Mount Pearl students 'Stuff the Bus' for city's food banks

By Chris Lewis | Dec. 22, 2020

Food banks in Mount Pearl are in better shape this Christmas thanks to the efforts of local students.

From Wednesday, Dec. 9 to Friday, Dec. 11, students at Mount Pearl Senior High and Mount Pearl Intermediate hosted a ‘Stuff the Bus,’ food drive to garner enough non-perishable donations to fill up a school bus.

On Friday evening, the bus pulled up in front of St. Peters Parish in Mount Pearl with a dozen or so eager volunteers ready to unload it for the community’s three food banks.

Among them was Con Milmore, who sits as a member of the St. Vincent de Paul committee for St. Peter’s in Mount Pearl. He noted the two schools have been helping the food banks for years.

This year, of course, looked a little different because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Milmore was more than happy with the result.

“When they called me yesterday (Dec. 10) and told me how much food they had, I then knew I had to get in contact with my executive, and we decided to bring in the other two food banks: the Salvation Army here in Mount Pearl, and the other St. Vincent de Paul, which is at Mary Queen of the World,” Milmore said. “As you can see from the big ruckus out there today, we needed plenty of hands to help unload the bus.”

Milmore said the students this year truly outdone themselves, and because of their help, the City’s food banks will have much more to offer during Christmas, which is by far some of the busiest times of the year.

“The things that (the students) have done this year is just unreal,” Milmore said. “They came up with this Stuff the Bus idea on their own.”

The titular bus, provided by City Wide, had been parked between the two schools for the entirety of the three days the food drive was going on. Students would bring food donations to school and pack it right on to the bus, laying it out on the seats until they were all filled up.

And it was not just food that was donated. Milmore said there were even Christmas trees, hats and gloves donated alongside the food hampers, all of which the food banks are happy to provide during the cold Christmas season.

“With the pandemic and everything on the go, all food banks around the province are in a big need, especially now with the holidays right around the corner,” Milmore said. “Our shelter in particular was down pretty low. A lot of this food that’s coming in will help us this year to get over the hump. Once Christmas is over, then we’re into January, February and March. Those are the hardest months for us, because there are no big donations coming in, nothing like that. So, all of this is going to really help the three food banks here in Mount Pearl to get by a little bit better.”

Mount Pearl computers bound for school system

By Chris Lewis | Nov. 26

The City of Mount Pearl recently made a generous donation of equipment.

After upgrading some of its computer system, the City was left with an extra 85 desktop computers and 118 hard drives, said councillor Bill Antle.

After mulling over for a couple of weeks the best way to deal with them, and considering a list of potential beneficiaries for a donation, Antle said, staff decided the best place for it would be the province’s schools.

“Before we donate these computers, they’re all cleared of all their information,” he noted. “There is no possibility that any council or City information would get leaked.”

Antle said the donations has a couple of benefits. It means the school system has more equipment to utilize, so that more students will have access to decent machines to use at school. It also means there will be less computers bound for the landfill this year.

“I think our staff did a great job of making sure these computers will be used again, and it’s also going to be saving us some money,” Antle said.

Kent, Tiller nominated for Mount Pearl Citizen of the Year

By Kyle Reid | Nov. 26

The City of Mount Pearl has yet to release the list of finalists for the Richard Levandier Citizen of the Year Award, but at least two active Mount Pearl volunteers have been nominated for the prestigious award, The Pearl News has learned.

Steve Kent and Wanda Tiller both have long records of community involvement. The names of the other nominees, if any, are being kept close to the chest this year by the City as they select finalists from nominations submitted by Mount Pearl community members.

Kent, a long-time political figure in the city and province, and, most recently, the City of Mount Pearl’s chief administrative officer until last June, has volunteered with a number of organizations in Mount Pearl, including Scouts Canada.

While Kent has always been an active volunteer in the City, his departure from political office in 2017 has afforded him a bit of extra time to spend as a volunteer, he said.

