Second hike in chlorine price has council’s eyes watering

By Mark Squibb / June 2, 2023

It’s a known fact everything costs more lately, and that includes chlorine as well.

On March 30, Bilroc Industries — the City’s chlorine supplier— said it could no longer supply chlorine at the previously agreed upon price.

“The new chlorine price quoted by Bilroc for 205 litres is $352.60 per unit, which will have an annual increase of $6,673, with a total increase for the remainder of the contract, April to July of 2023, of $2,200,” said councillor Bill Antle.

This is the second price increase since the City awarded Bilroc the contract in 2020, but the recreation and community safety committee recommended accepting it as there was no suitable alternative.

That contract is set to expire on July 31 with an option to extend to July 2024.

The Committee recommended that council go to tender for new pricing in August rather than extend the existing contract.

Councillor Jim Locke, who noted that he supported the motion to approve the price increase, suggested council also investigate an alternative cleaning method that he had heard about at the recent Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Convention.

“One of the communities made mention of a swimming pool, that was an outdoor pool, that was chemical free,” said Locke. “It was naturally filtrated, which I was fascinated with. The water went down through the rocks and the gravel, and they explained the process of how they were able to recycle the water. I just wanted to throw it out there as food for thought, and to maybe take it back to committee. Mount Pearl is known for trying new things and thinking outside the box, and given the annual expenditures for these chemicals, I would be interested in seeing the cost-benefit analysis of this technology that they’re using at this particular community.”

Locke said the option could benefit the City both from a financial and environmental standpoint.

The motion to approve the chlorine price increase passed unanimously.

VOAR gets $5,000 for energy efficient upgrades

By Mark Squibb \ May 26, 2023

The Seventh Day Adventists have received $5,000 from the City of Mount Pearl to help outfit their head office and radio station at 1041 Topsail Road.

The organization had applied to the City’s Energy Efficiency Grant Program.

“This is an incredible program that was just recently introduced in our last budget,” said Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley.

Through the program, businesses can apply for a grant equal to up to 50 percent of the total proposed project cost to a maximum of $5,000 per project.

“The property is currently owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and the Lighthouse VOAR Radio, which is certainly an institution for many listeners throughout the years,” said Kieley. “They are a full non-profit and solely rely on donations and offerings to operate. The new renovations to the building will include full LED lighting which will replace the existing lighting throughout the entire building. All new electrical was also installed and the new equipment and LED lighting will reduce the demand on the power grid. The organization has demonstrated an alignment with the City’s vision to reduce its carbon footprint. This project meets the criteria outlined in the program guidelines.”

Council unanimously approved the grant.

The Mount Pearl Seniors Independence Group celebrate 25 years

The Mount Pearl Seniors Independence Group (MPSIG) celebrated 25 years with a dinner and dance on April 21 at the Reid Community Centre. City councillors and staff, government officials, members and staff of the group were present to celebrate 25 years of serving seniors from Mount Pearl and neighbouring communities. MPSIG is known as the biggest seniors group in Atlantic Canada with 500 members and activities five days a week including Low Impact Aerobics, guitar sessions, darts, Tuesday Friendship, cards, bingo and Rummoli, sewing, knitting, Nia, Crib and much more. The City of Mount Council is their biggest supporter of which the group is forever grateful, said coordinator Georgina Smith. On hand for the event were, starting in the back from left: Councillor Jim Locke, Director of Recreation and Community Safety Jason Collins, Mount Pearl – Southlands MHA Paul Lane, Children Seniors and Social Development Minister John Abbott, MPSIG member Herb Feaver, Councillors Bill Antle and Councillor Isabelle Fry; and in the middle row, from left: Seniors’ Advocate Susan Walsh, Manager of Community Services Programs Sean McKenna, Mount Pearl North MHA Lucy Stoyles, Mayor Dave Aker,  Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley, and MPSIG members Mildred Pretty, Ruth May, and Bill Thomson; and in the front, from left: MPSIG Coordinator Georgina Smith, and members Alice Burke, Agnes Murphy, Shirley Boone, and Mona Chipman.

