CBS councillor Gerard Tilley says mandatory recycling is in the town’s future.

The Ward 3 councillor represents Conception Bay South on the board of directors of the Eastern Regional Service Board, the quasi-government agency that oversees garbage collection on most of the Avalon Peninsula.

Tilley said the board has decided that come January 1, 2024, recycling will be mandatory for all its customers.

“I believe that on the greater Northeast Avalon, Paradise and Conception Bay South are probably the only two communities that don’t have mandatory recycling,” Tilley said. “So, I’m certainly going to ask that we bring that topic back to our public works committee for discussion. I think it’s badly needed. Just to give you an example: when I leave my house to go to work in St. John’s, I pass probably 200 homes on Thursday mornings, and I think the highest I counted one morning was 17 houses that had a blue bag out. So, it’s obvious that a lot of people are not recycling the best way they can. I certainly encourage the committee to look further at the positives of mandatory recycling.”

Mayor Darrin Bent asked Tilley if the policy will mean that residents will have to use clear garbage bags for their trash.

That’s a policy some municipalities have implemented so that it’s harder to hide recyclables.

“That’s correct, clear bags with the option of one (coloured bag) for private material,” said Tilley.

“And if I understand it correctly, with the clear bags, as long as there is (only) recycling in it, they will pick it up for recycling, but if there’s garbage in among it, then it becomes garbage and it will be just left there,” Bent said.

“That is correct,” Tilley said.

“So once that’s adopted – and we will talk about it here for Conception Bay South and see where we are – but the idea would be the clear bag has to just have garbage in it,” said the mayor. “If there’s recycling in it, then you get to keep it and it doesn’t get picked up, I believe that’s how it works. And I believe Mount Pearl and St. John’s have gone this route now.”

“They have,” said Tilley. “And to great success.”

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The calls for a new high school around the Paradise council chamber are akin to the main musical theme of your favorite film — the melody remains the same, whether played on a single instrument or by a full orchestra, and is oft-repeated throughout the film.

Last week, council’s cry for a new high school, and a demand for an explanation as to why government has opted to build a new high school in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips rather than Paradise, swelled to a passionate crescendo.

Deputy Mayor Kimberly Street spoke to the matter first, reiterating a number of points that have been made since news broke in 2022 that the province would be building a school in Portugal Cove-St. Phillips, and not Paradise.

She noted Paradise had for years been on the priority list, that roughly three times more students leave Paradise daily for school outside the town then leave Portugal Cove- St. Phillips, that the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) had not requested a new school be built in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips, that former school district CEO Tony Stack was apparently surprised by the decision, and that Paradise remains one of the provinces fastest growing municipalities with one of the youngest populations.

“The provincial government’s decision to not build a high school here in Paradise with all the stats and information that we have, I feel was not a good decision,” said Street.

Councillor Larry Vaters touched on many of the points Street had raised, and alluded to an Access to Information request the Town made last fall requesting the Province explain its decision.

The response, said Vaters, included speaking notes outlining the rationale for the new school. Reasons given included the number of students being bused to Prince of Wales Collegiate each day from Portugal Cove – St. Phillips (roughly 317), the fact that that town had lobbied for a new school for years, and that it is anticipating its first anticipated student increase in 50 years.

“We’re all pleased to see our neighbours get a new school,” said Vaters. “There’s no doubt about that. But I think it’s important to offer some comparisons to the reasons given for a new school in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips to the situation in Paradise.”

He noted that some 1,100 Paradise students are bused to either Holy Spirit High or Mount Pearl Senior High each day.

“So, if the province is using student populations and busing as a reason to build a new high school in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips, then the need to construct a new high school in Paradise should be very apparent, given that we have more than three times the number of Grade 10-12 students in Paradise than in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips,” said Vaters.

He further pointed out the school board had requested a new high school for Paradise back in 2014, deeming it a high priority even back then. A year later the board asked to meet with the Town to discuss the location of both a new intermediate school and high school, which had been given the green light by the provincial government. 

Vaters said the decision to construct a school was indefinitely deferred in Budget 2016 (that was the Liberal bad-news budget that was supposed to right the ship by means of tax increases and a levy to counter the debt and ballooning cost of government stacked up by the previous PC administration) but the school district, in 2017, still maintained that a high school in Paradise was its number one capital works priority.

