Holyrood councillors feeling charged up

By Kyle Reid | Dec. 22, 2020

There was quite a bit of excitement among Holyrood council members concerning the newest developments at the Orange Store on Liam Hickey Drive and at the Marine Institute base during the latest regular council meeting.

Councillor Roger Myette used his turn during the round table portion of the meeting to inform the public about new electric car chargers being installed at the Holyrood Orange Store.

“I don’t think anybody knows about this, but I just noticed tonight, down by North Atlantic, they were building something there,” said Myette. “And I was like, what are they building right there on the corner? It’s an electric car outlet. So we are one of the few places in Newfoundland that actually has an electric car outlet. Our small town of Holyrood has that…that’s amazing.”

Gary Corbett, the town’s chief administrative officer, didn’t specify how many electric chargers were being installed, but observed that, “Holyrood has a number of (chargers) in that site.”

During councillor Jim Joy’s turn to speak, he noted that construction of the planned $23 million Marine Institute base expansion in Holyrood harbour has also kicked off.

“This is a great project obviously,” said Joy. “(It) will provide many economic benefits to our town — no question.”

The expansion will see the construction of a 36,000 square foot building and launch area to offer researchers and ocean technology companies space to test new advancements in ocean research. The base will host classrooms, labs and work spaces for researchers, ocean technology companies and students.

“With the downturn in the economy, it will provide many jobs,” added Joy. “No doubt, it’s taken on a new look since I remember squid jigging down there many years ago on the wharf.”