Harbour Grace council report

By Craig Westcott / June 9, 2023

The Town of Harbour Grace thought it had a deal with a caterer to take on canteen services at the Danny Cleary Community Centre, but it fell through and so council had to go back and find another offer.

When council put the contract to tender earlier this year it received three bids for the right to sell food at the canteen. At its May 23 public meeting, it awarded the contract to one of the bidders for a rental charge of $1,500 per month, heat, light and HST included.

That bidder subsequently declined the offer, said councillor Gordon Stone, and council was forced go back to the bids and review them again to see if there was a suitable offer.

“One submission contained contractual operational preconditions unacceptable to council,” Stone noted. “Thus, the following motion: I move that Kay’s Restaurant be offered the contract to provide canteen services to the Danny Cleary Harbour Grace Community Centre. And in the event Kay’s Restaurant refuses the offer, the Town shall readvertise immediately.”

The motion passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, the latest financials are out on the centre. They show a modest profit one month and a significant deficit the next.

“In March, income over expenses was $1,364 (to the) positive,” Stone said. “And in April it was $21,729. Unfortunately, that was negative.”

In other news:

Council is looking to meet with the fire department about the situation with the Bannerman River Bridge, which has been deemed unsafe for heavy vehicles.

“People are travelling over the bridge, which is their right,” said Mayor Don Coombs. “We did discuss that the Town look at an alternate route. If we have a fire in there, nobody wants to see loss of life or property, and we have some decisions to make.”

Coombs asked Deputy Mayor Keith Skinner, who is also chairman of council’s public works committee, along with the public works director and the Town Manager to meet with Assistant Chief Paul Ash to review the route council is proposing as an alternative way to get to properties beyond the bridge.

“We have to get something in place should need be,” Coombs said. “It won’t be the 401, but it will be a route if something happens.”

Council will meet with representatives of Immaculate Conception Parish, which owns St. Francis Field, to look at negotiating an ownership agreement.

Coombs said it is very important to the Town and the current agreement to use the premises expires on April 30, 2025.

“Just to let our residents know, we are fully supportive of maintaining St. Francis Field for our present and our future generations,” he added.

A meeting between Town representatives and officials from the parish was set for May 29.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Coombs said at the last public council meeting, which was held May 23. “But our goal is to maintain St. Francis as the Town, the provincial government and the federal government have put a lot of money into that. For the people who have been hosting things (there) and reaching out to me, I am fully supportive of St. Francis Field being maintained by the Town of Harbour Grace for now and generations to come as every councillor is. We’ll meet with the committee and after that we will call a public meeting if necessary and go through the details of the negotiations.”

Deputy Mayor Skinner said that sounded good to him.

“I’d like to back up what you’re saying there,” added councillor Brendan Chafe. “St. Francis Field has been used for generations for soccer and for rugby and you name it. We have a big dog park down there where people come in with their dogs. There was a big event (held) there for the Town last year, so why wouldn’t we want to have that stay as a mainstay for the Town of Grace? I am fully supportive of those talks to take ownership of the soccer field.”

Coombs said the field is used for soccer, the annual dog show, school programs, the Splash Centre, the annual Terry Fox Run, and community celebrations such as Come Home Year.

“The Town of Harbour Grace in its wisdom has designated the property as recreational, which is recreational use only,” he added.

The Province’s Crown Lands division has rejected two applications from the town to acquire land, one for a parcel near Otterbury School House, another parcel near a Town trail.

“I hate to say that application wasn’t approved,” said councillor Chafe, referring to the land next to the historic Otterbury School House, which the Town is hoping to spruce up with electrical and accessibility upgrades to make it an even more attractive place for groups such as a 55 Club that meets there, as well as tourists.

“We’re probably going to have to sit down and see if there is something else we can do in that area to try and expand what we’re trying to do, maybe in the opposite direction possibly,” said Chafe. “But as of right now that application wasn’t approved.”

Councillor Randy Wrice was similarly disappointed to report the provincial Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture turned down an application for a bird watching trail and lookout.

Wrice said the department determined there is evidence the land had been previously used by a photography company. An official from the Wildlife Division supported the Town’s application, Wrice noted, but that support is superfluous now that the application has been rejected.

And council has agreed to cover the costs of insurance coverage for Harbour Grace Culture Innovation and Business Inc., when it uses Town owned facilities. 

Councillor Stone, who chairs the finance committee, said the group works hand in hand with the Town in trying to accomplish things for Harbour Grace.

“We had hoped that we could have added them to our insurance policy as a partner of the Town, but that proved not to be possible,” he said. “So, in its place our committee is making this motion.”

Mayor Coombs acknowledged that it’s unusual for council to cover the insurance costs of outside groups. “But I think we all realize what this board is after doing in our town and continues to do for our town,” he said. “They do a tremendous job and certainly I fully support the motion.”

On that note, Stone said the group helped Harbour Grace land some $40,000 in funding for its Cultural Lanes Development project and worked closely with council to put off a week of celebrations for Come Home Year.

“Because they helped the Town with those amounts, their earnings for the year put them in a very high insurance bracket for a small group just supporting the Town doing special project,” Stone explained.” So that’s why the motion was put to the floor.”

It passed unanimously.