Spaniard’s Bay council approves purchase of the right tool for the job

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Spaniard’s Bay fire hall will soon get bigger and better signage.

Councillor Eric Jewer told his fellow councillors last week that the Fire Department had requested bigger signs be placed on the fire hall. 

The hall already has two signs on the outside of the building, but they are not very eye-catching —Deputy Mayor Tammy Oliver admitted she had not even noticed they were there. 

The fire department is requesting larger, more visible signs similar to the ones adorning the Bay Roberts Fire Hall.

On a related note, council has ordered staff to buy a proper wrench for opening and closing fire hydrants so that Town workers no longer have to borrow one from the fire department when they need to do maintenance and flush the lines.

In the past, Town workers would borrow the specific wrench required for opening fire hydrants from the Fire Department. However, for some reason as of late, this step has not been taken, and workers have been using a pipe wrench instead, which has been damaging the brass fittings on the hydrants, council was told. 

Councillor Jewer then put forward a double motion; first that the Town buy a proper hydrant wrench to have on hand for workers so they will not need to depend on the fire department for the tool; and second that council approve the purchase of larger signs for the fire hall. 

The motion was seconded by councillor Paul Ryan and passed unanimously.

Later in the meeting, Jewer thanked the Fire Department volunteers for handling traffic at the celebration tea hosted in the Avalon Room of the Town Hall on July 7. Traffic control had not been arranged prior to that day, and Jewer expressed his appreciation to them for responding to the need on short notice on a Sunday afternoon.