Netflix back in Cobourg

John Draper

In 2019, Netflix came to Cobourg’s Downtown and filmed parts of season 1 of Ginny and Georgia and from February 22 to 25, they will be back again – filming parts of Season 2.  In October 2019 Kara Euale made a presentation to the DBIA about filming; she provided details of the benefits of this kind of disruption – her Powerpoint is in Resources below.  It’s not just the fees paid but also the publicity which attracts tourists.  This time, there will be approximately 120 crew members, 100 background performers and 40 production trucks.  They will film in Victoria Park, in front of Victoria Hall and along King Street West from Third Street to Hibernia Street.  Some roads will be… Read complete articleNetflix back in Cobourg

Cobourg Transit Changes

John Draper

A year ago, Council approved a trial of on-demand transit and although we have not yet seen a staff report on its success or otherwise, the public are being asked to provide feedback. There’s an online survey (see link below) plus more information on it on the Town’s web site plus Cobourg Internet’s page. Other changes this year include an increase in fares, the re-introduction of passes plus the introduction of Smart cards. But Council had another idea: why not offer transit free to children under 12? A motion by Council on 6 December 2021 asked staff to investigate the idea and see what can be learned from Guelph who have implemented this. The thought was that ridership may be… Read complete articleCobourg Transit Changes

Little Public Interest Shown in Parking Changes

John Draper

At tonight’s Public meeting to hear about proposed major changes to parking in Cobourg – both downtown and waterfront  – only one member of the public cared enough to make any comment.  Mike Holden’s concern was about the logistics of payment by visitors for parking on Perry Street. He otherwise approved of the idea.  The proposed changes are wide reaching and complicated but important for the Town – especially downtown and the waterfront.  Two issues that are really separate are being addressed: 1) Managing parking for the waterfront during the summer and 2) Downtown parking fees. The elephant in the room is that Downtown parking currently depends on two lots that are not owned by the Town (they are leased)… Read complete articleLittle Public Interest Shown in Parking Changes

HKPR DHU Provides Video Explaining Covid Statistics

John Draper

Many Canadians have trouble understanding some of the statistics available on hospitalization of people with Covid-19. One source of confusion is that the number of vaccinated people in Hospital is higher than the number not vaccinated. Without thinking it through, this appears to mean that vaccination does not help but in fact, the reverse is true. But our local District Health Unit (Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge DHU) has a responsibility to educate so they are promoting a video produced by the Eastern Ontario DHU which explains this (see below). Unfortunately, anti-Vaxers incorrectly take this statistic as evidence to support their objection – they are effectively saying that they do not believe medical experts. If they act on their belief, they… Read complete articleHKPR DHU Provides Video Explaining Covid Statistics

Update on Brookside

John Draper

At Monday’s Council meeting, MPP and Minister for the Environment David Piccini updated Council on a wide range of issues. He spoke about increased funding for the hospital and long term care homes as well as other items but the item of most interest was an update on Brookside. David reported that work on decommissioning Brookside has moved quickly and is now in stage three. That means that all equipment has been removed and both the Federal and Provincial Governments have declared they are not interested in taking over the property.  Stage three means that the “municipalities have first right of refusal and can express interest in the property”. The question now is: Who is going to buy it and… Read complete articleUpdate on Brookside

Town wants Comments on Harbour Repairs

John Draper

Over the last year or more, Council has reviewed then decided on repairing the Harbour. The scope includes the East and West Breakwaters, the North and East harbour walls, the fuel dock and the centre pier walls. Since the Town will be spending $12,755,000 over 3 years, someone in the Town decided that citizens should be given a forum to comment and ask questions. Engage Cobourg is usually used for surveys but there have already been multiple surveys on related subjects – this time, it’s more that the Town is providing information and allowing comments and questions. The finish date is February 17. The good news is that a short presentation is included that provides a good summary of the… Read complete articleTown wants Comments on Harbour Repairs

Covid-19 Update – January 2022

John Draper

Although Ontario is scheduled to lift some restrictions at the end of the month, by no means are we out of the woods.  The good news is that we are past the peak that occurred around the end of December; the bad news is that cases have plateaued at a high rate – for Northumberland that’s around an average of 30 new cases per day (see graph below).  Worse, that’s an underestimate – the real number is higher.  That’s because it only measures the results of PCR testing.  Many Omicron cases do not get recorded in official figures.  Because of this, the HKPR DHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Bocking, says that we should watch other indicators like ICU admissions,… Read complete articleCovid-19 Update – January 2022

Will Daintry Crescent Park happen?

John Draper

According to Michael Clark, there is a long history of a promise of a Park on Daintry Crescent.  Michael is a resident of Daintry Cres and he spoke at last night’s Committee of the Whole (CoW) Council meeting.  Michael said that when houses were first built on Daintry crescent in 1992, they were on the north side of the road with a strip on the south side that bordered on the railway line.  The developer intended to then build Townhouses on that strip but permission was denied because they would be too close to the Railway – so the land has been vacant since that time and the Town eventually took ownership.  There were promises that it would be made… Read complete articleWill Daintry Crescent Park happen?