Citizens of New-Wes-Valley

This blog post was sent to us via newwesvalleycitizens.haveyoursay@blogger.com from the NWV Concerned Citizens group: We want to make it absolutely clear that Concerned Citizens are not against the use of chlorine. Chlorine plays an essential role in disinfecting drinking water, ensuring it is safe from harmful bacteria and pathogens. It is a vital part of public health. What we are raising concern about is the high level of chlorination by-products specifically Trihalomethanes (THMs) and Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) currently present in our water supply.  This is not a scare tactic, it is the reality of our situation. In the very link shared (with Facebook users only- this has not been posted on the town's website for public viewing) by the town, it clearly states (in yellow on photo): "𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙝𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙮-𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪...

Ireland had a court case because some of their towns had THM levels in drinking water above 100 µg/L — the legal limit set by the EU, the same limit as Health Canada. These Irish towns have water treatment plants currently in place as well.  People there are suing their government because those levels are a serious health risk linked to cancer and other long-term health issues. Here's the kicker: New-Wes-Valley has had THM levels well above that same limit for years….Not just slightly over far beyond what sparked a court case in Ireland. ⚠️So why hasn't anyone been held accountable here in Newfoundland? ⚠️Why are we still being told this is "acceptable"? ⚠️Why is nothing changing? We have been dealing with water at dangerously high THMs while our health and safety are being ignored. If Ireland is taking this to court, we need to ask ourselves…why aren't we? This is not okay. It's time to speak up. https://ireland.representation.ec.europa.eu/news-and-events/new...

While looking up some tap water reports on the provincial government's website, your blog master found some interesting information.   THIS REPORT  dates from 2004 right up until the current date.   Have a look for yourself, and let us know in the comments what you found that looks interesting.  

[Previously published on April 23rd, 2025] We remain committed to respectful, peaceful dialogue with our municipal government.  Unfortunately, the Town Council has placed new restrictions on Concerned Citizens under their  Unreasonable Behavior By-Law : 1. We may only contact Town staff in writing, via the front desk. 2. Duplicate or non-actionable follow-ups will not receive a response. 3. Legal action may be considered if Town staff or officials feel harassed or defamed. We also regret to share that our request to meet with Council was declined. Despite these challenges, we will continue advocating for our community with integrity and transparency. Questions about this matter should be directed to the Town Office. #ConcernedCitizens #CommunityMatters #CivicEngagement For full disclosure, you can see the letter from our Mayor received last week below: [Updated May 10th, 2025] Now that the minutes of the Town Council Meeting held on April 15th are posted publicly o...

There has been some misinformation circulating about the letters Concerned Citizens of New-Wes-Valley sent to Council and Municipal Affairs following the suspension of Councillor Howell from a complaint by town staff. When complaints are sent to Council they are supposed to be confidential, so why are people outside of Council chatting about these letters? The CAO herself stated in an email to the NWV   concerned citizens that, “As noted in my previous email it is deemed necessary to know the complainants' names(s) who have filed this complaint. This is to ensure there is no breach of confidentiality. During the process of a complaint under the Municipal Conduct Act, the only parties who are given the complaint and response are myself, the complainant and the respondent”. Has there been a breach of privacy? We want to clarify the facts about the letters.  Please read them for yourselves here: Our letters were submitted to highlight broader concerns about potential conflicts of...

Your blog master, and 7 or 8 other citizens of New-Wes-Valley, attended tonight's regularly scheduled meeting to stay informed of the latest developments with our town.   Mayor Tiller graciously welcomed us, and the meeting got underway in a timely fashion ~6:30pm, as usual.   The usual business was read through with unanimous motions on topics ranging from hiring a magician to perform at our annual Crab Festival, to listing employment opportunities coming up with Public Works.  There was mention of things with very little to no discussion, such as a "salt water sanctuary", over $76,000.00 in accounts payable listed as a lump sum, plans for cleaning the water tank at Newtown which will cause a water interruption for a day, possible purchase of a skate sharpener at ~$1,800.00, a possible "quilt showcase at the REACH", and a 3 year contract to be issued for Happy Snacks at Beothic Arena's canteen to be reviewed annually. The conversation was quiet and rather m...

Councillor Howell has been unjustly suspended from her position as Councillor with the Town Council of New-Wes-Valley, Newfoundland and Labrador. Her removal was the result of a misunderstanding regarding Council rules. Despite this lack of clear communication, she has received one of the most severe punishments - a 2 month suspension when other options for punishment were brought forward to Council by the investigator. (See the full story HERE ) Councillor Howell has always been a dedicated and hardworking representative for our community. She has shown unwavering commitment to addressing community issues, supporting local initiatives, and improving the quality of life for all residents. Her suspension not only undermines her efforts but deprives New-Wes-Valley of a valuable and passionate public servant. We believe that the decision to suspend her from council was both hasty and unjust. It is imperative that she be reinstated, allowing her to continue her vital work for our community...

