City Days, other big events returning to the Pearl this summer

By Mark Squibb/May 26, 2022

The City of Mount Pearl is bookending July with two big celebrations.

The City will kick off the month with Canada Day celebrations on July 1.

“For the information of the public, plans for the annual Canada Day celebrations are underway,” councillor Chelsea Lane announced during the May 17 public council meeting. “After the past few years of not being able to have this celebration, I think I can speak for all of us and say that we are so excited.”

Further details will soon be made public, though Lane did note that the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 36 memorial ceremony and parade will go ahead, and that the City’s Family Celebration, with entertainment by The Fables, will also happen.

Next, councillor Bill Antle informed council that City Days celebrations will indeed be going ahead this year as well, running from July 21 until July 24. The festivities will begin with A Best in Mount Pearl Awards Night on the 21st. Other activities include an outdoor family movie, princess and superhero breakfast, block party, family art class, music concerts, a multicultural community market and more. The Great Benjamin Circus and Thomas Amusements will also be in town for the weekend.

Antle allowed he may not attend the early morning yoga session, though he is looking forward to helping with the Council Cook Up, where he promised councillor Isabelle Fry would be ‘frying’ burgers for all.

Like with Canada Day celebrations, more information will be made available in the coming weeks.

Mayor Dave Aker noted that one event in particular, the Rock the Pearl Concert, was being put off with Come Home Year funding.

Mount Pearl man among graduates of Royal Military College

Among the graduates of Canada’s Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario this week is Mount Pearl native Patrick Breen, who is now a 2nd Lieutenant in the Canadian Forces.

Breen successfully graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering to pursue a career as an Air Combat Systems Officer.

“I am grateful to those who mentored me during my formative years in Mount Pearl,” Breen said. “It meant a lot to have the support of my community on this path. Today, I am proud to have graduated from RMC, and I am humbled by the courage and virtue of my comrades here. I am filled with hope for the future.”

Breen was among some 270 students who completed a challenging academic program while meeting the highest military standards, and, according to Public Affairs Officer Capt. Jonathan Farlam, “is now well equipped to lead and excel in the profession of arms in the service of Canada.”

RMC graduates invest hundreds of hours in military training, all aimed at honing the skills needed in their coming careers as leaders, Farlam added. “The physical fitness training program develops lifelong health habits and skills and nurtures a sense of camaraderie and competition, while the language training brings graduates to a functional level in both French and English. No other program develops young adults in such a comprehensive way.”

The Royal Military College offers undergraduate programs in the Social Sciences, the Humanities, Science and Engineering in both official languages.

Mount Pearl pushing compost bins again

By Patrick Newhook/May 12, 2022

Mount Pearl City Council is encouraging people to become more eco-friendly when it comes to how they deal with their garbage.

 In June 2021 Mount Pearl, in association with the Multi Materials Stewardship Board, started a Backyard Composting Pilot Program.

The program aimed to reduce waste and collect information on waste diversion by offering interested residents two composting bins.

“In 2021, program results showed that 15 of 25 reporting participants were able to divert over 1,150 pounds of waste from the landfill, an average of 77 pounds per participant,” reads the media release.

 The program lasted from June to September. After the initial success the city is bringing it back for 2022.

 This year there will be different options for people interested, a standard bin is $25 and a tumbler bin is $50. According to the release ‘that fee will be reimbursed at the conclusion of the pilot for any participant who fully completes their program obligations during the reporting period.’

 The new program will also increase participants from 25 in 2021 to 50 in 2022. The selected members will also get a virtual course that will help guide them through the program.  Interested residents can sign up at the City’s website.

Junior Female Athlete of the Year

Hannah Neville of Mount Pearl Intermediate is presented her award By Paradise Councillor Deborah Quilty

Junior Male Athlete of the Year

Liam Fowler of Mount Pearl Senior High was presented his award by Paradise Councillor Patrick Martin

City hoping for big crowd at cleanup blitz

By Patrick Newhook/May 5, 2022

Mount Pearl Council is pulling up its sleeves and getting its hands dirty as it plans to clean up the Waterford River.

