January 19, 2021: Mayor's Report

January 5th

I chaired the regular Planning and Development meeting and the regular Council Meeting.

January 6th

I participated in the Emergency Control Group Meeting. At 12:45 I participated in the weekly teleconference with Hastings County and Hastings Prince Edward County Board of Health

January 13

Ontario Regulation 11/21 made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act set out the terms of the Stay at Home Order effective 12:01 on January 14, 2021. I am going to read Parts 1 - 8 under Schedule 1.

This is extremely important in the effort to control this virus.

Please comply with the ORDER. Stay home unless it is absolutely necessary.

The Order reads as follows:

Every individual shall remain in their place of residence at all times unless leaving their place of residence is necessary for one or more of the stated following purposes. There are 29 exceptions. Please refer to the web site if you wish to review these exceptions.

Schedule 1 (2) states:

(2) Despite subsections ( 1), no person shall attend a business or place that is required to be closed under the Stage 1 Order, except to the extent that temporary access to the closed business or place is permitted under subsection 1 (6) of Schedule 1 to the Stage 1 Order

(3) This Order does not apply to individuals who are homeless.

( 4) If this Order allows an individual to leave their residence to go to a place, it also authorizes them to return to their residence from that place.

(5) The requirement in subsection (1) to remain at an individual's place of residence does not prevent the individual from accessing outdoor parts of their place of residence such as a backyard, or accessing indoor or outdoor common areas of the communal residences in which they reside that are open, including lobbies.

(6) For greater certainty, nothing in this Order permits a business or place to be open if it is required to be closed under the Stage 1 Order.

(7) For greater certainty, nothing in this order permits an individual to gather with other individuals if the gathering is not permitted under the Stage 1 Order.

(8) For greater certainty, individuals may only attend an outdoor organized public event or social gathering that is permitted under the Stage 1 Order for a purpose set out in subsection (1)

In response to this Order, the Municipality of Marmora and Lake Emergency Control Group developed the following plan for municipal departments and have made changes to comply with the Order as follows:

  • The Municipal Office will remain closed for public entry. Due to the stay at home order enacted by the Province, the staff will be working from home until further notice. E-mails are the preferred way of communication at this time, however, voicemails can be checked remotely. The Transportation Department will be focusing on winter maintenance and patrols.

  • The Environmental Department will be focused on essential services. The landfill will be open regularly scheduled hours. You are required to wear a mask on-site.

  • The Building Department will function out of the office as much as possible but will continue to issue permits as allowed under the regulation.

  • Emergency Services will be focused on essential services only.

  • Service Ontario is closed until further notice.

  • The Arena and all municipal facilities are closed to the public.

This is a reminder: Under the provincial emergency, there will be enhanced enforcement by provincial offences officers.

According to Public Health statistics, we in Hastings County have one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 in Ontario. I thank you for your diligence and I appreciate the fact that your adherence to COVID guidelines and restrictions have kept our area safe.

January 13th

Our Emergency Control Group met to formulate our plans regarding the work environment for all departments and staff. I participated in the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health and Hastings County teleconference.

January 14th

I participated in a teleconference with Premier Ford, Minister Clark, Minister Elliott, Solicitor General Jones and General Hillier for an update on Ontario's COVID-19 vaccination roll out and public health measures. They each spoke on their role and plans for administering the vaccine.

Then they opened the floor for comments or questions. Surprisingly, I had the opportunity to speak. I thanked them collectively for their response and the efforts of all levels of government to work together to control the spread of the virus and administer vaccines to the most vulnerable populations.

However, I reminded them that our particular area has very few positive cases but that I was concerned that people travelling or relocating from high-risk areas to our relatively safe areas could transmit the virus here resulting in our local health care systems being adversely impacted. I requested that this area represented by the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health receive the same consideration for vaccination and immunization as the more populated areas.

January 19th

I participated in Hastings County Planning and Development and Finance Property and Personnel Meetings and this afternoon our regular Council Meeting.

Thank you and please stay home and stay safe.

Mayor Jan O'Neill

Jennifer Bennett