The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

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 board o

On Tuesday September 24, townspeople in the Province's municipalities will vote for new municipal councils. Nomination Day is Tuesday, August 27.  In Clarenville there will be two votes; one for the position of Mayor and another for the 6 other councilors who will constitute our Town's government for the next 4 years.   If you are interested in running, Municipalities NL and The Department of Municipal Affairs have created a great resource called MAKING YOUR MARK - it has lots of useful information for would-be-councilors. Here in Clarenville, I expect there will be a lot of interest from people considering running.  I’ve been there and I have some insights on what a new Councilor should know about the town.  Here is a summary of publicly available information on our Town. THE MUNICIPALITY THAT WE CALL CLARENVILLE Population Serviced Clarenville has one of the fastest growing populations in the province.  With an official 2011 population of just over 6000, up

On Tuesday September 24, townspeople in the Province's municipalities will vote for new municipal councils. Nomination Day is Tuesday, August 27.  In Clarenville there will be two votes; one for the position of Mayor and another for the 6 other councillors who will constitute our Town's government for the next 4 years.   If you are interested in running, Municipalities NL and The Department of Municipal Affairs have created a great resource called  MAKING YOUR MARK  - it has lots of useful information for would-be-councillors. Here in Clarenville, I expect there will be a lot of interest from people considering running.  I’ve been there and I have some insights on what a new Councilor can expect in his or her role. MEETINGS General Meetings: Structure and Schedule If you like meeting lots of people with great ideas, Council is the place for you.  Clarenville’s Council meets every second week on Tuesdays.   The work of Council however is done in Committee and th

Arts Under The Stars (AUS) is a free evening in-the-park concert series on held on Thursday evening's in Clarenville throughout the summer.  This summer's series marks the 8th year for Ats Under the Stars and each year hundreds of people from Clarenville and surrounding communities come out to take in the shows. We've had notables such as Ron Hynes, Hey Rosetta and Rising Tide theatre. This year, the series starts this coming Thursday evening and have/will feature(d) such acts as Craig Young & Leeland Wareham, Shawn Wiseman, Gavin Simms, Katie Baggs, Sweet Voices of Youth, Morgan Davis, and the Quidi Vidi Dirt Band (See attached Brochure) -- Thursday's @ 7:00pm at Elizabeth Swan Park Juno Award winning Morgan Davis - Aug 15 Sweet Voices Of Youth - Aug. 8 KATIE BAGGS  www.katiebaggs.com  - Aug. 1 PAST SHOWS Past Year's Shows

On Tuesday September 24, townspeople in the Province's municipalities will vote for new municipal councils. Nomination Day is Tuesday, August 27.  In Clarenville there will be two votes; one for the position of Mayor and another for the 6 other councillors who will constitute our Town's government for the next 4 years.   If you are interested in running, Municipalities NL and The Department of Municipal Affairs have created a great resource called MAKING YOUR MARK - it has lots of useful information for would-be-councillors. Here in Clarenville, I expect there will be a lot of interest from people considering running.  Here's my take on what I perceive to be the key issues a new council/mayor/councillor will face...   Immediate Issues Municipal Waste - Clarenville is one of the only communities in eastern NL to have twice a week, all you can throw away, garbage collection. We have no curbside recycling and no composting (These make up about 50% of garbage by we