Impressive cast of talented and altruistic students honoured at annual awards

Alexander Fahey and Grace Lee were named the male and female recipients of the 2023 John Rossiter Memorial Youth of the Year Award during the Focus on Youth banquet and awards ceremony held last week. The City of Mount Pearl hosts the award ceremony annually to honour outstanding young people. From left to right are Mayor Dave Aker, Grace Lee, Alexander Fahey, and Karen Rossiter, sister of the late John Rossiter, for whom the award is named. Mark Squibb photo

By Mark Squibb \ May 26, 2023

The City of Mount Pearl hosted it’s thirty-third annual Focus on Youth Awards show last Wednesday and recognised a number of the city’s accomplished young people.

All told, 14 awards were handed out, recognising the artistry, athleticism, creativity, ingenuity, and character of students.

“A lot of good things happen because of the youth of this city,” said Mayor Dave Aker. He also extended thanks to those who took time to nominate a youth or youth organizations, and those who organized and volunteered to make the awards show a reality.

The first award of the night was for Sport Team of the Year. That award went to the Mount Pearl Soccer Association (MPSA) Girls Under 15 (Tier 2) Soccer Team. It won silver at both the MPSA 50th Anniversary Kick Off Tournament and the Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association’s (NLSA) Girls Under 15 Tier 2 Mega provincial tournament and bronze in the Premiere Youth League (PYL) Girls Under 15 Tier 2 Final PYL Weekend. Many of the girls referee and coach younger teams, and others work with MPSA during the summer months.

The next award, Athlete of the Year, was broken down into a male and female division, and both accolades went to members of the Mount Pearl Marlins Swim Team — Chris Weeks and Kailey Murrin.

Weeks was a member of the national Canada Winter Games team where he won silver medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle and a gold medal in the 50m fly. He holds the record for the fastest 50m fly by any Canadian 18 years old and under. Weeks also won a silver medal at the Eastern Canadian Championships and finished fourth in the 100 m freestyle. He frequently volunteers with the Mini Marlins Swim group.

Murrin, meanwhile, holds three individual provincial records and 20 club records. She has competed in provincial, atlantic, and national competitions, and was one of four students selected to represent the province at the Hicken International Invitational Swim. She has also worked with the Special Olympics and Rainbow Riders.

The STEM Award recognises students proficient in sciences and mathematics. It went to Eric Goulding, a first-year engineering student at Memorial University who completed his first semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA. While a student at Mount Pearl Senior High, Goulding was lead designer for the Underwater Robotics Team “Husky Explorer,” spending 10 hours a week designing the many components for the team’s robot. Goulding has won many awards and accolades and has placed second in the Science Atlantic Mathematics Competition, first in the W.J. Blundon Mathematics Competition, first for MPSH in the University of Waterloo’s Euclid Math Contest and second in the province at the University of Waterloo’s Canadian Computing Competition.

Summer Bennett was awarded the Performing Arts Individual Award. Bennett, a level one student at Mount Pearl Senior High, was recently selected as one of 15 Canadians to attend Honey Jam, in Toronto. She has been awarded music development grants from Factor Canada and Music NL, won a Music NL Newfound Talent Contest, and in May of 2022 released a single, “Carsick,” that has enjoyed great success and earned plaudits. Bennett has recently signed a record deal and hopes to release her first album soon.

The Visual Arts Award went to Argeline Cabral, a level three student at Mount Pearl Senior High. Cabral excels in the school’s Excellence in Art program and was the recent recipient of the Mount Pearl Senior High Creativity Award. Cabral helps with many extracurricular programs at her school.

The Literary Arts Award went to O’Donel High’s Brianna Fleming, winner of the 2022 O’Donel Holiday Writing Contest. Fleming was noted to be meticulous, often writing multiple drafts prior to submission.

The final arts award to be presented, the Performing Arts Group Award, was accorded to both nominees — the O’Donel High Drama Club for its performance of “The World’s Nine Worst Break Ups of All Time,” and the Mount Pearl Senior High Production of “Into the Woods.”

Both groups performed selections from their productions during the banquet, complete with song and dance and costumes.

The Youth in Service Award was given to level three O’ Donel student Alexander Fahey. He volunteers with the St. Peter’s Primary Breakfast Club, the Students Commission of Canada, and presides over the O’Donel High Student Council.

The Youth Group of the Year Award went to the O’Donel High School First Responders.