“It started when I was a young person involved in student and youth activities in the community,” Kent said. “As I got older and got involved in public life, my volunteer activities took on a different focus…In recent years I’ve been more active as a community volunteer than before.”

This past year, Kent helped run the local Scouting group in Mount Pearl, and served as past chairman of the Scouts Canada national board of governors, and chair of the national nominating committee. Internationally, he served as the Canadian head of contingent to the 23rd World Scouting Jamboree, as an honorary consultant to the World Scout Parliamentary Union and as second vice-president of the Interamerican Scout Foundation.

Kent was also involved in the local Rotary Club, Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, the Branch 36 Legion, the Salvation Army, Mount Pearl food banks, Mount Pearl minor hockey and minor baseball and, on occasion, as a volunteer at the VOAR radio station in Mount Pearl.

For Kent, the volunteer spirit in Mount Pearl is what makes the city stand out.

“The level of volunteerism and the extent of community spirit that exists in Mount Pearl is part of what makes us unique,” Kent said. “It’s part of why I’ve chosen to build a future here and raise a family here.”

While the list of finalists has yet to be released by the City, it was an honour just to be nominated for the award, Kent said.

“I’m honoured to have a chance to give back to a place that has given me so much,” said Kent. “I am deeply humbled and honoured to be nominated for Citizen of the Year. When I look at past nominees as winners they are a group of citizens who have done so much to contribute to making Mount Pearl better. It’s a great honour just to be counted among them as a nominee.”

It’s a sentiment shared by fellow nominee, Wanda Tiller.

“Shocked, but very honoured,” said Tiller when asked how it felt to be nominated for Citizen of the Year. “It was a complete surprise; I volunteer not for the recognition, I volunteer because I love it. I’m beyond honoured.”

Tiller is an over 30 year volunteer with the Mount Pearl Frosty Festival where she started by selling buttons door to door to raise funds, and most recently sat on the Frosty Festival board of directors, a position she took on four years ago.

She has also volunteered for 35 years with the local Girl Guides, receiving the Mount Pearl Adult Working with Youth Award in 2012 for her work as the Girl Guide district commissioner, and has volunteered with the St. John’s Shriners and as a crossing guard at Morris Academy.

It wasn’t any particular drive that got Tiller interested in volunteer work, she said. It was simpler than that.

“I just saw these volunteers having fun,” Tiller said. “It wasn’t just going door-to-door and selling the (Frosty Festival) buttons and bringing back the money…(it) was the camaraderie between the volunteers, that’s how I started with that. It was the same with Girl Guides. I brought my daughter to Sparks and I saw these leaders having so much fun…so I asked how I could be a Spark leader and she went ‘Come back next week.”

For Tiller, the nomination has a special meaning. The award, sponsored by the Mount Pearl Kinsmen, is named after fellow Kinsman and long-time Mount Pearl community volunteer Richard Levandier, someone who Tiller knew personally.

“(Levandier) told me years ago, ‘Wanda, you will always be a volunteer because it’s in your heart,’” said Tiller. “That always stuck with me, I love it.”

But Tiller maintains that she is the one benefitting the most from her volunteer work.

“I’m not sure if important is the word I’d use,” she said when asked why she thought it was important to volunteer. “Giving to organizations that need volunteers, I get 120 per cent back. I’ve met so many fabulous people; some of my best friends, life-long friends (have) been through volunteering.”

Aker sets stage to make workings of Mount Pearl council more transparent

By Chris Lewis | Nov. 19, 2020

Mount Pearl council may become slightly more transparent in the coming months.

Mayor Dave Aker raised the matter near the end of Tuesday’s public meeting.

Aker highlighted a recent trend among some municipalities to open more of their private deliberations to the public.

The mayor said the suggestion was coming from a place of transparency and accountability. He suggested the idea be looked at further by council’s corporate services and economic development committee.

