PORT HAWKESBURY: With provincial social distancing restrictions beginning to be lifted across the province, people are now able to get out of their house by re-gaining access to some public spaces.
For the Town of Port Hawkesbury, that means the general public can now use the town’s bicycle track, along with having access to park at trailheads. Playgrounds, tennis and basketball courts will remain closed.
Public parks and recreation fields are now accessible again, however due to their poor conditions; the town has implemented their own restrictions on the field’s use.
“Our playing fields are saturated right now, our soccer fields, our baseball fields,” Port Hawkesbury’s CAO, Terry Doyle said. “So when they dry up, there will be some opportunities for individual families to utilize those if they wish.”
He said the premier was very clear on the use of fields for when they do re-open in town, they’re intended for family use.
“It’s for an individual family unit to go out and throw the ball around,” Doyle said. “It’s not for organized sports or groups to use a playing field.”
Following their monthly regular council meeting on May 5, Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, the town’s mayor, noted that provincial data suggests the community’s compliance around the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“My sense is that the Town of Port Hawkesbury, the citizens living within the town, have done a tremendous job respecting the public health mandate that has been set out by Dr. Strang and his team,” she told reporters. “And continue to do so.”
Chisholm-Beaton said it’s great to see some of the results coming forward during the daily updates.
“We haven’t had any new cases in our region for quite some time,” she said. “So overall, my assessment is our community has done quite well.”
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Doyle said the town has taken advantage of de-cleaning and completing maintenance to some of their facilities.
“Our public work staff have taken on projects, we’ve installed a large water main service into the Creamery Building, a significant sewage line installation there as well, and significant work on the Reynolds Street bridge,” Doyle said. “As we move forward, we’re now planning on protocols and procedures on what happens when we move back into the building.”
The town understands the challenges facing children and families in particular staying active while maintaining safe distances, and also having access to sporting equipment, which is why the recreation department is initiating the Keep Active Port Hawkesbury Recreation Equipment Loan Program.
Through a generous donation from Canadian Tire, sporting goods have been donated through the recreation department for the community’s use.
With a fixed list of equipment from softball, gloves, bats, and washer-toss, a total of 15 kits have been created and will be ready to go for the launch of the program on May 25.
Residents can call or e-mail the recreation department to reserve a piece of equipment they can keep for a week. Equipment will be dropped off by department staff on Tuesdays to the front step of the residence, who will wait in their vehicle until it’s been safely retrieved.
The equipment will be picked up the following Monday and brought back into the Civic Centre where it will be sanitized.
During the first two weeks of the pandemic, Port Hawkesbury RCMP responded to 41 COVID-related calls, but those numbers have since diminished to just three this past week.
“Those calls were to do with people witnessing larger groups together, people who they didn’t think were self-isolating when they should be,” Staff Sgt. Dave Morin said. “People around town have been doing a good job – people get it, and they’re maintaining their distance.”