O’Donel is one of only two high schools in the entire province with its own first responder group. All team members are trained and equipped by St. John Ambulance and provide basic and advanced care when called upon. Students attend weekly meetings and monthly training scenarios and are “on call” to provide help during school hours and at school and community events.

O’ Donel High student Alexander Corbett was named the Youth Volunteer of the Year.

Corbett volunteers on the school’s Student Council, runs the ODAthleticsNL social media page, helps with Spirit Days, is a member of the O’Donel First Responder’s group, and organized the O’Donel Relay for Life. Furthermore, he is involved in a number of other fundraisers within the school and community.

The final award of the night, Youth of the Year, was awarded to both a male and female recipient.

Alexander Fahey of O’Donel High was named the Male Youth of the Year. Fahey, the school’s student council president, maintains a 97 percent average and has received an early admission to Carleton University’s Aerospace Engineering Program and a $16,000 entrance scholarship. Outside the classroom, Fahey is a blackbelt in Kempo Karate and coaches young athletes at Rock Athletics. He volunteers with many organizations, was named a Duke of Edinburgh gold participant, and completed a community collection for a school in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

Grace Lee was named female Youth of the Year. Lee, a level 3 student at Mount Pearl Senior High, maintains a 97 percent academic average, presides over the student council, coaches the Mount Pearl Intermediate volleyball team, plays in the school band, competes on Team NL’s provincial volleyball team along with a host of other volleyball teams, and also plays basketball, soccer, badminton, and softball. She recently won the RISE Award to the Boston Leadership Institute for biomedical and surgical research. Lee placed in the top 25 percent in the national Waterloo math contest, received the McMaster Life Science Entrance Scholarship and UTM Principals Entrance Award for forensic science.

Alex Taylor, Summer Bennett, Amy Rowsell, and members of the Mount Pearl Senior High and the O’Donel High Drama Club kept the audience entertained throughput the night with musical and drama interludes.

St. Peter’s Junior High students participated in public speaking event hosted by Mount Pearl Lions Club

St. Peter’s Junior High students recently participated in a public speaking event hosted by the Mount Pearl Lions Club. From left to right are Emily Squires, who took second place, Lion Gerald Coombs, first place speaker Ava Decker, Liam Lethbridge, Ariana White, Judah Harding, and Mount Pearl Lions Club President John Oates. Submitted photo.

City may park unspent cash in GICs to earn interest

By Mark Squibb \ May 18, 2023

The City of Mount Pearl may invest up to $10 million in unused funds in the hope of some financial returns.

Council unanimously approved the motion this week during its regular public meeting.

“City staff conduct a continuous review of the City’s financial position that includes a review of forecasted expenditures and cash flow,” said Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley. “In the budget process, the City budgets the money required to fund all operations and planned capital. And so over the course of time, as budgets are allocated, not all expenditures occur in the year in which they are budgeted which results in allocated but unspent City funds. And so, in reviewing the City’s current financial position, additional consideration has been given to ensuring these funds are working harder for taxpayers. The City has a responsibility of course to its taxpayers to limit the risks taken with public dollars. Right now, legislation, of course, limits investment risk and guides investment toward high‐quality, secure investments that will contribute to the fundamental goal of preservation of capital. So, in considering investment vehicles, the City must balance investment risk against potential investment returns, while still meeting the daily cash flow demands of the City.”

Kieley then put forth a motion that the City invest up to $10 million in allocated but unspent funds in guaranteed investment certificates to “ensure that allocated but unspent cash is working harder to fund City expenditures on behalf of taxpayers.”

Mayor Dave Aker said the motion doesn’t mean necessarily that City will be investing $10 million, but only that it has the ability to do so.

“This is the cap, this is not the transaction,” said Aker. “This is just the policy that enables staff. This is council providing the authority to the CAO and to the Director of Corporate Services to provide for better returns on idle cash.”

Aker reiterated the money will be invested in risk free investments, and pointed the finger at high interest rates as a motivation for the motion. 

“Frankly, interest rates are not at an all time high, but they are perhaps the highest they’ve been in 20 years, and so it’s incumbent on us to capture any value there,” said Aker.

