Now that COVID numbers are starting to come down, municipal staff in Elliot Lake want to end the highly successful Age Friendly Delivers program.
In a submission to City Council at its virtual meeting Monday night, staff asked council to end the program in two more weeks, at the end of June.
Age Friendly Delivers has purchased thousands of grocery orders and delivered them to senior's homes since the program designed to protect COVID-susceptible seniors was set up in March 2020.
The report noted that 58 per cent of the city's adults have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. In the over 70 age group, the incidence is nearly 90 per cent.
Council decided to extend the service one further period until Aug. 31, 2021. The service is paid for by the province through the COVID Relief Fund.
Coun. Chris Patrie was among those who voted to extend the deadline. He wanted to make sure no senior will suffer a hardship if the program is cancelled or if there are further phases of the pandemic.
Coun. Luc Cyr said, "I think we're just creating debate for changing the date. The goalposts keep moving."
He was for ending the program 30 days after the province ends the lockdown.
Another decision made at council Monday night was the cancellation of this year's drag races, normally held at Elliot Lake Airport the middle weekend of August each summer.
Afterwards, the city posted a notice on its website, "The current phased reopening plan remains unclear, as is the pace of vaccines and spectator sizes.
"Under those conditions, Council felt like it was the prudent choice to not host the event this year. City staff will review the event and hope that we will be safe to host the event in the summer of 2022."