Soccer Association recognizes 2021's best of the best

By Mark Squibb/December 16, 2021

The Mount Pearl Soccer Association (MPSA) hosted its annual awards ceremony this past month, and honoured a number of players, coaches, and volunteers who do their part to make the beautiful game a better game for all.

Marsha Ransome was named Executive of the Year. Ransome is the MPSA Board of Director’s secretary and serves on a number of MPSA committees, and helps connect parents with board members when the need arises.

Cathy Snelgrove and Dean Banks were named Coaches of the Year. Snelgrove and Banks coached the Boys Under 13 Metro tier 1 Sunsplash Division Champions and the Metro BU13 tier 1 League Champions. Both worked with boys on and off the field to better their game.

Colin Dyer was named both the Youth Player of the Year and Official of the Year. Dyer played with the NLSA Boys Under 15 provincial team, and was picked to participate in the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy with NLSA. He played weekly with the Canada Game soccer training pool, and was named captain of the MPSA Premier Youth League BU15 team, amongst other achievements and volunteer work.

Baileigh Andrews was named Youth Female Player. Andrews was co-captain of the MPSA Girls Under 13 Premier Youth League team, and was a member of the NLSA GU13 team. Andrews was also the first female player from MPSA to earn a spot in the Junior Prospects Whitecaps Program. Andrews also plays basketball and hockey.

Russell Noseworthy was named the Senior Male Player of the Year, while Beth Tremblett was named Senior Female Player of the Year.

Noseworthy returned to MPSA after a six-year break from soccer, but quickly found his feet again playing with the MPSA Men’s Masters Team, who greatly appreciate his scoring prowess. Tremblett, meanwhile, has been playing with the MPSA for the past three years. She played on the recently formed Ladies Intermediate squad. Off the field, Tremblett helped recruit a number of members.

The BU15 team, coached by Andrew Moyst, was awarded the title of Team of the Year.

The team placed first overall in the BU15 Premiere Youth League, and nine players on the team played on provincial teams. Off the field, the boys donated to the Salvation Army food drive and Frosty Festival Food Drive, participated in the City of Mount Pearl’s 20 Minute Makeover, and hosted skills camps for kids 6-12, donating $1,000 in proceeds to First Light NL.  

And last but not least, Jonathan ‘Jonny’ Andrews was named the Volunteer of the Year. Andrews, the current MPSA Senior Director, can often be found at the field coaching, mending nets, or watching his three girls play ball.

City's $52.2 million budget aims for residential growth

By Patrick Newhook/December 16, 2021

While revenues are expected to decrease slightly, the mil rate will stay the same for residents and businesses in Mount Pearl.  

That was a key point of the $52.2 million plan that was presented by finance committee chairman Jim Locke on December 14. 

Mayor Dave Aker said despite the difficulties COVID-19 has caused, the city is committed to moving forward. 

“We’ve faced tough decisions in this budget process to find savings that enable our city to manage expenses while also guaranteeing our residents and businesses continue to receive the premier municipal services they are used to,” said Aker. “Council recognizes how we have all been impacted by the pandemic, and Budget 2022 focuses on living in a post-pandemic reality, with ignited determination to propel our city into a prosperous future.”  

The budget projects the city’s revenues to go down by $139,000 in 2022. Mayor Aker said that’s due to lower property assessments.

“One of the reasons that the revenue is down for this coming year is property assessments were down 2.1 per cent,” he said. “Council could have chosen to raise the mil rate, which would have offset that, however we saw the assessments coming in and we chose to pass on (enacting) a tax increase to the residents and the businesses here in the city of Mount Pearl.”  

Water rates and commercial taxes will also stay the same. 

“The investments and action items found within each of these themes demonstrate that council has clearly heard the message from citizens and the business community,” continued Aker. “They want to grow their businesses and their family while enjoying a comprehensive lifestyle that includes a full suite of services and opportunities. The City supports these values by delivering first class municipal services as well as community and recreation facilities.”

 One key aspect of Budget 2022 will be community safety, said Locke, during his presentation. The city intends on increasing park patrol coverage, and is dedicating $150,000 to upgrading current surveillance systems. 

The city is also investing $20,000 to look at ways to encourage young people and families to move into the city. Mayor Aker said that in order to keep growing, the city is going to need to curb the aging population trend. 

“We want to somehow, if we can, reverse that trend,” said Aker, “One of the strategy outcomes this year is to start that discussion about how do we go about providing incentives for families to move into Mount Pearl.” 

That move won approval from new councilor Chelsea Lane. “One thing that I am excited to see in this budget is attracting young families and reversing the aging trend,” she said. “This is very important and as a young mother, of course this is something that I can relate to.”

As part of the residential growth strategy, the spending plan includes upgrades to Kenmount Hill and a focus on developing trails and walkways, earmarking some $330,000 towards the City’s 60 plus kilometres of trails.

 The city will also see money flow into modernizing infrastructure, ponying its funds on top of provincial and federal programs. All told, the City is budgeting some $3.5 million on updating and improving infrastructure. Another $100,00 will be allocated towards assessing the condition of its infrastructure.