“We’ve always done our (committee of the whole meetings) privately, and I think the trend is moving away from that,” Aker said. “I feel that we need to unveil the cloak that’s around committee of the whole.”

The economic development committee includes councillors Isabelle Fry, Bill Antle, and director Cassie Pittman.

Aker cautioned there will still be things that must be discussed privately such as human resource matters and potential legal issues,.

“The issue here is not to say what we won’t go public with, it’s the focus on the addition of transparency, and therefore accountability,” he said.

Aker tasked the committee with a jurisdictional review and to work with the provincial Department of Municipal Affairs. All of that, then, would be brought back to the committee of the whole with a recommendation or plan to move forward with the idea.

“I really, sincerely believe this is in our best interest, and I believe that in today’s age, our residents would expect that,” Aker said.

Admiralty House finds a way to keep Frosty alive despite festival cancellation

By Kyle Reid | Nov. 19, 2020

Admiralty House Museum is making sure not to leave Frosty out in the cold this year by making an effort to preserve the history of the nearly 40-year-old winter festival.

With plans for the 39th Frosty Festival iced for next year due to COVID-19, Admiralty House museum staff decided it would be a good time to begin work on an oral history project to collect memories of past festivals.

“We just wanted to start a project to preserve the memories that people have had over the years, particularly the early memories of the Frosty Festival sort of around the time of its inception,” said assistant museum manager Nora Allen. “Sadly the community has lost some of the original developers of the festival, so we kind of thought it was a good time to start collecting these memories before they’re gone for good.”

As of Tuesday, staff had completed interviews with two well-known past Frosty Festival volunteers, Agnes Murphy, who has been a volunteer since the inception of the Frosty Festival in 1983 and chair of the festival committee in 2010, and David Lythgoe, a nearly decade long Frosty Festival volunteer.

“The Frosty Festival means different things to everyone but I think it really means, community, comradery (and) friendship,” said Allen. “Just to hear the stories from the people themselves is really, really, important.”

In many ways, Allen said, some of the early Frosty Festivals looked quite different, particularly the events. Some of the earliest iterations of the festival included events such as human chuck wagon racing, beard growing competitions and arm wrestling tilts.

“Hearing about some of those unique events was really interesting,” Allen said.

Museum staff are hoping to collect all their information, including interviews and pictures, by the end of March. From there, Allen said, they are hoping to publish a booklet of memories and photos, or perhaps even stage an exhibit.

“We’re still so far into the early stages that we don’t know exactly how it will end up, but there is definitely going to be something that the community can see, that the community will be able to read and learn more about these memories,” Allen said.

Given that Frosty is hanging up his magic hat for the time being, Allen said the project is perfectly timed to keep Atlantic Canada’s largest winter carnival alive this year.

“As sad as it is that the Frosty Festival was cancelled for 2021 we think that at least this project is a good way to keep it on people’s minds,” said Allen. “Keep people thinking about the Frosty Festival and get people excited for 2022.”

Allen added that anyone looking to contribute to the project can contact Admiralty House at 748-1124, or by e-mail at admiraltyhousemuseum@gmail.com.

Lucy Stoyles says she’s not up for re-election

By Mark Squibb | Oct. 8, 2020

When it comes to Mount Pearl politics and community life, she is almost as much an institution as she is a public representative, but long-time Mount Pearl councillor Lucy Stoyles says that she will not be putting her name forward for re-election this time around.

“I spent 25-years with the City of Mount Pearl and I’m not planning on offering myself for re-election again,” said Stoyles during the October 6 meeting.

The comment came after councillor Bill Antle asked if councillor Stoyles could speak to council about a recent Diversity Matters meeting in which both Stoyles and councillor Isabelle Fry attended. Stoyles brought greetings from the City at that meeting, while Fry brought greetings from the City at a previous meeting.

