Spaniard’s Bay town council was taken by surprise when Deputy Mayor Gerald Sheppard suddenly announced his resignation at the June 9th meeting.
Sheppard, who was elected last year, made the announcement towards the end of the meeting, during the time in which council members can share other business before adjournment. He then promptly gave his letter of resignation to Mayor Tammy Oliver.
“It has been a privilege to serve on council and advocate for the town’s residents,” said Sheppard. “Due to recent events and decisions of council, I feel I am no longer able to accomplish what this position requires. Thank you to the residents and voters of the Town of Spaniard’s Bay for the wonderful opportunity to represent them.”
While the deputy mayor did not specify what “recent events and decisions” he was referring to, the last several town council meetings have seen members butt heads over certain decisions, or the steps taken to arrive at a decision.
Most, if not all, of Sheppard’s fellow council members seemed taken aback by his resignation. Even Mayor Oliver had not been aware he would be resigning that night. She expressed regret that they had not been able to have a discussion about it beforehand.
Councillor Terry Sheppard, a relative of deputy mayor Sheppard and another council member elected in the 2025 municipal election, shared his grievances s well.
“I have also had to seriously reflect on the value I can bring to the current environment and how effective I can be given the way the council’s operating,” said councillor Sheppard. “While I continue to serve—and I’m going to serve for the time being—there’s got to be significant changes in the way we conduct business. Current approach is not working, it’s not acceptable if we expect to serve the community effectively. So, I just want to throw it out there. It’s getting frustrating at times. I hope we can work together better than what we have been doing.”

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The Town of Paradise will upgrade the St. Thomas Line wastewater treatment plant in phases as the project proved too costly to do all at once.

The town received $18.3 million in cost-shared funding to upgrade the plant to a secondary treatment plant to comply with municipal effluent regulations. That amount proved only enough to cover a portion of the upgrades.

“Owner-advisor services for this project was awarded to RV Andersen Associations Ltd. in 2022, however, through the design process, it was soon determined that the funding amount would not cover the full scope of the wastewater treatment plant upgrades,” explained councillor Erin Furlong. “A project amendment was submitted to the funding partners to split the project into three phases, with the current funding amount being dedicated to Phase 1 only. This is currently under review.”

Furlong added that funding has been extended to 2030, and that the town has authorization to operate the treatment plant as is until 2040.
Council approved a change order on June 2 to cover the cost of splitting the project into phases.

“Due to the project being divided into multiple design-build phases to be implemented over an extended time frame, rather than a single construction phase, there will be longer exposure periods for excavation, slopes, native soils, which were not contemplated in the original geo-technical investigative report,” said Furlong. “As a result, the existing geotechnical investigative report requires a revision and expansion to address conditions associated with phased construction and prolonged exposure.”

The change order, the fifth for the project, was approved in the amount of $2,875 HST included.
“So, in the grand scheme of things it’s not a huge amount of money,” noted Furlong.

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Roughly five months after the provincial government dissolved Victoria town council due to infighting, a new council was elected this May.

The newly minted council has since named Sharon Penney mayor, and Kelly Loch deputy mayor.
The May election was Penney’s first time running for municipal council, and not only was she successful in her bid for council member, but she also received the greatest number of votes of all the candidates.

“It was kind of a shock,” Penney said. “I did not think I would be anywhere near the top of the vote poll, but it was gratifying to see that so many people would place their faith in that I was able to do a good job.”
Penney said if there had been a separate ballot for mayor, her name would not have been on it as she did not think it was a job someone could do without prior experience. “But, given the breadth of the new council, just about everybody had no previous experience,” she said.

All of the new councillors encouraged Penney to seek the mayorship. Kelly Loch nominated her, and this nomination was seconded and voted on. “I’m happy that they think I’m going to be a good candidate to lead us all forward and be a voice for them as well as the town,” said Penney.

When asked what she can bring the Town of Victoria in her role as mayor, Penney said she is level-headed and can bring people together to talk through situations and arrive at a consensus. “It might not be the vote that everybody would have taken initially, but after discussion and give and take, we can come together as a council and do what’s best for Victoria,” she said.

Penney said council intends to implement the recommendations made to them by Chris Stamp, the provincial government administrator who oversaw town operations following the previous council’s dismissal.

“Mr. Stamp has also left some areas open for us to discuss and develop policy further,” said Penney. “And we intend to follow his example and put unambiguous plans in place and unambiguous policies so that there will be no contention as to if this is what is meant, or if this is what the intention was.”