 Mount Pearl is more fortunate than many municipalities in that it has a large business base to draw upon for commercial taxes. Residential property taxes make up 30 per cent of tax revenue, while business tax comes a close second at 23 per cent and commercial property tax at 16 per cent.

“It’s the mix that we have in the city,” said Aker. “The combination of properties that are the 10,000 houses that are residential versus what we have in the commercial and business side of the city,” he explained. “We’ve always had a healthy commercial tax base in the city, but property versus business is two separate taxes on the commercial side, with our residents you’ve got a property tax and you’ve got a water tax.”

Locke’s motion to accept the motion passed unanimously.

“Budget 2022 is focused on restoring our community roots by enhancing our outreach, programming, and services” said Locke. “This budget competitively positions our city to embrace the future with measured achievable goals that support sustainable growth and development while balancing the best interests of our residents and businesses.”

City approves sole source contract for critical pool unit

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2021

The City of Mount Pearl is paying for some Summit Centre work that has been in the plans since 2020.

“The Summit Centre SERESCO Unit is the main air handling unit for the Summit pools and is critical to pool operations,” said councilor Isabelle Fry. “To ensure its optimal operation, endurance, and reliability, it was deemed necessary that a service agreement be put in place which would have factory trained service technicians who are able to provide regular routine maintenance, inspections and support as well as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts for the Unit. Dehumidified Air Services is the only manufacturer Representative in Canada with factory trained service technicians and OEM parts supplier. So, this is important. The department engaged Dehumidified Air Services to negotiate a new sole-source multi-year service agreement for the Seresco Unit and to evaluate the critical components of the unit, advising of what critical spare parts and components were required.”

The contract cost for the first year is $21,735, HST included, with a 2 per cent increase for each additional contract year. The purchase of the critical spare parts and other components required will cost an additional $23,842, HST Included.

Fry noted the work was anticipated back in 2020 and budgeted for 2021.

She reported to council that the Infrastructure and Public Works Committee recommended a sole-source contract for the initial three-year term, with two 1-year extensions available if mutually agreed upon by both parties.

The motion, seconded by councilor Mark Rice, carried unanimously.

Cool Glacier air means hot savings for Summit Centre

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2021

During last week’s public council meeting week, it was noted that November 10 marked one full year of heating both Summit Centre pools with heat recovered from the Glacier refrigeration plant.

This means the City has not had to use electric heaters to heat the pools for one entire year.

“I think this is phenomenal news,” said councillor Mark Rice, to which mayor Dave Aker agreed. “I would say kudos to all the people who did the work on that area.”

Mayor Dave Aker added to what Rice said by sending congratulations to departments that made the cost saving measure possible.

Councilor Isabelle Fry also had some thoughts on it.

“I just want to add what a big deal this is, to not have to use electric heat to heat our pools, that’s quite a cost savings for the City, and to be able to do it environmentally friendly, that’s really a big deal,” said Fry. “I just wanted everyone to be aware, that for the City to not have to supply an electric heat for an entire year to heat the pool, that’s something that we all should be very, very proud of.”

Councilor Jim Locke then provided some figures to help put the financial savings into context.

“I think savings between November and June were $38,000, so I would anticipate that we’re probably close to $50,000 in financial savings,” said Locke. “But, to the mayor’s point, it’s also about the ecological, the environmental savings. It’s fantastic. It’s great news.”

Council grapples with Metrobus costs, effectiveness of service

By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2021

The City of Mount Pearl is not getting the best ‘bang for their buck’ when it comes to the Metrobus service within the City.

That seemed to be the general consensus after the topic was raised during the November 30 public council meeting.

The discussion began when councilor Jim Locke voted to pay a number of invoices, a motion that is usually made, seconded, and approved without much discussion.

One invoice among those 10 however stood out to councilor Mark Rice — $94,559 to be paid to St. John’s for October’s Metrobus service fees.

“The amount that we’re paying out for those fees monthly, and quarterly, and on an annual basis, is substantial,” said Rice. “I would like to revisit this going forward and see if there are other cost saving measures, or if we could have a conversation with Metrobus and the City of St. John’s to see if the fees could be reduced or even if they could increase their routes. Because we have a lot of people in the City who use this service, and it’s really important to them.”

He noted that costs for services across the board seem to be increasing, and that it’s often taxpayers who have to bear the brunt of those increases.

Councilor Bill Antle said he agreed one hundred percent with Rice.

“We’ve been talking about Metrobus for a while,” said Antle. “For councilor Rice’s benefit, we pay seven dollars a kilometre for Metrobus. And if we look at these routes, on some of these routes there’s not enough riders. I think we need to look at Metrobus as a whole, and what is and what isn’t working for us.”

Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley then spoke to the issue.

