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

Beach Re-opening and Beach Crowds

John Draper

There were three delegations about the beach at Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting – and later in the meeting Council decided how and when to re-open the beach. Adam White wanted more input from residents, and both Paul Pagnuelo and Brenda Quinn wanted a task force to deal with usage of Cobourg’s beaches by non-residents. And when it came to a decision on re-opening the beach, Council included a response to the often repeated request to look into how to manage the summer crowds usually experienced. Many residents have commented that we pay the taxes but visitors pay nothing and yet get to enjoy the beach. If nothing changed, the beach would reopen on September 1 but staff presented Council with four… Read complete articleBeach Re-opening and Beach Crowds

News in Cobourg – August 2020

John Draper

Publishers, editors and journalists rarely talk about their own industry although lately, print newspapers talk about their dwindling business.  Large news media companies such as the Toronto Star have recently got some publicity but the small ones just seem to fade away.  The Cobourg Star was a daily Newspaper for over a century but recently merged with others until it became Northumberland Today. But when it finally closed in November 2017 (see link below), Cobourg residents were unhappy and were vocal at a “Town Hall Meeting”.  As a result a small group led by Rob Washburn and John Miller started a portal web site (Northumberland Hub – Sept 2018) that provided brief news synopses plus links to all local news… Read complete articleNews in Cobourg – August 2020

County Annual report – 2019

John Draper

Northumberland County has now released their Annual Report – not just Financial but also a review of what they have been doing.  The County’s organization and budget are bigger than Cobourg’s ($112M compared to $50M) but they get less attention.  They look after Waste Collection and Management, County roads, Social Services (Welfare and the Golden Plough), Affordable Housing, Economic development and Tourism promotion, Paramedics (Ambulances), County Forests and Archives. You can  download the full 86 page report from the link below but I have summarized the highlights for you.  It’s hard not to compare the County report to what is done by Cobourg.  Unlike the County, Cobourg does not do an annual report but simply reports on finances and so… Read complete articleCounty Annual report – 2019

Council to Consider Extending Beach Closure

John Draper

Earlier in the summer, and after a lot of discussion, Cobourg Council closed the main beach until 31 August.  But that date is coming up soon and at their Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting on 24 August, an Agenda item asks Council whether they want to extend that date or not.  Four options are offered by staff: 1) Extend closure to 17 October; 2) Keep beach closed only on weekends to 17 October; 3) extend closure only until after Labour Day and re-open 8 September OR 4) another option determined by Council.  In each case, there will be no lifeguards and washrooms will remain closed but port-o-potties will be available.  I’d be surprised if there are no citizen delegations on… Read complete articleCouncil to Consider Extending Beach Closure

Remembrance Event in Victoria Park

John Draper

Today is VJ Day when Japan surrendered 75 years ago.  That was also the day that 1475 Canadians were liberated from a Prisoner of War camp in Hong Kong.   They had defended Hong Kong from attack by the Japanese army but suffered heavy losses before surrendering.  The defending Canadians were from two regiments, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers.  Many of the Royal Rifles were from Cobourg and Port Hope and today they were remembered in a ceremony at the Cenotaph in Victoria Park.  Members of the veterans’ families were there to lay wreaths.  The event was not promoted so that the crowd would be less than 100 – which it was.  But paying their respects were… Read complete articleRemembrance Event in Victoria Park