As for how the new council is getting along, Penney said they are very excited, communicate well, and are working cohesively. “We have good discussions in our council meetings,” she said. “Everybody has a voice. Everybody gets to express their voice, and we continue from there. So far, our decisions have been unanimous, so I think that speaks well to A, the policies that Mr. Stamp has put in place, and B, to the fact that we are going to move ahead as a unit.”

Penney believes the new council will be able to avoid the issues and conflict the previous council experienced. “There are so many new voices on the council that there is no room for rehashing of old grievances,” she said. “We have an agenda that we have to move forward with, and nowhere on that agenda is bringing up the past. The past is in the past, and we as a council are committed to moving forward from that point.”

Penney has served on the executive of other organizations in the past. In these roles, she learned how to work collaboratively, a skill that she thinks she can bring to council as mayor and use to avoid conflict and dysfunction.

“Every organization I’ve ever been part of in an executive position has always been made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds,” said Penney. “This council is no different. And everywhere where you get diverse backgrounds and diverse interests, you get diverse opinions. But, because I’ve experienced being in leadership positions, I have had to develop the skills to bring people around, to bring people to a collective decision, and that is exactly what’s going to happen in this council.”

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The Town of South River approved a $1,000 community partnership with a not-for-profit organization that provides recreational programming to Conception Bay North.
Aspire Recreation founder, Ryan Gates attended the May council meeting to ask the town to join the organization’s Community Partners Program at a cost of $1,000. The organization is looking to grow the activities it started in South River last year as part of their summer program.
Gates said it has also sent letters to North River, South River, Clarke’s Beach, Bay Roberts, and Spaniard’s Bay asking them to partner as most participants in the organization’s programming are from these communities. Aspire is looking to grow activities it started in South River last year.
“So they would become our focused partners,” said Gates. “People we would dedicate our time to because they clearly want to work with us.”
Aspire Recreation is seeking a similar contribution from those towns—if they decide to join—to create a pool of money with which Aspire Recreation can provide services to them.
“It’s not so much about the money as so much about the commitment,” Gates said, adding that $1,000 is only a fraction of what Aspire Recreation spends during the summer, which usually totals between $10,000 to $20,000.
Councillor David Petten made a motion that South River join Aspire Recreation’s Community Partners Program. This was seconded by Deputy Mayor Melissa Hierlihy. All voted in favour, and the motion was carried.
South River will get a liaison on the Aspire board of directors, from whom they would get regular updates, as part of the partnership.
Aspire Recreation visited the South River council late last year to propose a partnership that would share land and assets, allowing Aspire Recreation to get investors.
The town could not commit to that partnership at the time.

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Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove council has asked staff to research the cost and logistics of installing surveillance cameras around town ahead of the next municipal budget.
The motion was passed after a request from the recreation committee was brought forward at the May 19 regular meeting.
“There has been talk of some vandalism in our community,” said chief administrative officer Mandy Dinn, adding that residents, members of the recreation committee and town staff had all expressed concerns.
“Our own town foreman actually said he would like to have one around the town’s depot just to have it more secure when there’s salt, sand or stone … just different things they need to leave outside,” said Dinn.
She added that if council wanted to approach this request the proper way, she recommended it be considered for the next budget.
Deputy Mayor Irene Stack said there were also a number of things to still research, like technical issues, what locations would be prioritized and what privacy issues and liabilities are associated.
“We need to make sure all our t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. But I think it’s definitely a good investment,” Stack said.
Mayor Ed Dyke said waiting until the next budget cycle would also allow time for administration to explore potential grant funding.
Locations like the town depot, the playground and recreation areas, the War Memorial were all mentioned, but council did not include specific locations in the motion.

