Chatham-Kent will soon be restoring several services in the community that were originally slated to remain closed for the rest of the summer due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
During a meeting on Monday, councillors voted in favour of moving forward with a report that suggested council reopen splash pads, playground equipment, one of CK's arenas, recreation halls, meeting rooms, and the John D. Bradley Convention Centre. Council also voted to restore curbside pick-up at the Blenheim and Dresden Library branches starting on August 4.
Initially, the report suggested that the Blenheim Area be the one arena the municipality would choose to open at this stage. However, the motion was amended and has merely said the municipality will reopen one of its arenas by mid-August. Expanded openings of other arenas in CK will be determined based on demand.
Physical distancing and limiting gatherings to 50 people will be required with all reopenings, as per provincial health regulations.
The move to restore these services in the community comes one week after Chatham-Kent was announced as one of several areas across Ontario that have been permitted to move onto Phase 3 of the province's economic reopening. While health officials have given the reopenings a green light, council was required to overturn its previous decision to close facilities and limit services, due to the financial component.
The cost to reopen these local amenities will be around $140,000, which will be taken from $1.55 million in tax dollar savings that had been set aside to offset incurred due to the pandemic. Council initially put aside $2 million in May, however, the municipality spent $450,000 of that savings in June to reopening a number of other amenities when CK entered Phase 2.
- With files from Allanah Wills
