News Highlights for Southwest New Brunswick: March 26-February 2, 2021

It's now been just over a year since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Canada, and January is breaking records in New Brunswick when it comes to the number of new COVID-19 cases emerging after the holidays. New Brunswick's second wave shows few signs of subsiding; however, the Saint John region and the Fredericton region have improved enough that Public Health recommended they be moved back from the Red level of Recovery to the Orange level Tuesday at midnight. The Edmundston regions remains the hardest hit region of the province and is still on lockdown.

Despite moving back to the Orange level of Recovery in Zone 2, which includes Charlotte County, border towns fear the virus is still at their doorstep. Washington County, Maine currently has more active cases of COVID-19 than all of New Brunswick combined. With many Charlotte County residents still working across the border in Maine, as well as Campobello Islanders traveling into Lubec, for essential goods and services, there is concern in the area that the virus is looming just next door.

The Government Garage across from the Health Centre on Route 3 in Harvey caught fire on Friday night. The building was completely destroyed, as were two plow trucks, but firefighters were able to salvage the road grater and the front end loader. One of the plow trucks that is usually stored there was fortunately in Fredericton at the time of the fire.

In a statement, Harvey Fire Chief Jerrad Swan said, "We received a phone call about the fire on Friday night at 8:57pm. Six fire trucks from Harvey and 35 fire fighters were immediately dispatched and were on scene until about 11pm. We called for mutual aid from McAdam and Upper Kingsclear. The source of the fire in still under investigation."

The existing wood structure of the Market Square Wharf in Saint Andrews is in a state of disrepair requiring complete rurbishment due a number of factors such as rot and environmental stresses including climate change. The Town of Saint Andrews presented three options for wharf refurbishment to residents in a Public Consultation Session on Wednesday night. The three models presented were an armour stone breakwater, a concrete structure wharf and a wooden structure similar to the current wharf design. Though the price estimates and projected longevity of each model vary, the project is expected to cost approximately $5 million. The federal government will fund approximately 70% of the costs, provided the refurbishment plans incorporate climate change adaptation into the designs.

Due to an outpouring of varying opinions and concerns voiced by residents, the Town has decided to hold another Public Consultation session on February 17th at 6pm. The Town hopes to begin wharf refurbishment in late 2021 after the busy tourism season.

Doug and Tamara Harper of Harper's Exotic Animals & Pet Supply in St. Stephen were two out of 89 individuals recognized across the province this week for exemplary acts of service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Harpers have been hard at work making sure people and their pets across Charlotte County are taken care of by doing home deliveries and curb side pickups. Members of the public had until the end of 2020 to nominate people they felt had stepped up in various and meaningful ways during the course of the pandemic.