“It was very well attended, and even after the meeting I received a call from a potential candidate who is looking at running in the upcoming election. I’m going to be meeting with a lady in the next week or so to discuss her entry into politics. I found it quite interesting,” said Stoyles. “Anybody who would like to talk about what they need to do (to run in politics), they can certainly give me a call.”

It was then that Stoyles, who has a reputation for being a straight shooter and not averse to addressing controversial topics head on, said that as she did not intend to put her name forward for re-election, she would be willing to meet with anyone who had questions about running for office.

“Even if I was (running again), I wouldn’t mind meeting with people and telling them what they need to do to run for political office,” she added.

What to do with the underpasses

By Mark Squibb | Oct. 8, 2020

A report from Dillion Consulting Ltd., on the City of Mount Pearl’s overpasses was brought before council during the October 6 meeting.

Council had approved Dillion for a review of remediation options in September, following the temporary closure of the pedestrian underpass on Old Placentia Road for safety reasons.

The report listed three options for remediation of the Old Placentia Road underpass: Complete replacement at an estimated cost of $1,020,000, not including HST; Relining at an estimated cost of $750,000, not including HST; or, Concrete Infill Rehabilitation, at an estimated cost of $265,000, not including HST.

“Option three was the lowest price, and our consultant said that this will last up to forty years,” said councillor Lucy Stoyles on the work. “Our consultant is saying that this needs to be done right away, so we’re recommending we use $80,573.86 of the multi year capital works, which we still have money to transfer over into 2020-2021.”

Dillion found that underpasses on Richard Nolan Drive and Smallwood Drive would not require any repairs or upgrades for another 5-10 years. Inspections will be required every two years to keep track of any serious deterioration or aging that would require immediate attention.

The full amount of the concrete infill rehab is $390,847.26 including HST, which would require an additional $80,573.86 than originally thought.

Regarding the other two underpasses, on Richard Nolan Drive and Smallwood Drive, the consultant advised that these are sound at this time, and estimates that any repairs or upgrading may not be required for another 5- 10 years; however, inspections would still be required every two years or so.

Council approved the motion unanimously.

Green team members 'replant' Forest Avenue

By Chris Lewis | Aug. 27, 2020

Mount Pearl’s Green Team members have been busy this summer sharing garden bed knowledge and upgrading the Forest Avenue area.

The team has only two members this year, but that hasn’t stopped Jennifer Blundon and Sofia Quijada from getting things done.

Blundon, the team leader, explained that this year, the City of Mount Pearl was unsure if it would go ahead with the program because of Covid-19, but ultimately decided to take on a smaller team.

Blundon and Quijada started off teaching interested residents how they could build their own garden beds at home.

“It was a bit of a different summer, so not a ton of outdoor work was being done initially,” Blundon said. “With this, people can learn how to build their own community garden beds at home, which is great if they’re cautious about going out in public places with social distancing and everything going on.”

Currently, there are community gardens at the Gloria Pearson Community Center and one on Forest Avenue. These two groups worked alongside the Green Team, giving them insight on how to go about the first part of their project.

That ended up becoming a video that Blundon and Quijada filmed themselves, providing instructions for viewers to learn the basics of community garden bed construction. Blundon said the goal was to highlight that building a community garden bed is not a difficult task.

“You don’t even need to own a saw,” Blundon said, noting that hardware stores such as Kent can cut wood for you in the exact measurements needed, making the process significantly easier.

But there were other challenges.

“A lot of the materials had already been purchased. Like, finding soil later in the season was next to impossible,” Blundon said. “But, most years it’s usually a pretty simple process.”

Although their work for this year has finished, Blundon said there are talks of adding to the Forest Avenue garden, with community gardens built to be more reminiscent of real gardens – crops planted and grown directly in the ground, as opposed to wooden beds. They are hoping to get some local farmhands to give them a hand, but noted that this is something they have at least a year to work out.

“The Forest Avenue area is actually pretty interesting and unique. It’s an area where houses used to be, and there’s five houses that have been removed in the last five years due to the flood zones of the Waterford Rive. Some homes are still there, but some took the opportunity to move away,” Blundon explained.

