Mount Pearl joins the mail-in voting list for City election

By Chris Lewis | June 6, 2021

Mount Pearl’s voters will have more voting options this coming election.

The municipal election is slated for September.

Like other municipalities, because of Covid-19, Mount Pearl is making plans to offer more voting options besides in-person vote casting at the ballot box.

At Tuesday’s public meeting, councillor Bill Antle said this election will feature mail-in voting for the first time.

In order for that to work, there were some things council needed to iron out.

The first of those was to approve the City’s entry into a four-year agreement with Datafix for the arrangement of an election management system. This will come at a cost of $41,700 plus HST.

“This will ensure that we can have in-person voting and mail-in voting,” Antle said.

Deputy Mayor Jim Locke questioned why it needs to be a four-year agreement.

City Clerk Mona Lewis explained a four-year agreement is not out of the ordinary.

The City, she said, maintains the voter list for four years in the event there is a by-election in between regular elections.

“We’d use the same voter list, and would need the same support that Datafix would provide,” she said.

Antle’s next motion regarded the dates for nomination of candidates. Nominations, Antle said, will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 24 and 25 from the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Lastly, making the third motion of the night, Antle put forward a motion following a recommendation from the corporate and economic development committee to hold an advance poll on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The three motions carried unanimously.

Mount Pearl entrepreneur goes old school for share of games market

By Chris Lewis | June 6, 2021

A Mount Pearl start-up is trying to get people around the kitchen table again.

In a world where most things take place in front of a screen, Brad Hiscock and his company Convivial Games are hoping to see people sit back with a few cards in their hands again.

The members of the Convivial team see their games all the way through, starting from the ideas phase, right up to the playtesting stage. Hiscock described them as designing board games “from scratch.”

Although Convivial Games has not yet released a game onto the market, they plan to open things up with two games that feature very different styles of gameplay: Feuds & Favours, a strategic card game with a medieval theme, and Free Agents, a Eurogame akin to Settlers of Cataan but with a hockey twist.

“The strategy card game has you in direct opposition with other players, whereas (Free Agents) is more about you trying to reach a more personal goal before other people,” Hiscock explained. “Those are the more immediate differences between them aside from the fact that one has a board and one does not.”

Hiscock, originally from Conception Bay South, came up with the idea for Feuds & Favours about a decade ago. At the time, he said, he thought the game would be a good bit of fun for him and his family, but eventually saw an opportunity to make something bigger.

“I just played it a little bit in my friend circle before putting it aside,” said Hiscock. “As I started developing it and bringing other people around to play it, I realized it was something everyone could get into. Creative-wise, I feel like I’m always at a project. Always keeping myself busy.”

The process of bringing a game from idea to manufacturing to market is not easy.

Hiscock compared it to producing a t-shirt, explaining that while the final product may look simple, there were a lot of moving parts that went into the shirt’s creation that are not immediately obvious to the person wearing it.

Hiscock admitted he is not an artist but still required art in order for Feuds & Favours to be a visually appealing game. So, he has been outsourcing that work to artists, all of which played a role in the game’s finalization.

Now, in only a few short weeks, Feuds & Favours will be gearing up for the next milestone in its creation: crowdfunding.

That’s a popular method of finding the funds to complete a project, allowing would-be buyers to aid in the financial costs of getting a project like Feuds & Favours off the ground. In return, when said project is complete and available, those early investors will be provided with things dependent on how much they contribute. In some cases this may include having their name credited somewhere on the project, or having access to early versions of a game.

For this, Hiscock has turned to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website and plans to launch that part of the project in the coming weeks.

As for the board games themselves, Hiscock said the community has only grown in the face of an increasingly technological world.

Although he said this may be chalked up to the extra time people have been spending indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, board games have seen an exponential increase in popularity over the course of the last 10 years.

“You’re seeing games like Wingspan or even Settlers of Cataan – which started with crowdfunding – becoming household names now just as much as your Hasbro games would be, which is really nice to see,” Hiscock said. “I find that people are starting to bond over these games in a way that wasn’t really done before. I think board games have only expanded, and a lot more people are coming together over a table than they were even a decade, two decades ago.”

City approves $103 per hour standby rate to NL Power

By Chris Lewis | May 27, 2021

The City of Mount Pearl is preparing to pay NL Power technicians some $100 an hour for work on city facilities, but some councillors have questions.

During council’s May 18 meeting, Deputy Mayor Jim Locke raised the subject of upgrades at Badcock Place, which involve some NL Power infrastructure underground.

