The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

In a time when the media is full of stories about the challenges being faced by our education system, it is heartening to find a shining example where the true heart of our education system – the people in it – is proven to be beating and very much alive and capable of creating priceless opportunities for “learning moments". Such was the case at a Riverside School concert this past Wednesday evening.  Grade 3-6 students demonstrated their talent in an evening of Newfoundland and Labrador song and dance.   There were many outstanding acts, but two acts in particular became "learning moments". One act had a talented young man doing his rendition of Terra Nova National Park’s folk hero Clayton, (AKA Dave Saunders) doing the “moves” to “I’m Clayton and I know it” (You can see Clayton’s original and hilarious video below).  Unbeknownst to the young performer, “Clayton” was in the audience and he joined the young man on stage!  A unexpected and awesome surprise!   

This article appeared in this week's edition of the Packet (www.thepacket.ca) and again in the Weekend Telegram (www.thetelegram.com) Maybe it's the appeal of the opportunity to be featured on TV or maybe it's the name of the series, but Council seems to have been seriously struck by the "opportunity" to have Clarenville, and maybe themselves,  featured in an american based TV segment called "Communities of Distinction" for the low-low price of $25,000. ($24,800 to be exact). As is usually the case, this proposal came to Clarenville Council with only limited detail, and rightfully it was sent back for more consideration.  Communities of Distinction is relatively new but is seen largely in US markets. There is a website for Communities of Distinction   as well as a Facebook Page  (58 followers) and a Twitter account (39 followers). In a press release issued in April, they describe the show as: Communities of Distinction TV (www.watchcod.com) is

In this week’s Council Meeting the issue of waste management came up yet again when it was revealed that the conversion of Clarenville’s dump to a “Transfer Station” is coming quickly – possibly within two months.  By way of background, about 6 years ago the Province decided that it would reduce the number of dumps in NL.  All garbage from Clarenville east would be shipped to Robin Hood Bay in St. John’s.  A “Transfer Station” was to be established in Clarenville to act as a central collection point. Essentially, our Town’s dump would be converted from a “final resting place” to a temporary holding place. Shipping heavy garbage is expensive and you, the taxpayer, are the one who will pay for it. The transfer station means that your taxes will go up to cover this costs of shipping – by about 10% or $180 a year – depending on the amount of garbage shipped. To minimize costs to taxpayers, Government has encouraged municipalities to separate garbage into recyclables, compo

This past weekend Clarenville was well represented at the annual MATE underwater robotics challenege held at Memorial University's Marine Institute.  Clarenville's Riverside Elementary displayed a Micro-ROV, Clarenville Middle School competed in an ROV challenge, and Clarenville High School vied for a third year as provincial champions. A lot of kids were involved in these projects and their collective success and the application of engineering and design principles was a testament to the skill and dedication of their teachers. We have a solid base of future talent in this field! Riverside School CMS Poster Board CHS Robotics caputured third place this year - The winning team: Heritage Collegiate who will represent our province at the international competition in Seattle.

Clarenville's latest Municipal Plan   was proclaimed just over a year ago after a fairly comprehensive consultation and development process.  Essentially the Municipal Plan process maps out how the town will grow for the next decade by establishing a vision and regulations for that growth.  According to the legislation:  the council responsible for that area shall proceed with the development of a municipal plan and development regulations.`... The plan shall: (a) include a statement of the objectives of the plan; (b) indicate the policies to be implemented under the plan; (c) divide land into land use classes and the use that may be made in each class and shall include prohibited uses of land; (d) include proposals for land use zoning regulations; (e) include proposals for the implementation of the plan; (f) provide provisions with respect to non-conforming uses; and (g) provide for the development of the planning area for a 10 year period. Since the latest edition

Have you ever tried to measure something without any form of measuring scale?   It’s hard, and if you are the person who's being measured it’s even harder.   That is the challenge that the Clarenville Town Council is facing as it contemplates hiring yet another Economic Development (ED) Officer.     (Clarenville has now had three ED officers in as many years) This  issue was contemplated at this past Tuesday evening’s Council meeting.  The question came up – What exactly have these Economic Development Officers done?      Rightfully, this provocative question prompted considerable debate around the Council table – unfortunately that question was never really answered (the fact that the was no articulate answer to this question with three years of experience for the position indicates that there is almost certainly a management issue at play here).  That said, I would argue that Council is looking for the answer to the wrong question. (You can listen to the April 23 meeting on

Every day, volunteers in our Town are busy working to make our community a better place to live. Every single one of them - are there are lots - do this without expectation of anything in return.   Volunteer service awards were handed out in recognition of contribution to the Community. The recipienets were: 1. Marjorie Alexander 2. John Baker 3. Harry Maidment 4. Caroline Bungay 5. William Day 6. Myrtle Elliot 7. Lydia Fewer 8. Yvonne Godfrey 9. Herb Goldsworthy 10. Garry Gosse 11. Ed Hiscock 12. Pat Humby 13. Cassie Ivany 14. Judy Northcott 15. Viola Peddle 16. Joliffe Quinton 17. Jessie Reid 18. Bert Roberts 19. Robin Rodway 20. Edith Ryan 21. Pearce Ryan 22. Amelia Stanley 23. Major Annette Vardy. This year's theme of Volunteer Week is "Let's Make Some Noise!" and it was evidenced at the celebration of volunteers that the Town and the Clarenville Area Recreation Association hosted. See for yourself...

