What’s Happening in Cobourg

John Draper

The short answer is that not much is happening in Cobourg – at least not as far as you can tell.  Most restaurants have switched to take out, people have mostly stayed home although there are still people shopping at supermarkets, the beer store and LCBO (both stores).  Crime is still happening – Police are reporting many instances of individuals failing to comply with probation and court orders as well as minor shoplifting.   Police are making sure the Parks stay empty except for people passing through. News media are struggling to find much to report on since there are few public activities; there are fewer flyers in the one weekly newspaper;  Canada Post continues to operate; Town staff are still… Read complete articleWhat’s Happening in Cobourg

Update from Northumberland Hills Hospital

John Draper

Northumberland has had relatively few cases of the Covid-19 virus so we can either call ourselves lucky or we are doing a good job – or more likely both.  The CEO of the local Hospital, Linda Davis, reports on what they are doing in their May newsletter which many would be getting – forgive me if this is repetitious. Linda says that NHH continues to provide essential services and asks that if “you or someone you care for needs emergency care, please do not postpone your visit. Your NHH team stands ready to get you the care you need with all the necessary precautions in place to keep you and your loved ones safe.” She reports on the steps that… Read complete articleUpdate from Northumberland Hills Hospital

Council Discusses By-Laws for Covid-19

John Draper

Monday’s regular Council meeting was mostly about two proposed bylaws to increase enforcement of social distancing required for management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Cobourg. One by-law was to add penalties for not meeting the recommended separation and the other was to add additional by-law enforcement officers by re-deploying existing staff. Usually such initiatives are introduced at the Committee of the Whole meeting but these were first seen at this regular meeting so there was considerable debate. Town Clerk Brent Larmer explained that the by-law adding penalties was needed because the Province had a law banning groups of more than 5 but had only recommendations for social distancing.  More enforcement officers would be needed because of increased workload, partly because of this… Read complete articleCouncil Discusses By-Laws for Covid-19

Cobourg Police Honour Slain RCMP Officer

John Draper

Last Sunday, 22 died during a murderous rampage by a gunman in Nova Scotia; one of them was RCMP Constable Heidi Stevenson.  And today, which is the National Day of Mourning for those who have lost their lives as a result of work-related incidents, Cobourg Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf asked their Pipes and Drums band to help them honour their fellow officer. The band was smaller than usual with 11 members – 6 pipers and 5 drummers – but did their usual great job.  They marched down King Street to the Police Station where a large number of Police gathered – a good representation.  Included in the group of about 30 were senior officers and the Police Board – including… Read complete articleCobourg Police Honour Slain RCMP Officer

Police Launch Online Reporting System

John Draper

On the 4th of March, Cobourg Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf had an open house where he answered citizens’ questions (see link below) and in response to a request for “e-reporting”, the Cobourg Police web site now has an Online Reporting Portal.  Intended for non-urgent minor crimes, it allows citizens to report crimes like bullying, damage to property, lost property, thefts from vehicles, theft of gas, theft under $5000 and traffic complaints – there’s more detail below.  If it’s an emergency, call 911; or if you witnessed who did the crime (you know who the “suspect” is), then call the Police directly at 905-372-6821.  Motor vehicle accidents are not included – they should continue to be reported to the Collision Reporting… Read complete articlePolice Launch Online Reporting System

Now we have a Dumping Problem

John Draper

The County’s Dumps (now called Community Recycling Centres or CRC’s) have been closed for a while and selfish residents have taken to dumping their garbage in Parks, streets and alleys. The good news is that effective next week, the CRCs will reopen although they will have restrictions.  The Town of Cobourg issued a notice yesterday reminding residents that “Northumberland County and Town of Cobourg Bylaw Enforcement Officers and the Cobourg Police Service will be fining anyone caught illegally dumping. Common areas for dumping will be monitored on a regular basis. Illegal dumpers can face a minimum fine of $105 or a maximum fine of $5,000.”  Downtown store owners complained during their recent meeting that there was a lot of illegal… Read complete articleNow we have a Dumping Problem

Council meeting – April 20

John Draper

Council are continuing to meet via video-conferencing using Zoom and even presentations are done that way.  Last night’s meeting kicked off with a 45 minute presentation from Oscar Poloni of KPMG.  He is the consultant hired to review Cobourg’s service delivery to see if it could be made more efficient.  He went through what he expected to achieve with a timeline of completion by September in time for the 2021 budget.  The only other significant agenda items were 1) to prepare an emergency policy for floods and 2) to allow the Farmer’s market to open despite Social Distancing policies.  Both of these were because Councillors had made “notices of motion” which add items to the Council’s agenda – the first… Read complete articleCouncil meeting – April 20

Is Cannabis Factory leaving Cobourg?

John Draper

In these days of factories shutting down, it’s hard to know if something is temporary or permanent – and it doesn’t help if contact people are unreachable or don’t have answers.  But we have two facts: 1) The operators of the Cannabis operation at 520 William street announced on March 23 that they are stopping production at their plant because of Covid-19 restrictions. Less noticed but more importantly, around the same time (the broker didn’t remember exactly when), 2) the entire plant was put up for sale for $19.9M.  If their plant is up for sale, then the idea that all their staff is “furloughed” is questionable.  How can they return to work if their building has been sold?  So… Read complete articleIs Cannabis Factory leaving Cobourg?