CBN Joint Council preparing to meet with police, other delegations

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The newly elected board of the Conception Bay North Joint Council is already working on a list of groups and organizations it should meet with in the coming months.
Bay Roberts Mayor Geoff Seymour, who chairs the joint council, suggested a limit on the number of delegations the group should host per meeting as some sessions in the past had run into very long durations.
“Bringing too many together at the one time was bogging down this organization,” agreed Carbonear Deputy Mayor Sam Slade, who is vice-chairman of the joint council. “You had to sit down and listen to sometimes five and six in the one night. It was too many.”
Slade noted that in prior years, the joint council would entertain only one or two presentations per meeting, followed by a round table discussion.
“You went around the table, and each town gave a report on their town and how their town was doing and one thing or another,” said Slade. “I thought that was more beneficial than anything else.”
Seymour agreed such a format could be doable, and that members could contact the joint council’s secretary in advance to have items added to the meeting’s agenda.
Carbonear councillor Danielle Doyle suggested they invite the RCMP to give a presentation as they had not met with the force in a while.
Slade agreed, asserting they should have the RCMP give quarterly presentations.
Bay Robert’s Councillor Dean Franey noted the RCMP presents at town council meetings periodically.
Doyle argued it is a waste of the RCMP’s human resources to present to towns individually when they could instead make one presentation to the joint council.
Seymour agreed that could be more convenient with joint council members reporting back to their respective councils.
Spaniard’s Bay councillor Darlene Stamp, who serves as the group’s secretary, predicted the RCMP will give the same presentation as it always does. “They’re going to give us the same story and I think that’s probably why, for me, Joint Council, you don’t get people to show up,” said Stamp.
Doyle insisted, however, that she would like an update from the RCMP, noting there is still an unsolved murder in the area. No members voiced dissent.
As for other delegations, Stamp suggested the joint council bring in local business owners to give presentations so they can share the struggles they are dealing with and tell the council how it can help.
“I think that’s where Joint Council should be going is to promote ourselves with residents and the businesses and start hearing from them and listening to them,” said Stamp. “See where they’re meeting their challenges, what struggles they’re having bringing new business in.”
Doyle, however, expressed concern about having presentations by individual businesses, noting that there are many in the area. “Like, why are we going to one and not this one and that one and all the rest of it?” said Doyle.
Franey agreed. “It’s different if there was a CBN Chamber of Commerce, but there’s not,” he said.
He also expressed concern that some of the business owners would ask for lower taxes or similar things.
Stamp said she would look into whether there is an organization that can speak broadly about CBN businesses.
Doyle noted both the local Community Business Development Corporation and the Women’s Resource Centre had expressed interest in presenting to the joint council. She added that they had not heard from Legendary Coasts in a long time.
Cupids Mayor Rod Delaney suggested they invite the Splash Centre, MSSB, and the Avalon Regional Director for Municipalities NL, which sent delegations to previous meetings.
Doyle pointed out the SPCA was also a previous delegation. “That’s a group or organization that we all support, and I think we all use their services,” she said.
“The SPCA is a great one, and they’re struggling,” said Seymour. “They can come in and talk to council and give people a picture of the issues they’re facing.”
Seymour also suggested an invitation be made to Ground Search and Rescue. “These guys are doing work that is unbelievable, hard, and difficult,” said the chairman. “They’re raising their own money, and they could use some help from towns.”
Franey suggested inviting a fire prevention officer from the provincial government’s Fire Emergency Services division to give a presentation.
The next joint council meeting is set for March 27 in the Spaniard’s Bay town council chambers. The RCMP is the expected delegation.