EDITOR'S NOTE: The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic March 11 - six months ago. To mark the milestone, we will be publishing a series of stories over the next few days about how COVID-19 has changed our world. Today, we talk to the Town of the Blue Mountains mayor.
Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) Mayor, Alar Soever says the past six months of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a rollercoaster of changing procedures and protocols but feels TBM has fared well through the initial storm.
“We were making decisions in a very fluid situation without a lot of data, and sometimes the province will come up with things that we would have to react to very quickly,” Soever said.
“We've had no deaths here and I guess that is the final measure of how you fare. Everything else kind of pales in comparison,” he said.
The Grey Bruce Health Unit (GBHU) has seen a total of 129 cumulative cases and remains one of the only health units in Ontario to continue to have no deaths as a result of COVID.
“I think that's a tribute to the members of the community who in general have followed all the protocols and procedures that the government recommends,” Soever added.
The TBM has seen a total of seven cases of COVID-19, with the last case being reported on Aug.11.
“In general, the community's done fairly well. The way people pulled together and volunteered, they started a couple of meal programs and really were looking out for one another,” Soever said.
Grey County Warden, Paul McQueen echoes Soever’s thoughts and adds that the GBHU has been a monumental player in the success of the county keeping COVID numbers low.
“Throughout the emergency, our Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Ian Arra, and his team at Public Health have been doing an exceptional job. They have been a great partner and we appreciate the leadership and support during this emergency,” McQueen said.
In the initial days of the pandemic, both the municipality and county were able to adjust their operations to virtual platforms.
And while adapting to the new world of Zoom, McQueen says among other things, the pandemic has highlighted the need for better rural internet access.
“Online meetings are no substitute for in-person meetings, but it allows us to get our work done,” McQueen said. “One of the biggest technical setbacks has been broadband access in rural areas. The pandemic has once again shown that there are gaps in our local infrastructure and access to high speed is integral to both the economic and social wellbeing of our community.”
Soever says TBM's greatest challenge in the first six months of the COVID pandemic has been managing the increased visitors in the area.
“The amount of visitors is the biggest challenge and then also dealing with the community reaction to that. There were a lot of communities that reacted badly and said, you're not welcome,” Soever explained. “But, these visitors will come anyway. You can't stop them. But, with messages like that, they'll be angry that they are unwanted and they're not going to listen to anything else you tell them.”
In an effort to manage the influx of visitors, TBM implemented a number action items, including extending pedestrian access with the use of jersey barriers on the main street in Thornbury, implementing a paid parking pilot at waterfront properties, increasing bylaw staff and working closely with the local OPP detachment.
“Our volunteer fire department has certainly felt the impact of this as well,” Soever continued. “They've had an extraordinary number of calls, water rescues, and high-angle rescues of visitors.”
When it comes to lessons learned, Soever says he would have liked to see the paid parking pilot launched earlier in the year.
“I think that was one thing we could have done a little better in terms of getting that operational, and also getting signage up a bit sooner,” Soever said.
Both the county and TBM were successful in acquiring PPE for local businesses. And, as the pandemic continues, TBM staff have shifted their focus to assisting another large portion of the population - farmers.
Tim Hendry, director of communications and economic development for the TBM says that staff are currently in the process of acquiring more face masks, as well as face shields.
“We will be distributing these to our local growers in the area to help support the safety of migrant workers as they come into the community,” Hendry explained. “We're in the midst of placing an order for about 500 face shields and above 500 face masks that will be deployed to the local farmers and growers immediately.”
McQueen says the county has been well supplied with PPE since the early days of the pandemic declaration.
“We had large donations from Bruce Power, plus dozens of small businesses donated N95s, gloves, sanitizer and other products they could to keep our frontline workers protected. We are so thankful for this support,” McQueen said.
For McQueen, keeping long-term care (LTC) COVID-free was one of the largest and more stressful challenges presented by the pandemic.
“I had anxiety around LTC. Seeing the devastating impact COVID-19 was having on elderly people in other places around the world and even elsewhere in Ontario was scary,” he said.
He explains that the county acted quickly and began redeploying staff from various departments, like Museum and Tourism, to support residents in the home and LTC staff.
“When visitations were completely restricted we quickly introduced our Colour It Connect program to let families meet for video calls with their loved ones,” McQueen said.
Now, as restrictions ease, students return to the classroom, and everyone begins to adjust to the new COVID way of life, both the municipality and county are setting their sights on the future.
Warden McQueen says the county will be focusing on ensuring businesses and residents recover from any COVID-related impacts, reopening public offices with COVID safety protocol, as well as determining when to end the local emergency declaration and if there will be a need for a county-wide face covering bylaw.
Grey County declared a state of emergency on March 26, which continues to be in place at this time.
“Our priorities will focus on recovery and returning to normal,” McQueen said. “Grey County council is scheduling a strategic planning session for early in the fall and that will help the council collectively set priorities and plot a course forward. We will continue to monitor COVID-19 and be responsive to the situation.”
For Soever, TBM council will be looking to get its committees of council up and running again, as meetings were cancelled through the pandemic months.
“The top three priorities now are making sure everybody comes out of this hole, transitioning back from reactive to actually getting back on our agenda for this term, and then trying to understand what the future really looks like for TBM,” Soever said.
He adds that the pandemic has impacted the area’s housing market and council members are anticipating seeing a large number of new residents in the coming months and years, which will have an impact on everything from school registration numbers, demands on town services and recreational needs.
“People's lives will be changed forever, and that means that the shape of our community will also be changed forever. So, the priority needs to be making sure that we're set up to manage what is inevitably coming,” Soever continued.
With business recovery at the top of the priority list for both the county and the municipality, both the warden and mayor are encouraging residents to shop locally to help get the community back on its feet.
“If Grey County businesses are one thing, it’s resilient,” McQueen said. “It’s so important for all of us to support our local businesses right now. Small businesses play a huge role in our communities and we need to spend our money locally. We as municipalities need to work with small businesses as they adapt. We need to be flexible and accommodating to their needs to the best of our ability.”