On May 3, Mount Pearl City Council held it’s first meeting of the month, with a key take away being the Community Development Committee Report.

The report is a culmination of multiple Community Development Committee meetings that outlines multiple suggestions that were discussed during the latest council meeting.

One of the biggest parts was the 20 Minute Makeover/Waterford River Clean Up. Councilor Chelsea Lane presented the Clean-up.

“The City welcomes the 2022 Annual 20 Minute Makeover and Waterford River Clean up on Saturday, June 4. This long-standing annual event brings volunteers including businesses, residents and community groups together to help pick up litter and small debris in Power’s Pond, along the Waterford River banks and throughout the city,” said Lane.

Newfoundland and Labrador is know across the country for it’s scenic beauty, however, there’s a well-known secret that reveals itself every spring, the build up of litter. When spring arrives and the snow melts it reveals a build up of litter across the province, marring the natural beauty of the land.

Every year towns need to work together to clean up the province. Mount Pearl has annually had clean ups to help beautify the city.

“This is something that is so important and it’s so great that we have this in Mount Pearl because many hands make light work,” said Lane.

Councilor Jim Locke said he’s glad the city is bringing back a dedicated day to pick up the garbage, and noted this will be an effective way to help get the trash out of the city.

“I’m delighted to see this here that we’ve had a dedicated day because when we started this many years ago, we always had a day, a big rallying day, we’d meet at the Reid Centre or another location and you get different groups out, different organizations out and it was a real blitz on that day and then we sort of fell away from having a dedicated day,” said Locke. “I’m glad that we got this back because we can continue with the ongoing summer clean up… It’s not just limited to this day, but if we can get a couple of hundred people out on this day and direct them towards heavily garbaged areas it really, really has an impact.”

City allots funds for pavement repairs

By Patrick Newhook/May 5, 2022

Mount Pearl City Council crunched down and debated the costs Tuesday of fixing cracks in public streets.

With spring here and summer just around the corner, municipalities across the province are beginning to discuss their roads and how they will, if they can, go about repairing them.

Councillor Mark Rice, who chairs council’s infrastructure and public works committee, broached the subject as part of his committee’s report.

“The Committee was advised that the tender for the 2022 Asphalt Crack Sealing (tender) closed on March 10 and one bid was received. The qualified bidder was Crown Contracting Inc., with the amount of $52,325 HST included,” said Rice.

Councilor Jim Locke allowed that while Newfoundland experienced less frost this past winter, he has noticed more cracks then before. He asked if the amount budgeted will be enough to address the problem.

“I know each year we budget amounts, in this case it’s over $52,000,” Locke said. “Is that an amount that we figure will get all of the significant cracks done in the city? Are we aiming for 80 per cent of the major cracks, is this adequate to sealing what we need to be sealing because I’m sure that we did the assessment prior to this particular up and down in our temperatures. I’m just curious, first of all do we have more cracks, and secondly might we need more crack sealing given the winter that we had.”

Director of infrastructure Gerry Antle responded by saying that while the City doesn’t measure the cracks, its does budget for their repair. He also pointed out there are a lot of variables involved when it comes to the way pavement splits over the winter and spring.

“We don’t measure the cracks in the city because it can be such an expensive proposition just to measure them,” Antle said. “We spend our effort on the crack sealing work and then we have a budget that council approves on our asphalt and concrete and we move that around. It’s highly variable for us to measure how much crack sealing we need in a given year.”

Councilor Bill Antle noted there was only one company to make a bid and asked if that was normal. He also asked if the $52,000 was comparable to last year.

Director Antle responded by saying there just aren’t that many companies in this line of work.

“Different years we estimate different amounts,” he added. “This year is within what we estimated what the cost would have been… It’s higher than previous years. That’s what we expect is a reflection of asphalt (costs) and particularly oil prices.”

The motion to award the work to Crown Contracting passed unanimously.