North Grenville Council has declared June 2020 as Kemptville District Hospital Month.
According to a media release, this is in honour of its 60th Anniversary. During the council meeting this week, Council also adopted a motion to establish the month of June as LGBTQ2+ Pride Month for the municipality. The municipality says this will include a flag raising ceremony for both a Pride and Transgender flag this June. Other festivities may occur virtually or later in the year, according to North Grenville.
Council also endorsed the plan for the Business Support Program and says $150,000 from the COVID-19 Response Reserve will be used for its development. The municipality says the program looks to identify effective initiatives to provide assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic with the local business community. Some of the initiatives include:
- a new LoveNG website
- business support webinars
- professionally developed marketing strategy
- buying local partnership
- Personal Protective Equipment and Safety support measures
During the meeting, CAO Gary Dyke also gave a summary of the municipality’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic starting on March 13th. The municipality says a modest financial relief package was established to support residents by offering property tax and water bill deferrals for a limited time. On April first, a $1.38 million Cost Containment Plan/COVID-19 Reserve Fund was approved to support local businesses and to lessen the financial impacts on municipal operations related to COVID-19. North Grenville says money was redirected from operating and capital costs to create this fund. The full presentation can be found here.