April 2, 2020

 

Most of our parks and trails experienced unprecedented use on the weekend of March 21 and 22. Being mindful of these increases, we stepped up our messaging to encourage people to stay home and made some changes to help encourage physical distancing, such as closing playgrounds and making the Jinkerson Steps one way. Thankfully, our residents seem to be listening. Since that peak weekend, trail use has gone down to numbers that are closer to our seasonal average. If you do plan on going outside, please make sure you follow all the health rules and consider visiting some of our lesser known trails, instead.

 

Another change we’ve made this week is to temporarily stop accepting applications for the City’s Celebration and Activity Grant Program in order to better observe the Orders and guidelines of BC’s health officer. While we greatly appreciate the desire to foster social connections during these difficult times, we hope residents will consider alternative event styles, such as online gatherings or live streams, to continue to build community spirit safely. When rules around gathering sizes and physical distancing change, we will begin accepting grant applications once again.

 

We’ve been told that these next two weeks are critical for flattening the curve. Even though it’s difficult, we need to keep doing the right things, such as staying home as much as possible, washing our hands frequently and observing physical distancing. I know we can do this, Chilliwack!

 

Mayor Ken Popove

Chilliwack, BC