Mount Pearl to install accessible bus shelter along Park Avenue

By Mark Squibb \ May 18, 2023

After delays, the City of Mount Pearl is making good on its commitment to build a wheelchair accessible bus shelter on Park Avenue near Coleman’s Supermarket.

Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley explained during this week’s public meeting the City had a budget reserve of $10,000 left from a previous budget that had been allocated for the purchase and installation of an accessible bus shelter.

“There were delays in proceeding with this based on several factors,” said Kieley. “However, in response to the City’s request for three price quotes for the supply and delivery of a wheelchair accessible bus shelter, the City now has received quotes; and the lowest quote is from Pro Circuit Electrical Inc., and that is in the amount of $18,083, and that includes HST. The cost of installations, so that’s the materials and in-house labour, is not significant and it could be accommodated within the department’s existing operating budget, which is great.”

As no money had been allocated for bus shelters in Budget 2023, the Corporate Services and Public Works Committee recommended council pull $8,000 plus HST from the 2023 ‘Find Your Centre’ Budget to add on top of the $10,000 reserve fund.

Kieley said she could think of no better place for the bus shelter due to the number of nearby services and connections to other areas of the city and added that Inclusion NL has since been invited to offer input regarding placement and installation of the bus shelter, a decision she felt is important.

Councillor Isabelle Fry said she was pleased with the motion and asked whether there are any plans for additional bus shelters in the City.

Kieley said while there are no monies set aside for bus shelters in this year’s budget, she would like to see the matter discussed further.

“To me, I like to think about this as a planted seed for more,” said Kieley.

In the interest of timing, the matter had been discussed during a private committee meeting held May 2, and the committee supported the recommendation and authorized staff to proceed with the purchase.

Council’s public vote this week, which passed unanimously, was simply to rubber stamp that decision.

It was not specified for which calendar year the item had initially been budgeted.

City approves a round of professional development trips

By Mark Squibb \ May 18, 2023

Mount Pearl City council this week approved travel requests for four professional development trips.

Council approved two requests from councillor Chelsea Lane, one to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Annual Conference in Toronto, ON, May 25-28, and a second to attend the Public Works Expo (PWX) being held in San Diego August 27-30, 2023.

Council also approved a request for Director of Public Works Glen Dollimount to attend the 2023 Waste and Recycling Expo in Mississauga, ON, from September 26-27.

Lastly, council approved a request for Director of Corporate Services Cassie Pittman to attend the Future of Work Series in Chicago on June 6-7.

A number of previously approved requests saw a number of councillors and staff set to travel this May month.

Dollimount was scheduled to be in Clarenville last week for the Newfoundland Labrador Chapter of the Canadian Public Works Association’s (CPWA) Annual Conference, while, Recreation and Community Safety Director Jason Collins was scheduled to attend the US Indoor Sports Association Annual Conference and Tradeshow in Henderson, Nevada from May 17-19. CAO Dana Spurrell was approved to attend the 49th Annual Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) Conference in Huntsville, ON, from May 29 to the 31, and a number of councillors were set to attend the Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador Annual Conference in Gander last week as well.

Privacy Commissioner says City right to withhold investigation report

By Mark Squibb \ May 12, 2023

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has recommended the City of Mount Pearl continue to withhold the entire workplace investigation report into the former Chief Administrative Officer Steve Kent.

In October 2019, the City launched an investigation into workplace complaints alleging disrespectful and inappropriate behavior by Kent, who was placed on administrative leave. Kent resigned his position in 2020 after council gave notice of a motion for his dismissal.

The report was issued to the City on November 1, 2022, and the City subsequently provided a summary of the investigator’s findings, but not a copy of the report itself, to those who had made allegations against Kent.

Less than a month later, a staff member (unidentified in the Privacy report, except that they were one of the people who had made allegations against Kent) submitted an access request for a complete copy of the investigator’s report. The City refused the request, withholding the entire report on the basis that disclosure of the report was harmful to personal privacy.

The worker then filed a formal complaint with the Privacy Office.

In withholding the report in its entirety, the City argued “there are two separate complaints by two different complainants, and that the information provided in relation to one complaint is not relevant to the other complaint,” and that “information relating to the other workplace complainant must be withheld.”