“I feel like this is an important topic to talk about as we move forward, around transportation generally, and the effectiveness around what we have, with regards to cost, resources, and what our residents are getting out of our transportation system,” said Kieley. “If people are not utilizing the service, why? Certainly, transportation is necessary throughout any urban area such as Mount Pearl, and as we are looking to attract and encourage young families and diverse individuals and professionals looking at greener opportunities to move around our city, this is a great opportunity. I support councilor Rice’s concerns and certainly councilor’s Antle’s concerns around the cost, and additionally, looking at the effectiveness and maybe even revisiting what exactly residents require from our transportation.”

On the topic of paying for regional services, Antle pointed out the City pays $460,000 roughly a month for fire protection services to the St. John’s Regional Fire Department.

“The residents should know that we do pay our fair share. The fire department costs us about $5 million a year, and it’s going up,” said Antle. “It’s a service that we provide at a cost. So, we do pay our own way with the fire department and Metrobus. It’s important to note that.”

Councilor Isabelle Fry added her thoughts to the mix.

“Public transportation is important to have, and clearly the system we have now isn’t working,” said Fry. “And it comes at a high cost, so I would like to look at this a little further, and see if there is a way to streamline, instead of meandering throughout the entire city, maybe have more direct points of contact.”

Fry said she recently spoke with a resident who frequently rides the Metrobus who suggested that council get on the bus near the Village Mall and travel a route to take note of how many folks use the bus.

Locke said the town did meet with Metrobus some years back to discuss inefficiencies in the Mount Pearl service.

“They had a certain distance that they deemed acceptable for riders and where to place, but we also discussed at our corporate services committee meeting earlier last month at looking at the whole transit system and, to the deputy mayor’s point, are we getting the bang for our buck?”

Locke said previous councils had discussed having an internal busing system within Mount Pearl.

In addition to the monthly service fee, Mount Pearl paid $24,799 for Metrobus accessible services from July to September.

Christmas kicking off Saturday with Lions Parade

Santa Claus will be back in Mount Pearl this Saturday, weather permitting.

The annual Lions Club Christmas Parade is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and wind its way along Ruth Avenue and Park Avenue before ending at Mount Pearl Square.

If the weather is bad, the parade could be rescheduled for 2 p.m the following day.

The City's Christmas Tree lighting is also scheduled for Saturday. Mayor Dave Aker is inviting the public to join council at 6:30 p.m. at St. David's Park for the lighting. 

The event will feature live entertainment, Lane noted.

And finally, the annual Breakfast with Santa has been set for December 18 at the Reid Community Centre from 9 to 11 a.m. Tickets for the event are $5 each and are on sale at the Summit Centre's customer service desk. Tickets are free for children two years old and younger.

Winter parking ban now in effect

By Craig Westcott/December 2, 2021

Every year at this time the members of Mount Pearl council sound almost apologetic about having to bring in the annual Winter parking restrictions.

That's because nearly every year at this time, there is little snow to be found and the weeks leading to Christmas are interspersed with days of mild weather.

But as every Newfoundlander knows, that could change in a blink.

Still, councilors couldn't help sounding just a little hesitant Tuesday as they approved the restrictions for the coming months.

The motion to make the restrictions effective starting Wednesday, December 1, was made by community development committee chairperson Chelsea Lane. They are set to expire March 31, 2022. Violators will be subject to a fine, Lane said.

Under the rules, no vehicle is permitted to be left parked on any street within the city between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., or at any time during a storm and for 12 hours afterwards.

"Any unattended vehicle parked on any street contrary to these regulations may be removed and impounded at the owner's expense," Lane said. "And no person shall shovel, plow, blow or cause to be shoveled, plowed or blown, any residue snow from a driveway or parking lot onto any street, carriageway or sidewalk in this city."

Mayor Dave Aker said the regulations don't mean winter has started, but is simply about winter readiness.

"Sometimes we'll get commentary from some of our residents wondering why on a day like yesterday (Monday), for example when it was 10 degrees and sunny, why would we implement a parking ban?" said the mayor, who then asked director of infrastructure and public works Gerard Antle for a briefing on the City's winter preparations.

"Winter readiness has already started for us," Antle acknowledged. "At public works we have a partial night shift that is in place right now. We have winter supervisors on shift 24/7. In the evening times we will get circumstances now that it's icing, that it's below zero. So, we do have machines operating throughout the evening times as well. This right now is the shoulder season. We don't know when we could get snow. Just a couple of weeks ago the forecast was for five or 10 centimeters and we woke up to find we had 17 centimeters fallen. It's about us being ready and being able to manoeuvre our vehicles, and at this point in time we are ready for winter."

To that, Mayor Aker pointed out that enforcement of the rules can take on one of two different styles, depending on the circumstances.

"There is the soft enforcement as we enter the shoulder season of winter," said Aker. "Might we do it differently in January versus when this gets implemented at midnight tonight?"

"Your Worship, our enforcement team certainly uses judgement when they're patrolling, when they see vehicles and depending on the event, and the time of year," said director of community development, Jason Collins. "A lot of factors are taken into consideration."

Put to a vote, the winter parking restrictions passed unanimously.