“But more than six years later, we still have no high school here in Paradise,” said Vaters. “There has been sustained growth in Paradise for years, and current and projected enrollments justify a high school in Paradise. This is not just a pragmatic and reasonable decision — it’s the right thing to do.”

He said the decision to build a new school in Portugal Cove- St. Phillips leaves Paradise as the most populated town in the province without a high school.

“Think about that, we’ve got to think about that, guys,” said Vaters. “A town with a population exceeding 23,300, three times that of Portugal Cove – St. Phillips, and the third most populated place in the province, with no high school? It’s simply astonishing. Incredulous! It’s actually embarrassing, to be honest. It’s totally embarrassing.”

Vaters then read off a series of quotes attributed to Premier Andrew Furey, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure John Abbott and Minister of Education Krysta Lynn Howell from a provincial government press release issued on July 7 to coincide with the unveiling of the location of the new school in Portugal Cove-St Phillips.

“When is the provincial government going to employ that thinking to Paradise?” asked Vaters. “What’s the plan for a high school here? Or is there a plan? My message to the Premier, to the Minister of Education, to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure is simply that we’ve waited long enough. The data supports a high school in Paradise, the time for action is now. Our town deserves it; our kids deserve it even more.”

Vaters’ delivery was met with approval from other members of council, none more so than Mayor Dan Bobbett.

“When the announcement came for the sod turning, I reached out to one of the ministers and said my stomach is turned as well,” said Bobbett. “There’s no reasoning here. None. And that’s why I reached out to each and every one of you guys to say that we need to write a message to the premier and ask for a meeting, because we need to sit down face-to-face and talk about it.”

Bobbett said all members of council were in agreement with that plan and noted staff are in the process of penning the letter.

To round out the discussion, councillor Glen Carew spoke as a long-time resident who himself was bused to Mount Pearl everyday while a student in the 1980s.

“Paradise was only in it’s growing phase then, and now we’re on bust,” said Carew. “We have hundreds of kids being bused daily. I feel that we as a council are trying very hard, like previous councils, to create a sense of community, and of course community is made up of residents. We can do what we need to do to help bring people together, but I feel that not having a high school in Paradise is a major detractor to us bringing our community together. It’s hard to centre our community having our students bused out of Paradise every day.”

Carew said he’s happy for the community of Portugal Cove-St. Phillips.

“I hope they don’t feel like this is sour grapes,” he said. “I’m ecstatic for them. They did some heavy lobbying and got themselves a high school. But in Paradise, we have asked, previous councils have asked, residents have asked, for a number of years… and it seems like asking is getting us no where. We need to demand it.”

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A reorganization of staff in the Town of CBS recreation department was responsible for a delay earlier this month in maintenance at some tot lots and other parks.

Town workers could be seen hustling with mowers and trimmers on the first weekend of the Kelligrews Soiree hurrying to bring the facilities into summer shape.

“Myself, and I know many other councillors have received a lot of questions and concerns about the grass throughout the community,” Ward 1 councillor Shelley Moores, who chair council’s recreation committee, reported at the July 18 public council meeting. “I wanted to give a little update, because I know a lot of people are frustrated. With the new collective agreement, we saw quite a significant amount of staff moving within our organization. Our Recreation and Leisure Services labour pool is operating at a quarter of its normal capacity. But that said, job hiring has begun and is nearing completion, and we hope to have staff in place very soon. This is unionized work so we’re very limited obviously as to who we can get to do it. Our current unionized staff have agreed to alternate working schedules to accommodate our current needs and we thank them tremendously for that.”

By that point staff had largely caught up with the maintenance work.

“I just want people to know that we understand your frustrations,” Moores added. “This is an anomaly and many things led to this being a 25 per cent workforce within the rec department. But we want to thank you for your patience and hope that you understand that we are doing our best in trying to get this done as quickly as possible, and in the next week or two you will notice some big differences.”

Mayor Darrin Bent thanked the workers for what he described as “yeoman’s service” in catching up on the work over the weekend of July 15-16.

“It’s great to hear the lawnmowers going from one end of town to the other again, and I can pretty well assure residents that this will be the only time we’ll have to worry about this issue going forward,” he said.  Bent said it takes three and a half weeks to mow every single bit of grass at Town-owned facilities and grounds. “That’s a lot of places to mow,” he allowed. “So, getting it done in about 10 days is great work and once it’s caught up, I’m sure it will be caught up for the rest of the summer. So, thank you to the Recreation staff for that.”