Equipped with this knowledge, the Mount Pearl Green Team began a Forest Avenue heritage project, with blog posts from parts of that project scheduled to be released in the coming weeks.

After the homes were removed, the City encouraged the building of a community garden to keep the area in good condition, and maintain an area that had been around for so long.

“We helped with some of the gardens, and the maintenance of it,” said Blundon. “We built two gardens down that way, and even did some interviews with the gardeners and got to know the community and the area. It’s a really strong, old community of families that have been there for some over 60 years. There’s a strong sense of community there.”

The garden beds can be used by the general public. Anyone interested in using them should contact City Hall.

“Once they have the go-ahead, they’re free to plant just about anything they want in these little 4x4 garden beds that are allotted to people for virtually as long as they want to have one,” Blundon said. “We’re not from Mount Pearl, but we’re from the general area so it was interesting to us to be able to get engaged, involved, and learn about the City and all the community aspects. We just finished up this week, and it really was a great experience.”

Council piggybacks on St. David's area work to make park more accessible

By Chris Lewis | Aug. 27, 2020

Mount Pearl city council is using the opportunity of construction that was already underway at St. David’s Park to make it more accessible for the mobility-impaired.

The change order to add the work boosts the construction bill by some $5,735.

“We looked at three different options,” Stoyles explained. “Basically, it’ll make it accessible so that when people are in the park, they won’t have to go across a parking lot or anything like that. We decided to take a look at this, and add some extra to it.”

Deputy Mayor Jim Locke said the amendments will serve as a solid enhancement to the area, turning it into even more of a green space with a natural flow of traffic, also allowing for blue zone parking adjacent to the Royal Canadian Legion building in that area.

“For all these reasons, council supported this,” Locke said.

The motion for the changes carried unanimously.

Renewing the fleet

By Chris Lewis | Aug. 27, 2020

The City of Mount Pearl is adding to its vehicle fleet as part of a 10 year plan to ensure staff have the equipment needed to maintain city services.

During presentation of the Infrastructure and Public Works committee report last week, Councillor Lucy Stoyles said Cabot Ford Lincoln had won a tender worth $454,103 to supply six pickup trucks and four SUVs.

Councillor Bill Antle noted there have been several major purchases over the past few months for the City’s fleet.

Director Gerry Antle explained that, as per the City plan, Mount Pearl’s fleet is being renewed. Since 2018, the City has been working on a 10-year fleet plan that aims to ensure the City has up-to-date and well-maintained vehicles at its disposal.

The four SUVs are hybrids – something Deputy Mayor Jim Locke was pleased to see.

“I had a look at some of the fleet up there, the last time I was at the depot,” Locke said. “Some of our pickup trucks are beyond their usable life, shall we say. The rocker panels, and just looking at some of the rust on the chassis. I think it’s time, because our vehicles definitely get some good use. Replacing our fleet is part of our 10-year strategy … During our operations, especially winter operations, we don’t want failure of our fleet. That’s what this whole vehicle replacement and management scheme is all about.”

Council also approved a tender to buy two vans for a total of $81,663 including HST.

“Myself and Director Antle had a conversation, and he’s going to get us a report over the past 10-years. I know we have a 10-year outlook, but I’ve asked to see what it is we’ve purchased in the last 10-years and what we’re looking at purchasing in the next seven or eight years moving ahead,” Stoyles said. “We’re not just out here willy-dilly, buying all these vehicles if we don’t need them.”

Locke said the 10-year fleet plan has been put in place mainly to avoid unwelcome surprises from outdated vehicles. Knowing each vehicle has an estimated life expectancy, their plan allows the City to work around possible vehicle-related issues in the future.

Purchase of a tandem dump truck was also approved for $192,895. Two other tandem trucks, with snow blades attached, will also be bought

“All approved in our budget, all a part of our fleet,” Locke said.