Good turnout at St. Davids candidates meeting

The St. Davids Ratepayers Association hosted a candidates meeting at the Lions Hall Tuesday
evening, with all mayoral and council hopefuls attending.
Regional candidates did not participate — they were busy answering questions at the Royal
Canadian Legion Hall at a meeting and greet hosted by FocusNOTL.
Questions had been made available to the candidates by the ratepayers association, but of the
10 prepared, with so many responses, not all were asked.
Mayoral candidates Betty Disero, Vaughn Goettler and Gary Zalepa were all questioned about
why there are so many exceptions to current zoning bylaws, with Disero saying the current bylaws
are old, exceptions can be granted from the province, however she assured the crowd the new
zoning bylaw will bring back conceptual zoning soon.
Gary Zalepa spoke of the need for strategic guidelines village by village. 
Council candidates were asked the question on the minds of most St. Davids residents — is a
new pool in the future or will the current one be repaired. 
All of the candidates felt strongly that it needs to be repaired or replaced, as the number of
children in the village is growing, although the high cost of replacing it is a concern, and looking for
grants to help fund it will be important. Erwin Wiens maintained the need is for a new pool, that
the current one is irreparable, and aggressive fundraising and lobbying is required to fund it. 
Candidate Adriana Cater-Vizzari, a St. Davids resident, was the crowd favourite judging by the
loud response when she spoke. With four children, she has been a volunteer parent at the pool
and a member of the pool fundraising committee. She was supportive not only of a pool but for
more amenities for children in the village.
The other question bound to come up at the meeting was about the regional roundabout at the
corner of Four Mile Creek Road and York Road.
Mayoral candidate Vaughn Goettler was strongly against it, as are most residents. He
suggested a light at that intersection would be the better option, with a roundabout at Concession
6 and York Road.
Zalepa, the incumbent regional councillor running for lord mayor, supported the process the
region has gone through to get to this stage, and the need for proper infrastructure.
Disero told the crowd she has been working with the region to stop the funding for the
roundabout, adding several factors were not taken into account during the planning stages and
she is strongly against it.

Lack of amenities and community services in St. Davids were put to the candidates for
solutions, with council candidate Wendy Cheropita saying as the village grows it needs a vision to
plan for, but space for amenities is limited.
Council candidate John McCallum said the citizens of St. Davids need to decide what they
want, and the developers need to provide the fees to pay for it.
By asking what St Davids residents wanted when his team went door to door, council
candidate Allan Bisback was able to list five priorities: improved library services, paths, public
washrooms, a community youth hub, and a pool.

The Local goes to press Tuesday for Wednesday delivery but was able to cover some of the
St. Davids meeting and all of the FocusNOTL meet & greet at the Royal Canadian Legion hall.
Dave Rusch of KWW Radio St. Davids had the audio of the St. Davids meeting on his site by a
little after 11 p.m. Tuesday night. To listen to the entire meeting, slightly more than two and a half
hours, go to
KWWradio.com.