Category: News 2020

Victoria Hall Restoration Work gets another Contribution

John Draper

In June this year, Council approved a tender for the work from Colonial Building Restoration Ltd in the amount of $275,000 (plus HST) to restore the sandstone at the front of Victoria hall including the speakers’ balcony.  In July, the Victoria Hall Heritage Maintenance Trust Fund contributed $10,000 to this work and today, at 3:00 pm, the Victoria Hall Volunteers (VHV) contributed another $20,000.  In accepting the cheque, Mayor John Henderson said:  “I don’t know of another Town with this kind of support for heritage projects”.   The Victoria Hall Volunteers have a long history of supporting Victoria Hall with a total contribution to date of over $356,000. Today is the closest available to the 160th anniversary of the opening of… Read complete articleVictoria Hall Restoration Work gets another Contribution

East Pier – Public Meeting (Virtual)

John Draper

The next step in Cobourg’s plan to re-vitalize the waterfront is to fix and enhance the East Pier.  This requires extensive public consultation and this started last year (see links below) and now there is another consultation although this time it’s virtual and hosted on Engage Cobourg. This includes a presentation in two versions – a pdf and/or a video – a survey with the first question “have you watched the presentation?” and a forum for free form comments.  The presentation starts with some background information then divides the area into zones and discusses options.  Then the discussion moves into three “design approaches” then finally talks about design palettes  – Contemporary, Heritage or hybrid.  The survey opened Sept 4 and… Read complete articleEast Pier – Public Meeting (Virtual)

Ed’s House – Official Opening

John Draper

On Thursday, September 3, Northumberland’s Hospice (Ed’s House) was officially opened by Minister of Health and Deputy Premier Christine Elliott.  There were about 70 people gathered outside the new building on Ontario Street to witness the event.  As well as capital to build the facility, operating costs are ongoing and the Province has committed to pay this for the six new beds – Christine said that the Government is expanding palliative care. As well as the Minister, many who had helped make it happen were also there – see list below.  Hamilton Mayor Bill Cane commented that this was “an amazing collaborative effort”. All speakers at the event thanked the team who made it happen: Fundraising was better than goal… Read complete articleEd’s House – Official Opening

Cobourg Planning Update – Highlights

John Draper

At Monday’s Council meeting, Councillor Nicole Beatty, in her coordinator role, reported on activity in the Planning Department.  Her list was long and included projects adding perhaps 1000 new housing units – most of these in Cobourg’s East End but some in the West part of Town.  Although there is a list of planning projects on the Town’s web site, Nicole’s list was longer and included some interesting updates.  She did not provide a publicly available transcript [Update: full Transcript now available – see Links – Thanks Nicole] but I have provided highlights below including updates on some old projects as well as newer ones.  See the links below if you want the whole thing.  She finished with a comment… Read complete articleCobourg Planning Update – Highlights

An Innovative Transit system

John Draper

Mayor John Henderson has been in talks for some time with Port Hope’s Mayor Bob Sanderson and Hamilton Mayor Bill Cane about an integrated Transit system covering all three Towns.  Currently Cobourg operates two systems – regular transit operating two one hour loops and a “Wheels” on-demand service with smaller buses providing service for residents who cannot use regular buses.  Instead of that, Judy Smith proposes using much smaller fully accessible buses to provide on-demand door to door service for everyone.  All rides would be booked and paid for using an app and the usual wait would be no more than half an hour.  Judy is the Climate Change Coordinator for the Town of Cobourg and Environmental Officer for the… Read complete articleAn Innovative Transit system

County and Town Citizen Surveys

John Draper

Over the summer, both the Town and the County surveyed citizens and asked them what they thought of their services and their cost.  Unfortunately, participation was poor.  The County’s survey was from July 10 to 31 and they got 54 responses; the Town’s started on August 10 and when KPMG reported to Council on August 24, they said there were only 122 responses as of August 18.  The Town’s survey was supposed to finish on Aug 24 but as of August 27 it was still active.  One reason for the municipalities to ask for input is that the pandemic will put a big strain on budgets so maybe services should be cut or should taxes get a big hike?  Although… Read complete articleCounty and Town Citizen Surveys

Cobourg Community Centre to Re-open in Phases

John Draper

The CCC will re-open gradually and in phases starting August 31. Protocols have been cleared with the Health Unit and physical distancing will be required.  Conditions for Phase 1 are clear (see below) but later phases are still a little vague and subject to change.  Dean Hustwick, Director of Community Services says that “it will look a little different inside the building” and “the gradual reopening of our community centre will see more programs and services being restored when it is safe to do so.” Dates and some rules are spelled out below but before you visit you should: Register for a program or book your facility rental by calling (905)-372-7371. Complete our online COVID-19 Pre-Screening Form on the day… Read complete articleCobourg Community Centre to Re-open in Phases

Hospital getting back to Normal

John Draper

Northumberland hills Hospital has announced that non-urgent service volumes are now at or close to pre-pandemic levels and limited in-person visiting has been reinstated.  But CEO Linda Davis warns that “visitors are coming into and through the community, and more and more interaction with people outside our immediate households is occurring. Now is the time to be even more vigilant about following public health advice.”  There is still a continuing rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases in the region with a total of 31 individuals from Northumberland County now confirmed positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. This is an increase of seven cases in the last five weeks alone, as of August 25th. However, many services are almost back to… Read complete articleHospital getting back to Normal