Business View Civil and Municipal | January 2021

173 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL JANUARY 2021 GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR , NEWFOUNDLAND to draw one aspect of what’s happening in the town, perhaps more so than others. We still work tirelessly to meet the needs of all citizens, all residents, all businesses to the best of our ability, so it’s a great place for young families. We do a great deal for youth. We’re dealing with challenging times, as everybody is, but again the town is taking a leadership role in the community and taking that responsibility to try to step in and meet the needs of our citizens and I think that’s very compelling.” A good example of that happened at the town’s main arena this year. They’ve converted it into an indoor facility for gymnastics and basketball because, although the schools in the town are great, the pandemic has made the playing of sports a challenging obstacle. So the town stepped in to meet those needs. Robyn Hannaford, Communications Officer, believes the municipality is full of caring people who welcome new residents and tourists with open and loving arms. Through the pandemic they’ve come together like Hannaford has never seen. She says, “Newfoundlanders have a reputation for being friendly anyway, but that’s even more true here in the town of Grand Falls-Windsor, and so far everybody is kind and helpful and the community is so supportive of every business venture that goes on, and of every municipal venture that goes on. It really is the true essence of community and we’ve seen that over the last few months with the COVID-19 pandemic. Everybody has come together to support local businesses that have been struggling over the last few months. The town is certainly helping with that, but so has the community as a whole, I just feel like everybody has come together and that’s especially shown here.” The town usually spends about $6.1 million annually on infrastructure projects. This year they have focused on expansion of the wastewater treatment facility at a total of $13.5 million, where two new aerated lagoons were