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A public hearing last week on a proposed ATV bypass in the back country of CBS almost turned into a rally to take back the old railbed in town from walkers and allow trikes and side-by-sides on it again.
The idea was touted several times to wide applause during an hour and 20-minute session that saw some 150 people, mostly ATV enthusiasts in attendance.
However, that notion contrasted sharply with the tenor of most of the written submissions from CBS residents who appear to be growing increasingly frustrated by the prevalence of dirt bikes and ATVs on their roads.
The hearing was supposed to focus solely on proposed amendments to the development rules to allow ATVs on a future bypass route on the south side of Peacekeepers Way. Commissioner George Trainor has 30 days to report on the hearing to council, which will then vote to accept, amend or reject his recommendations, before sending the proposed changes back to the Province for its approval.
While a sizeable minority of people at the hearing shared worries about increased ATV use interfering with walking trails, they were overwhelmingly outnumbered by the ATV supporters whose demands seemed to increase the longer the hearing went on.
Fred Rose, who moved to CBS about two and half years ago, seemed to speak for many of the ATV advocates, though he was not in favour of taking back the walking trail which runs the length of CBS.
“I’ve got a lot of years of experience on ATVs,” said Rose. “I lived in Gander where I could hop from my house onto my ATV and go wherever I wanted… But I’m not surprised that people would come out against this, because that’s human nature, that’s the way things happen… I don’t disagree with the walking trail the way it is right now. I think it’s a great idea. I would not be in favor of changing anything along the waterfront that we have now. We’ve got all kinds of trails around here… There’s lots of ways that we could bypass it… Maybe we could connect up the trail with CBN. Maybe we can connect with the one to the Southern Shore… Let’s go up around the back, find ways to come down to the restaurants and things like that. Develop it, get some economic benefit for the town, and get some government money to help you do it.”
Walter Quinlan, who lives near the Kiwanis walking trail in Kelligrews, warned the crowd they wouldn’t give him as hearty a round of applause as they had given Rose.
Quinlan said he was initially very opposed to the ATV bypass until he talked with Mayor Darrin Bent and read in The Shoreline that the route will be separate from walking trails.
“So, I’ve kind of come around,” said Quinlan. “I don’t care that you guys want to have a trail. My concern was having interactions while walking or driving my car. I want no interactions with ATVs. I’ve had about 20 in my lifetime. They’ve all been negative. I’ve almost been knocked down, my dog has almost been knocked down, I’ve been cursed and sworn at, I’ve had to dive into snowbanks to avoid a head-on collision while I was cross-country skiing. I’m not saying any of you people here would do anything like that, it’s just that my experience with ATVs on trails has been very negative.”
Quinlan said ATVers represent about 2.5 per cent of the population but are responsible for about five per cent of deaths involving motorized vehicles every year.
“My hobby is golfing. It costs me $3,000 a year to golf,” said Quinlan. “Your hobby would be using the ATVs. I don’t think I should have to subsidize your trail. I don’t think the council here should spend any money on the trail. I think you should do what cross-country skiers do. They make their own trail. They put their own money in, and they maintain a trail themselves… With that, I wish you the best of luck. I hope you all stay safe.”
Born and bred CBS resident Joe Fagan came out hard in support of connecting CBS with the rest of the ATV trail across the island, which follows the line of the former Newfoundland railbed.
Fagan said CBS is the biggest municipality in the province, next to St. John’s, and would have no problem drawing volunteers to maintain the bypass.
“With regards to the current trail down there, the walkway, I understand people don’t want to take that for ATVs – the Town made their development policy many years ago, they did a great job getting that walkway up to use,” he said.
But Fagan said it’s unfortunate there is a break in the provincial ATV trail at CBS, arguing the government has made the trail a priority by designating it a provincial park for ATVs. ATV tourism is a growing industry, he added, and CBS is missing out. As for ATVers who are causing problems on town streets, Fagan said those things occur because the riders have nowhere else to go.
Retired teacher John Elkins, an ATV enthusiast who moved to CBS four years ago, said he is delighted with the walking trail along the coast, but added ATV users need a trail too.
Elkins said he would like to see his tax dollars used to build the bypass, but suggested young people should be drafted into volunteering to help build and maintain it. That would help defray the need to use Town funds, he allowed.
“Students need volunteer hours as part of their Career Education course,” said Elkins. “This might be something that young people here could be involved with in helping make the trail for themselves and for their future.”
Jerry Vey, who grew up in CBS, was the first of several speakers to call for the old railbed through town to be reopened to ATVs. Vey claimed the Town committed back in 2012 to building a bypass before banning the machines on the railbed.
“The T’Railway should be re-opened until the Town comes up with an alternate plan for the bypass route,” Vey demaned to hoots and applause from the crowd.
But lifelong CBS livyer and ATV user Roger Jefford counselled against that idea.
“We’ve got one of the most beautiful walking trails in any part of the world,” said the Kelligrews resident, who is old enough to recall navigating the woods with a pony, long before ATVs became common. “I understand why the people on the ATVs would like to take that over.”
But Jefford argued that’s not reasonable. He also countered the argument that CBS should follow Gander and other towns that allow ATVs, pointing out those areas have much smaller populations, are relatively isolated, and still have the luxury of the old railbed running through them intact.
“I’ve seen the development of ATVs in this community,” Jefford said. “It brings a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people, young and old.”
But they also cause problems, he argued.
“I live on Tilleys Road South and any time of the day or night you can see ATVs,” he said. “Some people respect the law, they travel at the proper speed, but there are others who just wing by and pay no attention to stop signs, or red lights. I’ve witnessed one accident where a young man on an ATV put a car off the road into the ditch because of his recklessness. A lot of you people have kids, but you very seldom see kids out on the streets anymore and one of the main reasons is the ATVs speeding back and forth the highways. It’s very dangerous. I’ve got two grandchildren, one is six and the other is eight, and they can’t ride their pedal bikes or their scooters on the streets.”
Jefford said allowing people in CBS to ride ATVs up public streets to get to a bypass road would cause total chaos.
“I’ve got nothing against ATVs,” said Jefford. “But you have to do it right… And for those who say we’ll take over the walking trail – I don’t think that’s to be recommended. I’ve walked on the old track when the ATVs were allowed there, and it just doesn’t work.”
Krista Webber, who sits on the ATV Advisory Committee working with council to build the bypass, also tried to dampen any prospect of ATVs returning to the T’Railway, though she admitted to having bought a home near the old rail line in CBS because she thought she could just hop on her machine and ride wherever she liked.
“It sucks,” Webber said of not being able to drive ATVs on the walking trail. “But the big importance of this meeting is not to open the railbed, unfortunately. I know, it sucks, it does, but I think that ship has sailed and we’ve just got to concentrate on doing it somewhere else. That’s all we can do. If there’s a way we can change people’s minds about the railbed, then wonderful, I’m all for it 100 per cent, but it’s not going to happen… And I’m saying that when we do get this trail, be respectful of it.”

