April 1, 2020: Mayor's Report for Special Council Meeting - By Teleconference
April 1, 2020. Special Meeting of Council, Conference Call / Facebook Live
The regularly scheduled meeting of March 17th was cancelled due to the threat of spreading and/or contracting the COVID-19 virus. The Provincial government and the Hastings Prince Edward County Board of Health imposed strict guidelines for the public to prevent the spread of the virus.
I cannot emphasize enough – you must follow those instructions to protect the public, our most vulnerable residents and staff. I am going to repeat: if you have travelled, you must self-quarantine for 14 days. That means you do not go anyplace other than your home/deck/balcony and you must not socialize. If you have any symptoms – most important - stay at home. Ensure that you adhere to proper hand hygiene, physical distancing, reach out to neighbours, friends, family to run errands. Only your personal respect for these measures will flatten the curve and eventually return our community to the “new” normal.
As your Mayor, my personal goal is for the residents of the Municipality of Marmora and Lake to evolve from this pandemic with zero afflictions of this horrible virus.
Please refer to the Marmora and Lake website for accurate and regular updates and announcements. The office is operating on reduced hours and we have encouraged staff to work from home whenever possible. The fewer people in the office and staff in the other operations at one time will reduce the risk of spreading the virus. All facilities, playgrounds and spaces that would normally attract people to gather have been closed and in most cases have been roped off and signed appropriately. Please comply with these simple rules. It is temporary.
March 17th
I attended the Hastings County Planning and Development Meeting and the Finance, Property and Personnel Meeting.
March 26th
I participated in the Hastings County Council Meeting. Warden Phillips announced that as of that day he declared a State of Emergency for Hastings County.
All Department Heads gave an update on their current status. These are very challenging times for Long Term Care, Paramedic/Ambulance Services and Social Services in particular.
I also called a meeting of the Municipal Emergency Control Group to discuss our options to deal with this pandemic and discuss if we should declare a state of emergency. We determined to meet again on Monday, March 30th and again review the current circumstances in the municipality and surrounding municipalities.
March 27th
I participated in the AMO Board Meeting by teleconference. Some of the larger municipalities with major medical centers and larger populations with confirmed cases are facing extreme challenges both with meeting medical demands and acquiring sufficient personal protective equipment.
AMO staff are in constant communication with the Minister of Health, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the office of the Solicitor General among others regarding this pandemic.
The government has revised regulations for holding open scheduled council meetings to permit council meetings to be held by teleconference.
I also attended a webinar training by teleconference regarding the regulations of holding council meetings by teleconference.
March 30th
All of Council participated in a trial run to test our ability and equipment to hold a legally scheduled council meeting by teleconference. I want to thank and compliment Tonia and Jenn for their achievement in setting up the technical aspect but mostly for coaching the rest of us to use this new method of conducting a meeting while complying with the regulations.
The Municipal Emergency Control Group met and discussed the current situation in Marmora and Lake. It was unanimously decided that it would be prudent to declare a state of emergency in the Municipality of Marmora and Lake effective Tuesday, March 31st. The appropriate submission has been submitted to the Ministry and a press release was prepared and posted to the municipal web site. A number of other municipalities in Hastings County have declared as well.
The key advantage of declaring is that if we require the services of volunteers or need to hire support personnel, they are covered under WSIB.
March 31st
Staff and I spent much time responding to public concerns regarding seasonal residents returning to their cottages creating a strain on limited food and other resources. Premier Ford has a comment on his web site and Dr. Williams” Medical Officer of Health in an interview today publicly discouraged cottagers from relocating for the purpose of self-quarantine and encouraged them to be considerate of the local communities who are not particularly equipped to respond to their needs.
However, it is preferable that seasonal residents remain in their permanent residence and we strongly encourage them to do so, we have no authority to deny access or limit their ability to acquire goods and services. We can only appeal to their sense of responsibility within the community and insist that if they do relocate to their seasonal residence that they comply with physical distancing, self-quarantine if they have symptoms and adhere to hand hygiene as prescribed.
April 1st
I participated in a teleconference with the Board of Health.
In addition to regular agenda items, Dr. Oglaza provided an update on the Board of Health activities and information. I will give a brief overview but for complete details please go to their web site.
The Board of Health has expanded its internal services to provide contact services by establishing a COVID-19 helpline. During March, the Board of Health fielded over 3,200 calls. Their doors are closed to the public but staff are working 24/7 at the offices. If you call that line you will be able to talk to someone and they will determine if testing is appropriate or if you need to be referred to an assessment centre. Community Assessment Centres are being opened imminently. You must be referred through telehealth or a primary health provider and make an appointment before attending the assessment centres. This is where it will be determined if hospitalization is required.
Dr. Oglaza stated that testing is being prioritized. First-line caregivers and the most vulnerable in long term care facilities and some others with extenuating circumstances will be tested. He emphasized the point that testing is not that helpful with low-risk people. If you are exhibiting minor symptoms and you are in the low-risk category, testing will not help. The most important thing is to self-isolate at home until you recover.
Dr.Oglaza responded to questions regarding information being shared about the location of cases within the community. He explained that like any other infectious disease information, personal privacy must be respected under the freedom of information and privacy act. If someone is diagnosed as having the virus, every effort will be made to contact all that may have had contact with the individual and advised to self-quarantine.
It will be a few weeks to determine if we have “flattened the curve”. Since there is currently no cure, slowing down the spread by respecting the physical distancing, exercising hand hygiene and most importantly “stay home”.
Finally, On behalf of myself and Council, I would like to thank all first-line caregivers, medical professionals, service delivery and businesses who are providing the essential services needed and required by the public. Thank you to our staff for making the changes within our organization to comply with the distancing and for doing their best to protect the public by regular cleaning and roping off potentially contaminated areas and for keeping our water safe. Thank you to staff for coming into the office to process tax and billing payments and updating communication on our web site. Thank you to first responders and volunteers, to contractors for continuing to collect garbage, to the roads department for maintaining our road system and our building inspector for continuing to process permits. Thanks to our administrative staff for setting up our technical system to let us hold meetings safely and still comply with legal requirements under the municipal act to hold open and transparent meetings. Thank you to the public and residents for your patience and understanding while we are learning to operate under the “new normal”. I repeat, go to the municipal web site for accurate and up to date information and municipal announcements.