While preparing to upgrade some of its own infrastructure, Locke said, the City reached out to NL Power to see if the company was interested in upgrading its own infrastructure in the area as well, rather than having to come back down the road and dig into the road once again.

In response, the City received a quote acceptance form, allowing an on-site technician from NL Power to be on standby during the work while the City comes close or adjacent to the utility’s equipment.

That form, Locke explained, allowed for a technician to be on site during trenching at a standby rate of $103.50 per hour, with the overtime standby rate reaching $139.45 per hour.

The contract schedule estimates about 40-days at 10-hours per day, coming to a lump sum estimate of $43,000, plus HST.

“This is the upper limit of what it could cost if the technician was on site for the full 40-days, but we don’t anticipate that,” Locke clarified. “It’s just, when we’re doing work in the area and we come upon their underground services, or if they’re there doing work on their own services, it’s at those times that this technician would be required to be on site. But, this is the limit of what would be expected if they were there every day.”

Locke recommended approval of the agreement, with Mayor Dave Aker stating he saw it as a good thing.

Councillor Bill Antle, however, had some concerns.

“They’re going to charge us $103 an hour just to stand by in case something goes wrong, is that how that works?” Antle asked.

It was actually Gerry Antle, the City’s Director of Infrastructure and Public Works, who came with an answer.

The director said while it was technically a standby rate, the technician would be there and expected to do inspection services for work on the infrastructure that the City does not have the expertise to do.

Director Antle added that, if during the inspections, NL Power finds more work for them to do, it will not fall back to the City to pay for it.

“The infrastructure piece that’s being done on Badcock Place is being done through our contractor,” he said, “Newfoundland Power is just providing the materials. So all the materials, the conduit, and all of the connections are being done by Newfoundland Power.”

Director Antle said when the City is doing work on its streets and need to call NL Power, it is because the work is being done on the company’s services and the City does not get charged.

Councillor Antle, meanwhile, welcomed the infrastructure work getting under way. He said he was simply skeptical about how it was being done.

Director Antle also stated that while the City will be upgrading NL Power services along the way, it is actually something that would have been done far into the future if NL Power were to simply follow their own schedule, and had the City not reached out before starting the work along Badcock Place.

“This is upgrading ahead of time,” he added. “We’ve asked for it to be done and coordinated with our work. So, it’s our cost.”

The motion to approve Locke’s motion carried unanimously.

O'Donel staff making a trek for a good cause

By Chris Lewis | May 27, 2021

These Mount Pearl teachers are trekking across the province - virtually.

Staff at O’Donel High School in Mount Pearl are doing what they can to raise money for a good cause, and are using a map of the province to do it.

Back in April, the staff were dealing with the same uncertainties faced by many in the province as the population scrambled in the face of a global pandemic.

Science teacher Joanne Power said they wanted to take on some kind of outdoor challenge. It was not uncommon for staff to go for walks on a daily basis, with some even tracking their mileage as they went along. Power said once they were introduced to the Candlelighters, the idea for a project started to blossom.

Candlelighters NL fundraises to improve the lives of children living with cancer.

After learning about the organization’s Camp Delight, Power said they knew this was where they wanted their efforts to go.

Now, the 20 or so teachers and other staff, are taking their mileage from their walks throughout the week and counting it up to see just how far they all would have gone on the map of the province. As of Friday, May 21, the group had managed to travel enough kilometres to cross the entirety of Newfoundland and to have just arrived in Labrador.

“We have a map of Newfoundland and Labrador in our main entrance, so every week our staff keep track of their kilometres, and every Saturday we tally them up,” Power said. “We started in St. John’s, and in the first week we got as far as South Brook … We’re almost in Lodge Bay now.”

Along the way, staff have been collecting funds to donate to Candlelighters NL and Camp Delight. As of Friday, they had collected around $1,900 through various fundraising efforts made by students, as well as through a direct link where people can donate directly to Candlelighters NL.

Teacher Ashley Clements noted there have been a couple of students at O’Donel who had gone through the Camp Delight program in the past, and the organization has always had a good relationship with the school; the decision to lend them a helping hand with this project was an easy one, she said.

“We really like to get involved with our community,” Clements said.

The project started on May 1, and staff hope to see it carry right on through until the end of the month, at which point they hope to have reached the other end of Labrador.

“The kids on our student council have been wanting to collect from fellow students, too. Like a loonie drive or something like that,” Clements added, noting that although there is no monetary goal with this project, they simply hope to help Candlelighters NL as much as possible.

The teachers are pleased to see such a positive reception for the project.