The Esso on Memorial Drive in Clarenville @ 137.9 The Esso on Newfoundland Drive in St. John's @ 129.4/ltr Reports are coming out this morning that the price of gas will be going down by up to 4 cents a liter tomorrow in the weekly Thursday gas price setting shell game.  So WAIT AND  BUY YOUR GAS TOMORROW!! But my concern about gas goes beyond un-explainable yo-yoing of gas prices. My concern lies in that fact that there is almost a 10 cent a liter difference between the price of gas in Clarenville and the price of gas in east end St. John’s.  No doubt we have the Costco Corporation to thank for driving their immediate competitors’ prices down, but when the difference is sustained for such a long period of time it gets me thinking that there is something wildly wrong and sinister about gas pricing in this province and more particularly, in our town.  If gas companies can afford to keep their prices significantly lower in St. John’s for such an extended period of t

Random Thoughts...: New Curtain Theatre's Coffeehouse Series a Hit : New Curtain Theatre's Coffeehouse series is in full swing and is truly a great night out. For $15 you get entertainment plus a deliciou...

Random Thoughts...: Who's Running for Clarenville Town Council? : I ask because people are declaring their intentions all over the province. The current Mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor will be running again. T...

I have had a day to digest the potential impact of the of the Provincial Government's budget cuts on the town of Clarenville.  As I noted in last week's blogpost on this same subject , we have good reason to be concerned.     As a service centre for the region, Clarenville has a high proportion of jobs that are filled by professional people in various government departments & agencies - most notably in health and education.  In fact,  one in four jobs in this town are government type jobs.    Based on the information/calculations below, I estimate that the 2013 budget could potentially lead to the elimination of between  45-54  jobs in Clarenville this year - most of which are occuppied by well educated, younger individuals with families who are making over $50,000 annually.     No doubt, the Hebron ramp-up will cushion the effect of these potential government layoffs on the community and on local businesses, however if our experience from Hibernia is any indic

Here's a few of the great performances from Thursday's show - more will be added.  If you are looking for a particular performance and would like to see it here email me and I'll add it... pauldtilley@gmail.com Riverside Choir Shae-lynn Winsor (Violin), CHS Saxaphone Quartet & APPA (Celebration) Anthony Paddon Elementary Choir

The Clarenville Co-op held their annual general meeting this past week and I see from their financial statements that they invested just over $4 million into the development and construction of their new store/carwash/gasbar on Shoal Harbour Drive.  By any measure, that’s a substantial investment by the Co-op in its future.    I use the word “investment” purposefully.   Anyone who has had the opportunity to visit that new facility will know that it is as good, or better, than any comparable facility anywhere – It came at a high absolute cost but it stands as a testament to the Co-op’s commitment to Clarenville (and the region) and its members.  I want to see that same commitment shared more broadly in Clarenville by developers and businesses.  To illustrate my point,  drive past (or better, walk past) some of the stuff that has been built in Clarenville lately and take notice.  The vast majority of the commercial buildings that have been “erected’ over the past number of y

Discovery Board "Closing", Employment Assistance Services (EAS) "New Delivery Model",   Service Canada Offices "De-staffed", School Board offices ????… These are just some of the latest non-headlines that have not raised the ire of our local government in our town.  Essentially these all spell job cuts in the publicly funded sector and there are strong signals of more to come.  As we await budgets at the Federal and Provincial levels we are probably going to see more of less in Clarenville.  Unfortunately, other issues, like potholes in parking lots have taken the limelight.  I would argue that the Fed’s and the Province love our focus on our potholes because it keeps our focus off what they are up to! Headlines & the Twitterverse are filled with announcements of government belt tightening at both the Federal and Provincial Levels these days.  The impact of these cuts is starting to be felt in government dependent towns such as Clarenville.

At this past week’s Council meeting, it was revealed that a home builder had built a house in such a way to contravene the town’s building regulations.  The house was built closer to the road than is allowed by the current code.   This situation was discovered only AFTER the house was built.  So the Town was, once again, left in a pickle prompting Mayor Best asked: “How did we get to where we got?” Unfortunately, that fundamental question was never addressed at Tuesday’s meeting – it needs to be.   ( listen to the PACKET’s March 5 Meeting Coverage starting at the 15 minute mark ) There are essentially three choices when a breach of the regulations is discovered. 1) Get the home owner to bring the build into spec.  2) Ignore the contravention or  3) Change the regulations.  Unfortunately this latest situation is not an isolated occurrence. It has happened before and from previous experience the Town’s attempts to force builders to fix their contraventions (option 1) have am

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 receiving an effective subsidy on the backs of taxpay

> Clarenville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Sixth Annual Business Excellence Awards. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL NOMINEES  2013 Clarenville Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Recipients (L/R) Jason Strickland, Lee Bennett, Chad Fisher, Stephen Chaytor of Meridian Engineering, Large Business of the Year; Wendell Moore, Clarenville Business Hall of Fame inductee for 2013; Dan Moody - SW Energy, Small Business of the Year; Daniel Allan, Salvation Army & Jill Monk - Kraft Celebration Tour, co winners of the Community Cares Award. The Clarenville Chamber of Commerce's Business Excellence Awards are designed to recognize businesses and the people behind these businesses who contribute to making our community and our region one of the best places to live and work in this province.  It is an opportunity to showcase what we do well – something that I believe we need to do more of.  Over 90 people attended the awards ceremony this past Wednesday evening, and in considering th