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Although some councillors say they are concerned about the reckless use of scooters and e-bikes around Paradise, they’re not yet ready to regulate them.
Councillor Erin Furlong broached the subject last month during a committee of the whole meeting, noting several residents had brought concerns to her.
Furlong asked what authority the Town has to regulate the machines.
Councillor Glen Carew explained that under the Towns and Local Services Districts Act, the Town can adopt by-laws to manage its roadways. The challenge, he said, is with enforcement.
“The world is changing rapidly, in terms of these machines, how they’re governed, or in this particular case, the lack of governance,” said Carew, adding council has talked with the police about it.
The Act, said Carew, does prohibit the use of vehicles on sidewalks.
Furlong asked whether the Town has had legal advice on how a by-law could be enforced without conflicting with the provincial Highway Act, and what risk Paradise would run by adopting a by-law before the Province adopts its changes.
Carew said staff have yet to seek an opinion on the matter. Toronto has a by-law, he said, but enforcement is impossible.
“You even see some of these rental companies have e-scooters for rent right on the sidewalks there in downtown Toronto,” said Carew, arguing it’s the responsibility of the province to give municipalities the power to enforce such regulations.
The problem facing lawmakers and police, he added, is that technology is advancing so rapidly that classifying e-bikes and e-scooters could prove difficult. Some e-bikes can reach speeds of up to 80 kph.
“It’s like the wild west in regards to what is permitted and what is not permitted,” said Carew, who said he hears more complaints about e-bikes and e-scooters than ATVs and dirtbikes.
Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street expressed support for a by-law, but allowed enforcement must start at home.
“We have to teach our kids that they have to be safe, and they have to wear their equipment,” said Street, who expressed hope the Town will host a safety session. “I think everybody here in this room has had an experience or seen a close call.”
Furlong suggested the Town enact a by-law now as opposed to waiting for the Province to amend the Highway Act.
“Right now, you can get on an e-bike or an e-scooter at any age and go any speed you want through a school zone, or a trail,” said Furlong. “In the campground where I camp all summer long, no vehicle is allowed to go over 15 kilometres an hour, because there are so many kids and so many people and so many things going on. And that’s someone with a licence to drive a vehicle. But an eight-year-old or a 10-year-old can get on a scooter and go 30 kilometres an hour. And that’s concerning to me, because they’re young, and they may not understand the consequences to it. I was speaking to a health professional recently who had dealt with someone with a severe injury from a scooter, and a bike helmet will not suffice, if you’re going 30 kilometres or more on a scooter or an e-bike. A bicycle helmet is just not sufficient.”

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The Town of Holyrood has awarded a contract to upgrade the Penney’s Lane waterline to Kelco Construction for a cost of $97,239, HST included.

“Penney’s Lane has had quite a number of leaks there in the last year, and we’re trying to be proactive here and improve that and take on the problem areas as we can and keep fixing and replacing the old pipe with new,” explained councillor Steve Winsor.

The Town received seven quotes by the deadline, with Mayor Laura Crawley noting that some of the prices were “astronomical.”

Winsor said that Kelco’s quote was the most cost competitive.

The councillor added that the town is actively keeping track of problematic waterlines across town.

