NEWS RELEASE
THE CITY OF TIMMINS
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In light of a news release this past Monday night, Premier Ford announced a new Emergency Order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act which effectively closes all outdoor recreational amenities across the Province effective immediately. This preventative measure is anticipated to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario communities.
The City of Timmins has reviewed this latest directive to determine what this means in terms of public access to specific municipally-owned recreational amenities.
Mark Jensen, Director of Community & Development Services, advises “that all city owned playground equipment, sports fields, basketball, multi-use and tennis courts, offleash dog parks, beaches, skateboard parks, picnic areas, outdoor community gardens, park shelters, and other outdoor recreational areas that would have the potential to attract a high density of users are closed to the public effective immediately.”
City staff are reviewing its current inventory of recreation amenities and will be coming up with a plan to introduce appropriate mitigative measures to help ensure public compliance in this regard.
“We anticipate considering a range of temporary measures to be implemented in a phased manner as we move from winter to spring conditions,” said Glenn Thurston, Manager of Facilities and Parks. “Additional measures may include such things as installing signage, locking gate access to courts and fields, shutting off outdoor lighting, installing fencing or barriers, as well as other options.”
Despite this, Mayor Pirie advises that “as it stands now, residents can still take advantage of our many trails and open space areas within our park network as weather permits, and provided that everyone maintains a physical distance of at least two metres apart.”
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