Tag: Business

Town is Helping Restaurants Set Up Patios

John Draper

The Town of Cobourg today hosted a virtual seminar for Restaurant owners to discuss the newly allowed Patios.  Starting June 12, although dining in is not allowed, restaurants will be allowed to serve meals and drinks to patios – in some cases patios will be new and for others they will be existing or an expansion.  In all cases, social distancing will be required with rules on table spacing.  All relevant departments were on the Zoom call:  Planning, Building, Fire, Works and Clerks departments as well as representatives from AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission) and HKPR DHU (Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit). I counted about 6 businesses although Town Clerk Brent Larmer said that there had already been… Read complete articleTown is Helping Restaurants Set Up Patios

FSD Pharma scales down Cannabis cultivation

John Draper

As announced in April, FSD Pharma is selling their Cobourg building and Bloomberg reports that that part of the business (cannabis cultivation) has been scaled down to a bare minimum. Instead, the company will “double down on our biosciences and specialty R&D pharmaceutical efforts”.  In line with this, on June 3 they announced that they had received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to design a proof-of-concept study for a potential Covid-19 treatment.  But this drug does not involve any sort of cannabis-derived compound which implies that growing marijuana plants is no longer where they see their future.  It looks like Cobourg’s hope that they would provide large employment opportunities has gone.  Perhaps a new owner of the building will… Read complete articleFSD Pharma scales down Cannabis cultivation

Major Projects Continue During Covid-19 Crisis

John Draper

One department at the Town that is keeping busy is planning – there are about two dozen projects being reviewed – some major like the Golden Plough Lodge rebuild and some smaller like the new Coast Guard building on the East Pier.  There are also some that have left planning but are under construction like the Legion Condos on Hibernia which should be finished later this year.  Also on their plate are a review of Zoning ByLaws and hopefully some action on the Tannery property although that has had no action since 2018. Construction is now allowed subject to Social Distancing so these projects could well go ahead.  Some have stopped – there’s been no action on the Holiday Inn,… Read complete articleMajor Projects Continue During Covid-19 Crisis

Farmers’ Market Opens

John Draper

The rules set by the province on what is allowed are changing week by week – but under the rules in place at the time, the Cobourg’s Farmers’ Market adopted a “pre-order – pickup” protocol.  The first day for that was today, May 23rd.  There were 10 vendors participating out of 23 possible (food vendors) and over 40 total (all products).  Judging by the parcels waiting for pickup, some had significantly more customers than others.  Auxiliary Police were on hand to help ensure social distancing and entry only for those making a pickup.  It was a glorious Spring day but few people came and there was plenty of parking on Albert and across the road.  Organizers were hopeful that future… Read complete articleFarmers’ Market Opens

Cobourg Commercial Properties – May 2020

John Draper

Although houses and commercial properties are being  bought and sold, the number of buyers and sellers has dropped and certainly in the case of commercial Properties, the number of listings has dropped.  My source of information is MLS listings for Cobourg – previously there was also a listing by the Town’s Economic Development department but that is currently off-line.  Looking at the list below, there are few surprises.  The Woodlawn is still on the market, the Dutch Oven is still listed although if you ask Lauren she says it’s not for sale. New ones are Hannah’s at five corners (King and William), the A1 Taxi property on Densmore and Dimitri’s restaurant on William. And of course the Cannabis operation is… Read complete articleCobourg Commercial Properties – May 2020

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?

DBIA Members meet to Strategize

John Draper

The Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) had a virtual meeting today to talk about how they could come together to get through the Covid-19 crisis.  Chaired by Adam Bureau, the meeting with as many as 33 participants lasted 75 minutes and covered a range of topics.  Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf reported that one officer was isolated at the Breakers  – perhaps that was what prompted the move to get the isolation trailers setup (see article – link below).  He also said that Police were patrolling downtown at night and noted that there had not been any increase in downtown break-ins.  Adam said that some stores were open for business – one example was Theresa Rickerby’s stores accepting phone, email, Facebook… Read complete articleDBIA Members meet to Strategize

Cobourg in Partial Lockdown

John Draper

With most stores closed, all entertainment closed, most restaurants doing takeout only, many businesses sending their workers to work from home and others encouraged to stay at home, Cobourg is in virtual lockdown.  I ventured out today (it was a glorious day!) and looked at what’s happening Downtown, at the Mall and at No-Frills.  The first thing you notice is that there’s no problem getting parking anywhere – although it’s free on municipal meters and parking lots.  The next thing is that since stores and banks are limiting the number who can be inside at one time, there are orderly queues outside. One example was a bit strange: Staples looked closed but on closer inspection they had a sign that… Read complete articleCobourg in Partial Lockdown