts Under the Stars, a series of free arts performances Thursday nights in Clarenville, was started seven years ago by me and Dave Strong, ...

Arts Under the Stars (AUS), our Town's outdoor summer concert series, starts the first week in July. More on that in a later post. AUS reminds me of Reg Pretty.  Reg was a stall-worth in the early years of AUS. He was the sound man, the lights man, the spare instrument man, and the goto man. I had the privilege of helping him. Reg passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer. It was a loss to his family, the school system where he had taught for years before retiring in 2001 (He was my kid's favorite substitute) and the community. He was one of the, what we call "usual suspects" of volunteers that you know will be there if you need them. Clarenville was better because of Reg - and we miss him. Last weekend his family put together a Memorial Concert that served to remember him and to mark the beginning of the Reg Pretty Memorial Scholarship . It was a great celebration of his life and his legacy. I hope you enjoy these selected clips found below

Random Thoughts...: Rootin', Rantin' and Roarin' in September : Last year, volunteer work prevented me from attending the Roots, Rants and Roars Festival in Elliston. And from all accounts, it was a roa...

  "...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...

What meets walkers on Shoal Harbour Drive Sadly, I don’t get to see this town from the perspective of a walker as much as I should.  I don’t think I’m alone either, considering the volume of cars that we see on our streets these days.   Yesterday I had the opportunity to walk from work at the College, up the Wellness hiking trail, up the new sidewalk on Manitoba Drive, and up the side of Shoal Harbour Drive towards home. The first part of the journey was great.  We have some beautiful trails through town that make you feel as if you are deep in the woods.  I saw one person.  If you get the chance, take the opportunity to explore the Clarenville trail system – I am sure you will enjoy it. I emerged from the trail at Gladney Street and crossed Manitoba Drive at the lights to pick up the new sidewalk.  I was great to be able to walk up there on a nice day.  Our town is bustling!  Again, if you get the chance, use the town’s growing network of sidewalks. Finally, the side

On Thursday’s edition of CBC’s Here & Now, Mayor Fred Best appeared in a story by reporter Lee Pitts saying that Clarenville is nearing its limit in the supply and distribution of water .   This despite that fact that it was only in 2008 that Clarenville opened its new $14 million state-of-the-art water treatment facility. (with an improved distribution system) The negative implications of a potential water shortage to possible investors are tremendous.    Developers need a ready water supply to develop and companies/retail stores contemplating establishing themselves in Clarenville need water to ensure proper fire protection and operation.   If we have a serious water issue we better work to get it fixed soon.   Without the fix, investors will be scared off and even though choking development might help resolve a water problem - that’s not a solution we want to see.      

The finish line for students and us ‘teacher types’ is getting close.  One of the great things about the end of the school year is the annual school concert.  This year’s final school concert at Clarenville High School provided the live audience (and now you!)  the opportunity to see the vast array of musical talent that is being fostered in our school system.  Music teachers like Ann Lundrigan, Lisa Drover, Rod Drover, Michelle Bennett, Charlene Sawlor, and Amy Warren (as well as a host other regional musical talent that I have not named) have created and developed a   tremendous pool of talent –  our thanks to them.   Here’s a slice of the concert – the tribute to QUEEN – enjoy our talent! 

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

There are twenty Regional Economic Development Boards in Newfoundland and Labrador.   These were established in the mid 90's and were mandated to:   Develop and coordinate the implementation of a strategic economic plan in each zone supported by an integrated business plan. Now it seems as if the potential for regional governance is slipping away. Develop a strong partnership with municipalities in each zone that incorporates the strategies and priorities of municipalities in the economic planning process Develop partnerships in planning and implementation with Chambers of Commerce, Industry Associations, labour organizations, post-secondary institutions, Canadian Business Development Corporations (CBDCs), and other zones that advance and support the economic and entrepreneurial environment of a zone Undertake capacity building and provide support to stakeholders to strengthen the economic environment of the zone Coordinate and facilitate linkages with federal /pro