“We have recognized different areas in the town that have had failures in the past,” said Winsor. “So, what Director (Robert) Stacey is doing is keeping a record of all that – how many times we’ve been back there, how many times we’ve repaired something, how many people are on that road, what is the cost involved, and so on, and we try to prioritize that and allocate money in every year’s budget for those purposes.”

To that end, Winsor said that council would like to accomplish even more around town, but their hands are tied financially.

“We would like to do more,” said Winsor. “We always want to do more, right? When we reviewed these quotes – and all the quotes, actually, compared to years past – there’s a noticeable increase. We’re all seeing it at the grocery store and at the gas pump, right? – and you can see it in these quotes, too. Those contractors have costs. Their materials costs have escalated, their fuel costs for mobilizing their equipment and operating their equipment, [the cost of] paying their personnel, and it’s getting more expensive to repair things. So, we want to do more, but it’s something to think about, for all of us, in our budget deliberations next fall for next year.”

Mayor Crawley added that when council approved the 2026 budget, no one could have anticipated the rise of fuel costs associated with the war in Iran.

“Unfortunately, that’s the situation we’re in right now,” said the mayor. “Everyone’s feeling it.”

Councillor Mable Tilley was absent from the meeting, but other than that the motion passed unanimously.

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Paradise council has approved a 119-lot subdivision off St. Thomas Line, which includes extensions to Phoenix Drive and Kemble Avenue.

The application marks the completion of Octagon Development Corporation’s Picco Ridge subdivision, which has been in the works since 2015.

Including lots formerly approved by council over the years, the subdivision will boast nearly 200 lots all told, including both single dwelling and semi-detached dwellings.

Councillor Sheldon Antle noted that over the years a number of residents, particularly those on Madison Place, have raised concerns about the development, especially the construction of a walking trail.

Last year, council received a petition signed by 16 residents against the walking trail, arguing it would intrude on the privacy of homes on Madison increasing the risk of thefts. Fears about possible contamination of well water due to blasting for the trail was also raised.

Antle suggested that as the trail is one of the last things to be completed, council could approve the application for the houses now and work out the details on the trail later.

“It’s a phase-by-phase piece, so (the trail development) would certainly be down the road a fair bit,” said Antle. “I believe that would allow time for the applicant and the developer to have a discussion with respect to their needs and their requirements, and in the interim, the other work can get going. We would allow them time to work through some of the concerns with respect to Madison Place, so I think that’s a bit of a compromise we can find. My understanding is that this is a developer who has a fair bit of common sense and will certainly work with the applicant, and I know that the residents there are willing to work alongside as well.”

Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street said she was happy to hear that staff will contact the developer and residents on Madison to discuss the concerns.

“I’m going to support this development approval moving forward, however I would like to see, as councillor Antle had mentioned, basically a hold off on this particular open space determination right now until those concerns are addressed,” said Street.

Councillor Jennifer Hiscock said she was hoping a happy medium could be struck.

“Like Deputy Mayor Street said, I would absolutely support this development moving forward, this is something that has been in the works for a long time, but I would like to reconsider that trail piece,” said Hiscock, who suggested moving the trail elsewhere, if possible.

CAO Lisa Niblock cautioned that if council insists on the trail not being developed until a consensus is reached, a condition saying as much must be included in the application.

“Once you approve it as is, that (trail work) could be the first thing that starts tomorrow morning,” said Niblock.

Councillor Glen Carew voiced his support of a trail, given the lack of sidewalks on St. Thomas Line, but agreed with pausing approval of it until the kinks can be worked out.

Similarly, councillor Erin Furlong supported the idea of the trail, and said she hopes the developer and residents can work out an agreement.

“I’m definitely in support of the project moving forward, as long as we can figure this trail piece out later,” said Furlong.

Ultimately, council approved the application, subject to 24 conditions, with the understanding that any trail construction will be brought back for another vote before work begins.

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Bay Roberts council this April approved what staff and councillors are hoping are the final two change orders related to phase one of the Shearstown Road project.

Change Order 8 was for additional costs for property reinstatement, including additional topsoil, sods and asphalt for various properties along Shearstown Road in the amount of $96,234, HST included.

Change Order 9 was for $10,476 worth of additional curb and gutter over and above what had been approved in the previously approved Change Order 7.

The new change orders bring the total project construction cost to $ 2,569,902, HST included.

“This is the final, the final, please God, invoice for this contract,” quipped CAO Dave Tibbo.

Both change orders were approved unanimously.

The upgrades, which include road upgrades and installation of new water and sewer lines, was approved in December 2024, are cost shared between the town, the province, and the feds, with the feds pitching in $737,706 and the province and the town pitching in $737,485 a piece, for an initial total project cost of $2,212,676.

Costs above and beyond the original cost fall on the Town.

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