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CBS council has given approval-in-principle to yet another new subdivision, this one slated for 163-167 Conception Bay Highway and 35-39 Talcville Road.

That includes an area running inland from Route 60 near Tim Horton’s to a back area behind Dawe’s Plumbing in Long Pond. 

Planning committee chairperson Rex Hillier told council Tuesday, the subdivision will include 31 lots and the developer may be required to convey to the Town a portion of land between a proposed right-of-way and civic numbers 161, 169, and 171 CB Highway. The homes will be serviced with a hybrid wired utility system including aerial and underground service lines. 

“This is one of the subdivisions we’ve been working through the process with for some time.” Hillier said. “We mentioned at our last meting the number of lots that are being developed throughout the town. One of the things that we would normally deal with in this sort of recommendation would be stormwater management. It’s not in our recommendation, however it has been dealt with by (the provincial Department of) Transportation and Works in that this development will be dumping storm water into the Transportation and Works system that flows adjacent to Route 60. As a result, Transportation and Works is requiring the developers to develop a net-zero run-off system for the stormwater in that area.”

Mayor Darrin Bent said the developers have been dealing with provincial and Town officials for a while. 

“Hopefully they’ll have that worked out and be able to proceed,” he said. “It’s good to hear that that’s moving forward.”

In other development news:

• Council has said no to an application to park a transport truck trailer at a residential address, but yes to request to park a commercial truck at a different address in a different part of town. 

The application that was rejected pertained to a truck trailer at 17-19 Lincoln Place. Hillier explained the Town was rejecting the permit because the trailer “is not maintained or primarily used for transportation of property… Also this trailer has not moved in a number of years so it’s not being used as we would think a commercial vehicle would be used,” he added.

Councillor Paul Connors asked whether the trailer has even been licenced the past few years.

“There is no indication that it has been licenced,” Hillier confirmed.

The application requesting permission to park a 4,800-kilogram truck tractor at 186 Swansea Street, meanwhile, was a little more straightforward. Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse noted the owner is asking to park the truck, not the trailer, there periodically.

“There was no opposition to that, and he has ample property there,” Gosse added.

• And council rejected one home-based business application and granted another in different parts of town.

The application that was rejected, at 39 Spruce Hill Road, for a yoga studio and counselling business, didn’t have enough parking for the dwelling and proposed business, the planning committee determined.. Parking wasn’t an issue for an application to operate a pet grooming business at 511 Conception Bay Highway. That property is in Foxtrap, across the street from Angel Paws Pet Crematorium Ltd.

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By Mark Squibb / July 21, 2023

When you take a seat at the picnic area at Sgt. Ned Nugent’s Park, thank a Lion.

The Conception Bay South Lions Club have installed a number of picnic tables, benches and flower holders at the Sgt. Ned Nugent recreation area, alongside the softball field.

“This place is so busy all the time, but there’s nothing here to sit on,” said CBS Lions Club President Wade Dicks.

And so, the Lions approached the Town about setting up some benches and picnic tables. Once they got the okay go from the Town Hall, the Lions Club approved $2,000 for the project, which ultimately came in underbudget.

“We do everything we can to help out the community,” said Dicks.

Every year the Lion’s Club completes a ‘President’s Project,’ a community project selected by the current president. Dicks said while some presidents in the past have opted instead to make a donation to a community group or fundraising effort, he wanted the Lions to complete a project that might benefit the whole community.

Mayor Darrin Bent said the seating area is a welcome addition to the park.

“This is an incredible project by an incredible group of people,” said Bent. “The Lions Club are one of the backbone organizations of this community and have been for the past 50 years. When the president, Wade, got in touch with me and told me what they wanted to do, I came down here and had a look, and thought, ‘What a fantastic spot to put something like this.’ It’s a natural area, it’s beside one of our premier recreation facilities inside the town, and it’s right next to a running brook. It’s just a beautiful spot to be. I think there’ll be some flyballs caught out here. And when you have an organization such as the Lions Club that is as community minded as they are, looking for things to do within our town, how does it get any better than that?”

The park, which sits just off Red Bridge Road in Kelligrews, is home to a rugby field, softball diamond, soccer field, skate park, playground, and dog park, and is a short (though uphill) walk from the community garden and CBS Arena on Legion Road.

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