City of Powell River is beginning to open up from the COVID-19 lockdown.
At the June 4 city council meeting, mayor Dave Formosa said that the previous week, the city began reopening some of its facilities to the public, with physical distancing and other health measures in place to protect residents and staff. He said the finance department at city hall, the airport terminal, Willingdon Beach campsite, city playgrounds and the wharfinger’s office have all been opened.
“I want to thank our staff for making this possible and the people for being respectful and kind when they attend these facilities,” said Formosa.
Regarding Willingdon Beach campsite, Formosa said he is told the caretakers have been in touch with all of the people who have reservations for June and are now focused on taking bookings for this month. He said they are still contacting people with reservations for July and August, and those who want to get on waiting lists for those months can call the campsite to do so.
Formosa said he is pleased to announce some parks, recreation and culture programs are moving forward. He said beginning in mid-June, the city will restart the co-ed adult slo-pitch league and begin outdoor adult fitness programs throughout city parks.
“These two programs will adapt to rules that promote personal safety, good hygiene and physical distancing measures,” said Formosa. “The reopening plan will further expand on July 6 to include children’s summer camps and limited access to the weight gym in the recreation complex. The weight room layout will be modified to promote physical distancing and access will be through a reservation process to control the number of people. Additional cleaning supplies and signs will also be installed throughout the main gym.”
Formosa said reservations for fitness classes and children’s summer camps will begin on June 8.
“I want to close by reminding people that not every business or organization will be putting in place the same safeguards to protect the health and safety of their customers, staff and clients,” said Formosa. “We ask that people be patient, kind and respectful as our businesses and agencies begin to open their doors to the public under the requirements that have been put in place.”
During the community engagement portion of the council meeting, Formosa said he had spoken on the telephone with the vice-president of operations for Paper Excellence, talking about the company’s situation.
He said he had also chatted with a group of investors that has been “poking around the Santé Veritas operation.”
Formosa said he was called by some neighbours to the Adams Street neighbourhood, where he was joined by five families who were “quite upset,” and are living close to the supportive living housing complex on Joyce Avenue. Formosa said the neighbours were upset by a number of people loitering around the neighbourhood.
He said one of the residents actually came and joined the conversation, while they were at the back of the housing project.
“I was explaining to the neighbours that I didn’t think the majority of the problems were coming from the residents,” said Formosa. “The lady from the residence came out and backed up some of the things I was saying. She left and then the manager of the facility came out.”
Formosa said he’s given direction to the neighbours to do some things for him to bring back information.
“Based on that I’ll get to work and see if there’s something we can do to help the situation,” said Formosa.
He said he was also on CBC, talking about COVID-19 and how it affects Powell River. He also spoke about restaurants opening and what the city was trying to do with patios.