The above message has been copied from Brenda Howell's personal Facebook page and shared with us through the 'have your say' posting directions found at the top of this blog. The Town of New-Wes-Valley has posted a message from Mayor Tiller (see link HERE ), as well as the findings by the third party investigation of this matter (see link HERE ). Concerned Citizens would like to hear your thoughts on this matter, and would like to start the conversation by asking: How often do Councillors get investigated by a third party on conflict-of-interest complaints? We have seen many instances of other Councillors voting on topics of personal interest in the past without any mention nor investigation- what have you noticed? Do you think that all Councillors are being treated equally and fairly with regard to conflict-of-interest inquiries? What is the cost to tax payers for the fees paid to third party investigators?  Is it worth the cost?  Or could this be solved without added ...

Minister of Municipal Affairs & Provincial Affairs Department of Municipal Affairs  P. O. Box 8700 St. John's, NL A1B 4J6 Dear Minister Haggie, We are writing to file a formal complaint concerning serious and long-standing failures by the municipal government of New-Wes-Valley to protect public health and meet its obligations under the Towns and Local Service Districts Act and relevant provincial water quality regulations. It has come to our attention that for at least ten years, the municipality has failed to adequately inform residents about dangerously high levels of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) in our drinking water.  Based on available water quality reports, these levels are consistently 3 to 5 times higher than the Health Canada Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. This situation raises extremely serious concerns, including: 1. Failure to notify the public: The Town Council has not made residents aware of the elevated toxin levels...

We kindly request your support for Concerned Citizens representatives to present the following proposal to the council on behalf of all New-Wes-Valley residents. A resident at the recent council meeting expressed concerns regarding water quality.  Although funding for a treatment plant has been approved, its completion will take several years, leaving residents without immediate assistance or compensation. The concerned citizens group proposes the following interim measures: Establish free local filter and fill stations providing filtered water. Reassess water fees by exempting/reducing rates due to undisclosed toxins and health risks. Regularly post publicly the test results showing fluctuating levels of THMs and HAAs in our tap water. A majority “Yes” vote indicates we will proceed with this request. A majority “No” vote indicates we will not proceed with this request. Your opinion is important! Please share your thoughts. Anonymous votes will not be counted, as we cannot tell if...

Mr. Donald Sturge gave a very informative presentation regarding our drinking water at last night's council meeting.  Below is a summary of his presentation. The data he presented at the meeting went back as far as 2014 (Mr. Sturge is not associated with this group) and we received permission from Mr. Sturge to post. ________________________________________________________________ If you would like to have your post published here on the Citizens of New-Wes-Valley blog, please email it to newwesvalleycitizens.haveyoursay@blogger.com without any attachments. Posts are moderated before publishing in order to prevent spam, hate speech, etc.

  ________________________________________________________________ If you would like to have your post published here on the Citizens of New-Wes-Valley blog, please email it to newwesvalleycitizens.haveyoursay@blogger.com without any attachments. Posts are moderated by the blogmaster before publishing in order to prevent spam, hate speech, etc.

Hello all you citizens of New-Wes-Valley, I am shocked to see so many comments on this blog in the last few days- with quite a few inappropriate comments mixed in with some really helpful words of wisdom, prompting me to introduce a few guidelines to help keep this blog going as an effective tool, and not a source of stress for its users. Guidelines for 'Have Your Say' posts and all comments: Keep your comments focused on the post.  Do not comment on something not linked to the topic of the post.  If you want to introduce a new topic, write an email and send it to newwesvalleycitizens@gmail.com. I want your voice to be heard, but make sure you're not distracting the discussion from something else that some of us might feel is important. Keep your message friendly.  Even when bringing up a new challenging topic, criticism needs to be constructive, and not meant to harm nor bully.  Comments of a bullying nature will be deleted, hidden, or marked as spam. There are way ...