“It’s been fantastic, and I know everyone involved is really excited about this,” Power said. “Of course, these are much needed funds. Especially during COVID-19, when some of their fundraising opportunities have been lost because of that.”

The excitement in the project is felt across the school, with Clements adding there is usually a flock of people behind her when she goes to update the provincial map in the lobby.

Anyone looking to donate to the cause can find a direct link on the school’s website and social media platforms, where money is sent directly to Candlelighters NL.

Andie Winsor's 'Sonderless' takes senior music prize

By Chris Lewis | May 20, 2021

Music has long been a staple in the life of Andie Winsor of Mount Pearl who was recently recognized by the province’s Arts and Letters Awards Program for a three-part composition titled, ‘Sonderless.’

It’s not the first award for Winsor, who nevertheless said this latest recognition is an honour.

‘Sonderless’ won in the Senior Music category and netted as prize of $1,000.

Winsor is in the third year of a music degree at Queens University, and is an acoustic composition major.

Three piano miniatures are familiar territory for Winsor, who grew up playing the piano.

“I started exploring different styles of piano composition,” said Winsor. “The first miniature explores minor seconds and some kind of crunchy sounds, but the second one is more impressionistic. It’s more tonal, and easier to grasp, I guess. The third one is kind of a minimalist piece that uses six or seven notes that repeat again and again. It mostly focuses on articulation – how loud you play the note, how fast, how short or long – or if it’s for the full duration of the beat. It focuses on all of that to try and make the piece come together.”

Winsor admitted being nervous about applying to music school, fearing the long hours of study would ruin the idea of music and composition. But the experience has been just the opposite.

Winsor said music lets people express themselves without having to resort to words.

As a non-binary person, this was something Winsor found especially helpful in exploring.

“This piece showed me that I can do just that,” Winsor said. “It helped me kind of show who I am through nothing but sound. By composing and putting my art out there, I think it may be helpful for other trans people to see how they too can just go out and do what they love to do, be open about who they are, and be successful all at the same time.”

To see your name and work recognized provincially is something that makes you appreciative on a deep level, Winsor said. A musician’s confidence can vary at times, Winsor admitted.

“I don’t necessarily need awards to be confident in what I do,” Winsor said. “I think after composing those three miniatures, even before winning the award, I felt confident about them and felt like I had accomplished something. But to be recognized, that was such a compliment and such an honour.”

Winsor said there is also value in trying for awards, even if you don’t win.

“That way, they give you critiques on your work: what didn’t translate and what did which is always good to be able to see for any artist,” Winsor said.

Lower the speed limits, says Locke

By Chris Lewis | May 20, 2021

The crosswalk concerns of Mount Pearl residents are being heard, says city council.

Councillor Isabelle Fry raised the issue at Tuesday’s meeting, including a report of a close call involving a young boy and an oncoming vehicle at a crosswalk on Park Avenue.

That particular incident had sparked a petition.

Deputy Mayor Jim Locke said while the danger at some crosswalks can certainly be partly attributed to faded road lines in the spring, the bulk of the responsibility falls on drivers and pedestrians alike, and their individual levels of awareness.

“We have to realize that everyone takes responsibility here for this,” Locke said, noting traffic has increased significantly since the Team Gushue Highway opened and filtered mor traffic through the city.

Locke said traffic and speeding have been major concerns every election he’s been involved in. What he would like to see, he added, is a strategy to deal with speed limits along the city’s roadways, something that has been discussed at the committee level from time to time. Locke referenced a book, Vision 0, which outlines strategies for reducing pedestrian fatalities to zero.

“All the research with show that at certain speeds, like 40-kilometres an hour, if there’s a collision with a pedestrian, the survival rate is considerably high for the pedestrian,” Locke explained. “But as soon as you go up to 50-kilometres an hour, then your chance of survival drops significantly.”

Locke said the roads in Mount Pearl were never designed with pedestrians in mind, instead making vehicular traffic a priority. Vision 0, he said, introduces a new way of thinking where right of way is shared with pedestrians.

“I just wanted to throw it out there to let residents know (the concerns) are not falling on deaf ears,” Locke said. “We still have to look at the speed limits in our city. When you reduce the speed, the fatalities from pedestrian collisions go way down.”

The City’s Municipal Enforcement Superintendent, Blair Tilley, said the city faces more pedestrian traffic related issues this time of year.

“The enforcement team is out on a regular basis,” he said, adding it is an offence under the province’s Highway Traffic Act to not yield to a pedestrian who is in the crosswalk. “Those things are very important and are taken very seriously by our team, as well as the RNC.”

