Stephenville Mayor Tom Rose has his sights set on leading Stephenville to being one of the more prominent towns in the province.
The rookie mayor is coming off what he describes a great year in 2017, with a council that’s working well together a budget that has put the town in good shape financially.
Looking ahead to 2018, here are his priorities:
Rose wants to follow up on the economic plan that was recently rolled out with a focus on business development and attracting new businesses and new jobs. He said since this goes hand in hand with community, council is looking at a number of projects that will enhance the community. The aim is good recreation, a clean town and a safe town.
Rose said new structures are another priority and while Indian Head Park is not a new one, he said it will provide a new service that’s good for the community, while attracting people into the town with serviced lots for recreational vehicles. While he couldn’t elaborate at this time, he said there are other structures being worked on.
Rose wants to put a focus on the town’s industrial park, which he said has been getting very little attention since the Americans pulled out of Stephenville back in 1966. He wants to “clean it” and “green it” to have potential investors come in. He said the industrial park is in an ideal location between the airport and seaport and he hopes the new economic agenda the town just rolled out will attract industry to those facilities.
He said a key thing council has done great work on is moving towards creating safer streets and 2018 will be the year for the installation of traffic lights at the Prince Rupert Drive and Queen Street and Minnesota Drive intersection. Rose said it’s also the year a trial at the intersection of West Street, Empire Avenue and Hansen Highway will take place, which he feels will mitigate the risk factor of anyone getting harmed at that intersection.
He said there are some things council will lobby for during 2108 from a provincial perspective, including upgrades to the eight kilometers of road from Gull Pond to M & F Motors. Rose said council is expressing concerns about the state of a demolished building near the former Women’s Correctional Centre to try and have that job completed. Concerns will be expressed about what to do with the former Women’s Correctional Centre and lobby for upgrades to the Bay St. George Medical Clinic, which he said is in deplorable condition.