The complainant meanwhile argued that as he is one of the workplace complainants and, therefore, a party to the workplace investigation that resulted in the report, he is legislatively entitled to receive a copy of the report. He argued further that the report deals with behaviour of employees during work hours in the workplace, and that in such a scenario there ought not be the same expectation of privacy.

Furthermore, as per the Privacy Office report, the complaint argued that “many people who spoke to the investigator will feel more threatened and violated should the report not be released, since many of the allegations involved perceived cover-ups to protect people in power, and while substantial redaction or full withholding of information might protect privacy, it would do harm by feeding suspicion, warranted or not.”

Citing case files of similar incidents involving records held by public bodies, Commissioner Michael Harvey agreed with the City’s decision to withhold the entire record from the Complainant.

Harvey did allow, however, that interpretations of Section 33, which deals with information from a workplace investigation and mandated disclosure of the report, and the restrictions of disclosure harmful to personal privacy mandated in Section 40, are often at odds with one another.
“It is absurd and troubling that the consistent application of an interpretation of the statute should lead to such inconsistent results,” reads his report. “This case illustrates the paradoxical situation in which we find ourselves at this moment. Clearly, it was the intent of the legislature in 2012 to create a mandatory right of access for the parties to a workplace investigation but a mandatory exception for everyone else. But, following the decisions referenced here, section 33 has proven to operate only partially or, as in this instance, not at all. The intended right of access within section 33 has been entirely overridden by the privacy provisions, because the Act does not provide a guide on how to resolve the interplay between sections 33 and 40, beyond the generic balancing provision within section 40(5) that applies to all forms of personal information.”

He added the “present case will be particularly disheartening to the workplace complainant who, at the time that he embarked on the process of making the complaint, felt assured that he would have the right to obtain the entire results of the investigation under the then-accepted interpretation of section 33 of the Act.”

Given the nature of the investigation, it is not surprising this is not the first time it’s been placed before the Privacy Office.

In a report released on July 31, 2020, the Office found the privacy of the workplace complainants had been breached when the City disclosed their letters of complaint to the CAO outside of an access to information request. The Office recommended that the City acknowledge the breach and apologize.

Kent requested access to copies of the complaints, the investigator’s interview notes, and other information during the course of the workplace investigation, which ran from October 2019 to November 2022.

In a decision dated August 25, 2020, the Privacy Commissioner concluded that although the investigation had not yet been completed, the CAO was entitled, under the provisions of section 33 of the Act, to all relevant information gathered for the purpose of the investigation. The Office recommended that the City obtain the records, including the investigator’s notes, and hand them over to the former CAO, which they did in May, 2021.

Mount Pearl adopts new strategic plan

By Mark Squibb \ May 12, 2023

Mount Pearl council this week officially adopted Building Tomorrow, a new 5-year strategic plan that will guide council’s decision making until 2027.

“I’m very excited about this tonight, and so proud of the team, and of our colleagues here, who led the way and moved this forward in so many ways,” said Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley, who moved that council adopt the new strategic plan. “This is the start of our future, and it starts today. We are a resilient, progressive city, and we have an unmatched sense of pride. Time and time again, we come together to support each other. We learn from each others’ experiences, and we use our shared journey to set new goals.”

Council discussed the plan, which Mayor Dave Aker had presented to Mount Pearl-Paradise Chamber of Commerce members during a luncheon last week, at great length.

The focuses of the plan include the building of better transportation within the City, strengthening economic development and improving workplace culture within City Hall.

Other new policies include a traffic calming plan, Integrated Active Transportation Plan, compilation of a business case for development of land north of Topsail Road, an Infrastructure Plan, two different Investment Attraction Plans, and a five-year Economic Development Strategy.

The City will also continue to implement the Trails Master Plan, City Centre Renewal Plan, Urban Forestry Plan, and the Recreation Master Plan.

Adoption of the strategic plan passed unanimously.

Council last week also proclaimed May 8 to the 12 as Municipal Awareness Week, a fact noted by Kieley during the presentation of the plan.

“I can’t think of a better day to adopt this than today, when we are signing a proclamation around Municipality Awareness, because this is what it’s all about,” said Kieley. “One of the most important things we do is come together, along with our staff, to set a vision for the city. And through the development of this strategic plan, we are going to guide decision making now and into the future.”