Councillor Bill Antle agreed with Locke’s notions, allowing that when the City lowers speed limits, the problem will be fixed.

Antle said many of the calls he receives about the issue ask why speed bumps are not more common.

Mayor Dave Aker, too, said lower speed limits would at the very least reduce fatalities even if it is not an immediate cure-all. He reckoned such a change would require major investments, as well as increased enforcement.

Locke said the speed bump is often the basis of many calls for action from residents in any municipality when it comes to speed issues, but the research does not support their usefulness.

“If you’ve got people coming into your municipality who is unfamiliar with where a speed bump is, that could also result in an accident,” Locke said. “They can contribute to accidents, so there’s issues with speed bumps. They are not the panacea cure-all. They may work in some areas, but I would not support putting them on, for example, Commonwealth Avenue. That would be like putting them on the Outer Ring Road to try to slow people down. The science says there are measures out there to manage traffic effectively. Part of that is the speed… There’s no reason - in my opinion - why any residential street should have a speed of 40 or 50 kilometres an hour. There’s no reason why anyone should be going 40 while coming up my street in Mount Pearl to get out onto Smallwood Drive Extension … I want residents to know we’re not ignoring this. It’s a complex issue that requires investigation.”

Locke recommended discussing lower speed limits at the committee level, though there was no motion to do that.

Fry, however, suggested she might support that plan.

“The reality is, if you have a speed limit of 40, people are going to go 50. If you have a speed limit of 50, people are going to go 60. So, I absolutely support reducing the speed limit,” she said.

New bus shelter slated for Park Avenue

By Chris Lewis | May 6, 2021

Mount Pearl transit riders will soon benefit from having another bus shelter.

Over the last year, the City of Mount Pearl has installed three repurposed Metrobus shelters around the city: at Smallwood Drive, Old Placentia Road, and Ruth Avenue.

The City also made plans in its 2021 budget for the installation of an additional shelter to be purchased and installed.

“The crew has installed some solar panels into those shelters,” Deputy Mayor Jim Locke reported to council on Tuesday. “They’re a great addition to our city for our bus riders.”

Regarding this most recent shelter that is in the works, Locke said the City looked into a number of potential locations. These were all determined through staff observations, with the final vote going to a spot on Park Avenue.

“There seems to be a cluster, or a high concentration of users in that area,” Locke said.

The cost associated with this purchase, including materials and labour, came within the range of about $10,000.

“We have funding available in the 2021 budget,” Locke said.

Although this discussion came before council, Mayor Dave Aker said it did not need a motion.

“The consensus has been there, and I don’t get the idea that anyone is going to ask you to re-locate it. I think we’re good,” Aker said.

Mount Pearl boy wishes upon a note, piles up donations

By Chris Lewis | May 6, 2021

A Mount Pearl boy is putting his talents towards a good cause, again.

Alex Taylor, a 12-year-old Mount Pearl Intermediate student, is an avid musician. Often seen with a guitar in hand, Taylor’s love of music has recently turned into an ongoing donation to Make-A-Wish Canada.

Taylor has been involved in music for some seven years now, since he was only five-years-old. He says he likes to play a variety of music, but the genre that keeps his interest burning is one that can be seen and heard in just about every corner of the province: traditional Newfoundland tunes.

Although his instrument of choice is a guitar, Taylor’s interest in the province’s music scene has led to him picking up other instruments such as the accordion, piano, and most recently the banjo.

Taylor said his love of music is simple: he likes to play it and to listen to it, and that is all there is to it.

“I grew up around Newfoundland music, so that’s what I’m into mostly,” he said.

This passion for tunes is the basis of his most recent endeavour: a virtual concert, and an attempt to raise money for those who are less fortunate than himself.

‘Wish Upon a Note’ is the name Taylor gave to his concert, which was livestreamed to his Facebook page on Saturday night, May 1st.

“I wanted to do it for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and critically ill children, who should be able to have their wish granted,” Taylor said. “I know there are critically ill children out there who are not doing as well during this pandemic. There’s a lot of things going on right now; some people can’t see their family, can’t see their friends. It’s worse for certain people because of their immune systems, and I knew I could help them this way.”

Taylor’s concert, which saw him perform in his living room a number of songs Newfoundlanders would likely be familiar with, came with a monetary goal of $500 to be donated to the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

As of the following Monday, May 3, Taylor’s fundraiser had surpassed the halfway mark with $275, but is still an ongoing thing, he said.

Taylor’s fundraiser can be accessed via his facebook page, “Alex Taylor (Musician)” where a recording of his show can still be viewed, along with a donation link for anyone wanting to contribute.

“I think it went well; it was just me playing some songs like ‘Mussels in the Corner’ on my accordion, I did ‘Grey Foggy Day.’ Some things like that,” he said.

Although a virtual concert was a fun idea given the circumstances, Taylor said he is especially looking forward to a day when people can get together and enjoy live music performances again.

In that same breath, the young musician is hoping to turn this one event into an annual one, where he will host concerts – virtually or otherwise – to help raise funds for important local causes like the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Humble achievers

By Chris Lewis | April 8, 2021

The head of one of Mount Pearl’s oldest law firms was among the business leaders recognized at the Mount Pearl – Paradise Chamber of Commerce’s Best in Business Awards last week.

Some 10 different awards given out during the event.

Among them were two proud Mount Pearl residents: Kayla Wells and William

The Community Impact award for Mount Pearl went to Coleman’s Supermarket, while the Paradise version of the award went to Get Messy NL.

Landwash Brewery claimed the Best New Business Award, while the Innovation Award went to Kids Help Phone. Flowers with Special Touch won the Resilience award. The Communications/Marketing award was accorded to Heave Away Waste Management. The Outstanding Business Award for companies with 15 or less employees went to Rocket Bakery. The Outstanding Business Award for a firm with more than 15 employees went to BELFOR Property Restoration.

This was not the first time William Kennedy of William S. Kennedy Law Office was presented with an award, this one was a little more special – the Directors’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.

The law firm can trace its roots in Mount Pearl back to the 1970s, under the name Mercer Spracklin Haywood. The firm played an instrumental role in Mount Pearl’s evolution from a town to a city and Kennedy was there as both a participant and an observer.

“We’ve been here a long time under various names,” Kennedy said of the firm’s deep history. “After a while, you get to know the local people, especially your body of clientele. We’ve always been reasonably active in the community, and people began to recognize us. They started coming here. Once you have your stream of business, you have no reason to leave. So, we stayed.”

While he was happy to learn he was receiving the award, Kennedy said like most other recipients, he didn’t get into his industry for recognition.

“We represented the City of Mount Pearl for a lot of years – over 30, actually,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy’s firm received the Best in Business award by the Chamber back in 2007 and the Norm Carr award in 2001.

“I certainly wasn’t aware that I had been nominated for anything (this year), so to receive that accolade, well, it’s great,” Kennedy said of the latest honour. “It’s a great feeling to be recognized by people that you’ve known and worked with for a long time.”

That sense of humility was shared by another of the evening’s winners, Kayla Wells of Karma’s Kreations in Mount Pearl, who was named the Outstanding Employee Award winner.

“It feels so good to be recognized like that, and to see all the nice messages from people that have been coming in since,” Wells said. “You don’t really think about that kind of thing when you’re working, but it really does feel great, especially when you’re working for a small, local business like this. This is a first for me. I’m shocked.”

Karma’s Kreations specializes in custom athletic wear, with a sister company called Mama Bear Designs with a focus on customized giftware. Wells and her colleagues had spent a part of the day watching the awards live online, and celebrating when Wells’ name was announced.

Mount Pearl is not Wells’ original hometown. She moved to the Pearl about a decade ago and now wouldn’t live anywhere else.  

“I love Mount Pearl, I find it’s almost a little bit like it is around the bay, where I’m from,” Wells said. “It’s close to St. John’s, but the people here are so nice to each other, just like they are out in the bay. I love it here.”

Busy year for public works

By Chris Lewis | April 8, 2021

Deputy Mayor Jim Locke is pleased with the work being done by the City’s public works staff in the face of challenges posed by an unprecedented year.

“Despite COVID-19 and everything that’s been thrown at us, our staff hasn’t skipped a beat,” Locke said Tuesday. “There’s tenders being awarded, and tenders soon to go out, and other work being planned.”

Among the projects being undertaken are crack sealing, materials testing, street marking, laying of the St. David’s Avenue project’s top layer of asphalt, work on the Glacier Arena’s HVAC system, and street upgrades on Badcock Place.

As for some tenders that are waiting to be finalized, Locke said the St. David’s Park accessible playground work will get underway sooner rather than later.

“We had to get an easement finalized with Newfoundland Power,” Locke explained. “Then, on April 12th we’re going to review the package and we’re hoping to get it to tender by the week of April 19.”

The Kenmount Hill and Topsail Road storm outlet upgrades will be tendered the same week. City Hall is also on the list for roof and heating ventilation upgrades.

“A lot of work planned. We’re going to have a busy construction season, so that’s great to see,” Locke said.