November 27, 2020

Page 1

The Creemore

ECHO

Friday, November 27, 2020 Vol. 20 No. 48 www.creemore.com News and views in and around Creemore

INSIDE

JUST LOOK AT THE SOLD SIGNS Vicki Bell, Broker 154 Mill St. Creemore 705-446-4539

Sweet Success

Maple syrup wins Royal Winter Fair PAGE 2

Publications Mail Agreement # 40024973

LOCATIONS

ORTH B R O K E R A G E

PERSONAL I PROFESSIONAL I PROGRESSIVE REAL ESTATE SERVICES

Simcoe Muskoka now in the orange zone

Staff photo: Natalie de Ruiter

Nottawasaga Creemore Public School is unable to hold its annual food drive this year, due to the pandemic, so students will be filtering their donations through The Creemore Echo. School related donations will be tallied by house colour, as demonstrated by Grade 8 students Derk Hovius and Emilee Murphy.

Clearview supports Bill 229 by Trina Berlo Clearview councillor Thom Paterson could not rally support from fellow members to call for the extraction of a piece of legislation from omnibus Bill 229 that would change the role of Conservation Authorities (CAs) in Ontario. “These changes significantly limit the ability of conservation authorities to protect Ontario’s environment, ensure people and property are safe from natural hazards and to apply watershed-based decisions on development. Ultimately, these changes in many ways, remove much of conservation authorities’ ability to influence the overall health and

protection of Ontario’s citizens and the environment,” wrote NVCA officials in a letter to all watershed municipalities asking for support. As the NVCA rep for Clearview, Paterson championed the request at Monday’s meeting. He would like to see the changes taken out of the Bill and considered through a separate process, saying the municipalities are being left out of the conversation. The NVCA says the Bill hinders the agency’s ability to protect against natural hazards; enforce regulations; puts the final decision for appeals directly with the minister; and allows (See “Doing” on page 10)

Collingwood Fuels Ltd. PROPANE • residential • commercial • farm

CYLINDER REFILLS

FUEL DELIVERY • furnace oil • diesel fuel • gasoline

OIL FURNACE SALES & SERVICE

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15 Stewart Road, P.O. Box 321, Collingwood, ON L9Y 3Z7

by Trina Berlo With the growth of COVID-19 levelling off slightly in the region, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Charles Gardner is somewhat confident that the area will not have to go from orange to red, under the province’s framework for deciding what is open and what is closed. If we stay the course, Gardner said, he does not anticipate going into the red. Gardner referred to the week’s numbers as the “beginning of hope for us, and the province,” which has also seen a slight levelling in the number of new cases. “In terms of our trajectory, the fact that we have not gone up a great deal over the past week compared with the week before is good news,” he said. “Had we continued on that curve by this point we would have had an incidence rate of 50 cases per 100,000 population per week.” The weekly incidence rate is now 33 cases per 100,000 for the whole of Simcoe-Muskoka, 36 for Simcoe alone, and 23 for Clearview. The orange level brings some new restrictions, including limiting the number of people to be seated at a restaurant to four, no personal services

to the face, and limits on liquor sale times. Gardner said it is recommended, locally and at the provincial level, that people not travel between the different zones, meaning those currently in lockdown in Peel Regional Health Unit and Toronto Public Health should not travel into areas with fewer restrictions and vice versa. Gardner said he is going so far as to send a letter to municipalities in the region requesting they do not allow residents of grey or red zones to use local recreational facilities. This is motivated by cases where groups from areas in lockdown have booked ice time to play hockey. This week, there are 20 outbreaks in the region, including eight outbreaks in educational settings. There are a total of eight cases at Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School, with 162 high-risk contacts in isolation, and Sunset Manor long term care home in Collingwood has three cases – two staff and one resident. Gardner said he is very hopeful about vaccines being available sometime in the New Year, and says the health unit is turning its attention to how to effectively administer them when available.

Station board closes facility by Trina Berlo The volunteer board of Station on the Green community centre in Creemore held a special meeting on Nov. 20 to reconsider whether or not it should remain open for its two user groups. A recent decision to allow the winter Creemore Farmers’ Market to operate on Saturdays, beginning next week, prompted Clearview council rep Deputy Mayor Barry Burton to bring the issue back to the table, with

support from Mayor Doug Measures, who was also in attendance. As a result, the board reconsidered whether or not it was safe to allow Clearview Community Church to continue its Sunday services. The two organizations are currently the only users of Station on the Green. The church is allowed to operate at 30 per cent capacity, with a maximum of 36 people, but the concern is that the (See “Concerns” on page 3)


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