What would trigger council to make an amendment to meeting minutes that had been reviewed, approved, and adopted by them 7 months ago? According to the Jan 21, 2025 meeting minutes: June 4th, 2024 Minutes Amendment: CAO noted that there was a discrepancy in June 4th minutes,  motion # 2024/162-A was not reflected in the minutes.  Motion was put to the table, as per scribe. Motion was brought by Councillor Smith, seconded by Deputy Mayor Stagg and voted by ALL. Councillor Hoyles declared conflict and exited chambers. RESOLUTION 25/37 - DAWN STAGG/ANDY BEST Be it resolved to amend June 4th Council meeting minutes to include motion number 24/162-A, as presented at June 4th meeting. In Favour 6: Mayor Tiller, Deputy Mayor Stagg, Councillors: P. Vincent, C. Smith, A. Best, B. Tucker Opposed 0: Abstaining 0:  RESOLUTION CARRIED The June 4, 2024, meeting minutes show as amended and include the following motion as outlined above. ...

We've been asked many times about the slides that the Chief Administrative Officer spoke about at the beginning of the March 18th 2025 Council meeting, and we'd like to explain what that was all about. For those of us who know the previous CAO, it was obvious immediately that an attack was being made against her without an opportunity for her to respond.  For those of you who are still in the dark, prepare yourself with a cuppa and read on.  The first set of bullet points blames the previous CAO for mismanaging the town office and the budget, hoodwinking the Council into doing things they didn't want to do, overspending, and even hiring a family member without the Council's approval. The second set of bullet points boasts of savings and underspending, a CAO tough on rules and procedure, and a better qualified office staff in general since the resignation of the previous CAO.  It also makes the Council look guilty of not taking their jobs seriously. Look at the heading d...

As a concerned citizen of NWV I have questions around th e qualifications of the current CAO, as seen below in a post from the town of NWV   in   May of 2024 it is stated that she is a project manager. According to the Gardner Centre "Fundamentals of Project Management" is a 2 day course and is only one small part of becoming a "Project Manager" with many more requirements to get your Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and be considered a Project Manager. Next is the statement that she is "currently completing her MSc in leadership for Sustainable Rural Development through MUN". I decided to reach out to MUN for some clarification-  this is a copy of the response.     This raises a couple of questions for me. •   Are these the qualifications that were used to promote from the inte rim   CAO position to the full time CAO position? •   Is this individual the one we want representing our town as we are goin...

The following letter was sent to Municipalities NL recently: _____________________________________________________________________________ Dear Ms. Pomeroy,  We, the concerned citizens of New-Wes-Valley, are reaching out to express our deep concerns regarding the ongoing lack of communication and transparency from our municipality.  As a group of residents who care about the future of our town, we have tried to engage with the mayor and council to discuss the issues affecting our community.  However, our efforts to foster a productive and open dialogue have been met with resistance and dismissiveness. Our primary goal is not to create conflict, but to ensure that our voices as residents are heard and that the town leadership is accountable and transparent in its decision-making. In our efforts to meet with the mayor and council, we requested a sit-down meeting with them directly—since they are the elected representatives of the residents—but this request was declined, as ...

  Can anyone tell us what this meeting was about?   We know who was there & when it was, but what was the topic? Keep in mind that these minutes are all confirmed by the Council before they are posted publicly. An excerpt from the Towns and Local Service Districts Act  Chapter T-6.2, Part III Town Council, 41. Closed Meetings: (2)  Where a meeting is a closed meeting,              (a)  members of the public shall not be  present;              (b)  a resolution or by-law shall not be adopted other than a resolution                       (i)  giving instructions to the lawyer for the town,                 ...

We have had many people reach out identifying their disappointment over this. We would just like to say we appreciate your support and let you all know this was done in light of negative comments posted on social media. As we have stated before our intent is not to be negative or cause grief. We just want to support people in their quest for answers to some legitimate questions/concerns. We have sent an email to our elected council members to request a face to face meeting where both parties can converse openly. We have not received any response to our request thus far. We do however plan on having a public meeting and will post the date once it has been decided on by the group. If there are any questions please reach out!  You can email us at newwesvalleycitizens@gmail.com, or you can comment on this post. Thank you again for your support and understanding in this matter.

A Special Meeting of Council was held on March 11th, lasted almost an hour, and consisted of a privileged session, with members of the public barred from the Council Chambers. We think the topic of conversation was about a possible conflict of interest with Councilor Brenda Howell with regards to an organization that she is known to volunteer with, known as the Ray of Hope, a group trying to provide services for people who are affected by addictions.  (If that is incorrect, please let us know) If that is what the topic was, then what makes it a private issue?  It doesn't seem like something that would lead to a problem for the community to know what's happening.  This is an example of the decisions made by council that make us wonder why there are so many privileged meetings. Do you have answers about this?  Please leave us a comment sharing information to let us better understand. Here are the minutes from that meeting: M I N U T E S  SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL...