Rotarians Windsor and Roche to be honoured for efforts to preserve Waterford River

By Craig Westcott/November 9, 2022

The Rotary Club of Waterford Valley will hold a special ceremony this month to name two bridges spanning the river that bears the club's name in honour of past members who were instrumental in caring for the waterway and developing the trail along its banks.

The ceremony, which, which is open to the public, will dedicate one bridge in memory of long-time provincial cabinet minister and Mount Pearl MHA Neil Windsor and the other in honour of former Fisheries Products International executive and provincial deputy minister Sandy Roche. Both men were charter members of the club. Plaques will be placed near the bridges thanking the men for their service.

After the ceremony there will be a reception at Smitty's Restaurant in Merchant Square.

Rotarian Bob Parsons said the club has been working on the cleanup of the Waterford River and the improvement of its linear park trail for years.

"We're over 30 years working on that," agreed fellow Rotarian Bob LeDrew. 

"We're custodians of the river from St. John's harbour right to Paradise," said Parsons.

Both LeDrew and Parsons are former past presidents of the club and remember the late Neil Windsor and late Sandy Roche very well.

Roche was instrumental in bringing the three municipalities through which the river runs – Paradise, Mount Pearl and St. John's – together to work on its protection, said Parsons. 

"In addition to the (naming of the) two bridges, we have story boards being fabricated," said LeDrew. "There are three of them that are going to be installed, one in St. John’s at Bowring Park, another one in Paradise at Shelby Street, and one in Mount Pearl at Twin Falls."

The one in Paradise, off Shelby Street, will be near Neville's Pond.

"That's where the Waterford River starts," said Parsons. "It's the headwaters, that and Bremigan's Pond in the (Paradise) industrial park. Everything west of that runs the other way down to Octagon Pond and towards the ocean."

Not only is the Waterford a beautiful river, said LeDrew, but it also contains one of the finest breeds of brown trout in North America. "And not everybody understands or knows about it," he said. "That's what we're trying to do with these storyboards, tell the story of a river."

The storyboards, which won't be ready for a while yet and will be unveiled at a later ceremony, will also be dedicated to the memory of Roche, Parsons noted.

"Sandy was the guy in our club who brought the three municipalities together and spearheaded a study on the whole river," Parsons said. "We've been looking after the river now for years, but Sandy was the one who 'did it,' we'll say."

Friends and Lobbyists of the Waterford River (FLOW) also deserve credit, Parsons said, for helping to preserve and protect the waterway. And so do the three municipalities, he added, for staging cleanups every year along the river.

"You'd be surprised at the number of businesses along Topsail Road that were just dumping stuff into that river year after year after year," said LeDrew. "But for the last 20 years, there has been a great concentration on making them aware and some of the owners of those businesses have really come on side and cleaned up their act, and it's wonderful. There's been tremendous support. And a lot of the money that we have to have these plaques made came as a result of donations that a lot of those businesses made, especially after Sandy passed away. In his memory they made donations to us, which we're very grateful for."

Windsor, meanwhile, was instrumental in securing government funding over the years for much of the trail infrastructure that has gone into the linear park alongside the river, Parsons said. "There are five bridges in there and a trail. We had that constructed over the years and used to hire students and they would do all the work and we would have an engineer from our club look after it," he said. 

"This was over a period of years," said LeDrew. "It took a long time. We'd get these grants, and we'd have to administer them and hire and pay staff."

These days, the Grand Concourse Authority is looking after much of the work, at the behest of the club. It's the Grand Concourse that has been hired to assemble and install the storyboards.  LeDrew said the Authority is doing a wonderful job. 

"They're doing it at cost... and it's going to be there for a long time," added Parsons. "I think it's an important thing that people should know about it."

LeDrew agreed, noting the river is an unappreciated regional jewel.

"Oh my God, it's an absolutely gorgeous river, there's no doubt about it,” LeDrew said. "And it's so underutilized, because it's unpublicized."

The November 28 ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the bridge just off Dunns Lane near the former Chateau Park in Mount Pearl and will include members of the Windsor and Roche families as well as invited guests.

Legion Members were out in full force across Canada last week manning Poppy stations in the lead up to Remembrance Day. At Sobey’s in Mount Pearl, former Branch 36 president and retired Canadian navy member Melvin Heath, left, and volunteer Hedy Giangrande offered warm smiles as well as Poppies to the members of the public who stopped by their stand. Craig Westcott photo

Mount Pearl approves contractor for traffic control services

By Mark Squibb/November 4, 2022

The City of Mount Pearl has locked in traffic control services for quite some time to come.

At a meeting last month, council, pending the bidder’s provision of the additional required $1,812 in security, agreed to award the contract for traffic control services to the lowest qualified bidder, Black & McDonald Limited, in the amount of $138,971 annually, HST included. The cost is within the current year’s operating budget and will be budgeted for in the coming years operating budgets.

That motion was moved by Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley and seconded by councillor Jeff Locke.

In a follow up e-mail, City staff explained the amount payable on a year-to-year basis will vary slightly because, while there are several fixed-services outlined within the scope of work, there are some variable services that will be utilized on an as required basis depending on specific requirements that may be presented at any time.

Fixed services, as per the contract, include 24-hour, 7-day-a-week, 365-day per year guaranteed response for the repair of traffic signals or other roadway electrical malfunctions including a maximum 1-hour response to arrive on site for emergency calls, modifications and additions to existing roadway electrical installations, detector loop installations, including coordination with other construction contractors, crosswalk lighting maintenance, installation, repair and maintenance of uninterruptable power systems for traffic signals, and more.

The contract was awarded for a three-year period, with option to extend by one year.

City to install new catch basin on Jacqueline Road

The City of Mount Pearl has given the go-ahead for construction of a new catch basin along Jacqueline Road.

“As part of the current 2022 Asphalt and Concrete contract, the City requested a quote from the contractor on this project, Modern Paving, to install a new catch basin and associated material on Jacqueline Road,” explained councillor Mark Rice during this week’s public meeting.

The Planning, Engineering and Development Committee recommended that council approve proceeding with the work, which comes at a cost of $17,710, HST included.

“Please note that this amount can be accounted for under the previously approved Change Order #1, which provided an additional $50,000 allowance for the project,” added Rice.

That change order, which was to allow for slight modifications to contract quantities throughout the operation of the contract, was approved during an October 4 public meeting.

The original contract, valued at $270,129, HST Included, was awarded during a public meeting on July 26.

Mount Pearl finds work around for parts delay

By Mark Squibb/October 28, 2022

Mount Pearl council has approved a change order to ensure the chamber’s audio and video equipment is upgraded in a timely manner.

Council had initially awarded the contract for the improvements to Tucker Electronics in the amount of $75,118, HST included, back in July.

At last week’s meeting, council approved a change order to switch out three of the components with parts from another manufacturer due to delivery issues. The change order came at a cost of $5,707, plus HST.

“This project is an effort to really reduce limitations of our existing technology,” said Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley. “We’re really looking forward to this, and to ensuring that we have operating software and equipment that allows seamless in-person and digital delivery of our council meetings. I would also endeavour to point out that this is important when we think about inclusion and access to as many as we can, and engagement, as we move into the digital era.”

She noted council issued a request for proposals in the spring to upgrade the aging audio and visual equipment in the chambers but was later advised that a delay in parts would extend the completion into July of 2023.

The motion to switch out the parts passed unanimously.

The upgrades are expected to be completed in January.

Remembrance Day run being organized by neighbouring clubs

Paradise and Mount Pearl runners will be hitting the trail come Remembrance Day in honour of veterans.

On November 11, the Paradise Running Club and Stride Running NL will host the Run to Remember to honour and mark the sacrifice of those who have fallen in service of their country; and to acknowledge the courage of those who still serve.

The 11km trail run will begin with a few words from the Royal Canadian Legion, a three-person flag party from 807 Mount Pearl Air Cadet Squadron, and a moment of silence.

“This event is the running community’s way to pay tribute to the men and women serving in Canada’s armed forces who sacrifice so much on our behalf,” said Carrie Hyde, president of the Paradise Running Club. “It’s because of their selfless service that we’re free to run in our communities and enjoy peaceful lives.

The run will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the west side of the trailway access at Commonwealth Avenue. For more information, visit paradiserunningclub.com or striderunningnl.ca.