Category: News 2021

Cobourg Ponders Revised Covid rules

John Draper

Late Saturday, May 22, the Town of Cobourg issued a Press Release “asking for the community’s patience and understanding as the Town takes some time to assess the implications of the most recent public health measures as announced on May 20th by the Province of Ontario.” Because of the recent announcement by the Province of its Roadmap to Reopen plan, some rules have now changed and others may change after June 2 and again possibly after June 14. The Town is saying that they “need time to assess the new guidelines, regulations and implications to municipal programs and services, and the logistics involved with our required response”;.  They then spell out some of the immediate changes and announce that once again,… Read complete articleCobourg Ponders Revised Covid rules

Update on Developments – Part 2

John Draper

Councillor Nicole Beatty’s report was long so I divided it into two parts – the first part being published on Tuesday, May 18, and this being part two.  A couple of projects are in both reports but most are additional.  These reports are abbreviated from Nicole’s full report (see link below) – mostly by removing references to paperwork but Nicole notes that some required paper work is being delayed because of a backlog at the Land Registry Office. We should also be aware that the actual sources of Nicole’s report are no doubt Director Glenn McGlashon and his staff.  Note also that planning staff have a comprehensive list of relevant documents  on the Town’s web site – see link below…. Read complete articleUpdate on Developments – Part 2

Council Closes Beach until 7 June

John Draper

A special Council meeting was called today to decide what to do about people staying on Victoria Beach during the Stay at Home Order.  The  Emergency Control Group (ECG) recommended that it be closed until Council makes a final decision on the status of the Beach at the Monday June 7, 2021 Regular Council Meeting. This plan of action was not specifically directed by the HKPR Health Unit but they did support the ECG decision.  Council discussed the issue at length with questions about signage, enforceability and more. Police Chief Paul Vandgraaf said that today there were 100 people on the beach and many were “congregating” contrary to the rules of the “Stay at Home Order”.  The Chief estimated that… Read complete articleCouncil Closes Beach until 7 June

Update on Developments – May 2021

John Draper

At Regular Council meetings, Councillors are asked to provide reports in their role as coordinator. At Monday’s meeting, Councillor Nicole Beatty, Coordinator of Planning and Development Services,  gave a full report on activity in the Planning Department.  Some projects are slow getting through the process but there are a lot of them for a small town.  So if you wondered what happened to that development you heard about, this article (and a second one in a couple of days) will provide an update.  Nicole’s report is divided into 1) Subdivisions, 2) Site Plan Approvals, 3) Heritage and 4) Special Projects.  This first article will cover Site Plan Approvals and their status.  Many have been the subject of previous articles –… Read complete articleUpdate on Developments – May 2021

Unfinished Business – May 2021

John Draper

The good news is that by keeping an Unfinished Business List, Town Clerk Brent Larmer is doing a good job of keeping track of the promises by Council and Staff to look after issues.  In most cases, the “business” listed was the result of a motion by Council asking a particular Department to report back to Council at a specified date.  The bad news is that target dates are often not met. But there is some progress: since September last year, three items have been completed although with new ones added the overall number of items has been fairly steady.  Transparency has improved since there are now more details in the status reports.  By my count, of the 14 projects… Read complete articleUnfinished Business – May 2021

Police Chief Dumbfounded

John Draper

In a tweet late this afternoon, Cobourg Police Chief Paul Vandgraaf said  “So he is on house arrest type conditions for a multiple violent robberies … comes 2 hours to Cobourg to deal drugs, is arrested, lies to the police and is released at bail? Dumbfounded is all I can say!”  The story started yesterday when Police “commenced a drug investigation into activity at 351 John Street” and “arrested an adult male. At the time of arrest, the man was on release for numerous outstanding robbery charges stemming from a Greater Toronto Area investigation. He was also failing to abide by his condition of house arrest at the time of this interdiction.”  Not especially unusual.  They seized a quantity of… Read complete articlePolice Chief Dumbfounded

New Film Group launches in Cobourg

John Draper

Film Access Northumberland is launching with a Film Festival called the Eye2Eye International Film Festival.  Scheduled for August 29, 2021, at 8 PM, it will be free and outdoors at Victoria Park.  All Covid-19 protocols will be in place so there’s little danger of cancellation.  The new Cobourg based group (Film Access Northumberland) is not affiliated with Northumberland Film Sundays or the Dressler Foundation which holds an annual Vintage Film Festival.  The group is chaired by Ross Pigeau and their board includes local film fans Chris Worsnop, Cathie Houston, Adriana Monti and Micol Marotti.  Their organization is incorporated and supported by CAMECO in Port Hope, the Town of Cobourg, the Watershed Magazine, the Art Gallery of Northumberland and the Loft… Read complete articleNew Film Group launches in Cobourg

Covid-19 Update – 12 May 2021

John Draper

Our Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking provide an update today and although we are not “out of the woods” (my words), Dr. Bocking said we are “moving in the right direction”. Vaccinations are ramping up although most have only had one shot – 76% of those aged 60+ have had their first dose and 49% of those eligible (that’s 18+) have had one shot. The Province has paused vaccinations using the Astrazeneca vaccine due to supply issues (plus the small risk we’ve all heard about) but supplies of others – particularly the Pfizer version – are ramping up. The district has been receiving 3500 per week  but deliveries will be 4000/wk in the first 2 weeks of May, 8000/wk in the… Read complete articleCovid-19 Update – 12 May 2021