By Chad Ingram

Haliburton County and its four lower-tier townships will collectively receive some $2.87 million in COVID-19 relief funding from the provincial government, money to help offset operating pressures related to the ongoing pandemic.

Premier Doug Ford announced funding of $1.6 billion for Ontario’s municipalities on Wednesday, that money being divided up using a population-based formula.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP and Ontario Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott made a local announcement outside the Haliburton County office on Newcastle Street in Minden. The upper tier of the county will receive $1.435 million; the Municipality of Dysart et al $475,400; the Township of Minden Hills $402,200; Highlands East $281,700; and the Township of Algonquin Highlands $275,900.

“We’re really over the moon about this,” said Haliburton County Warden Liz Danielsen. “It’s going to help us tremendously with some of the challenges we’ve got.”

At the county level, Danielsen noted some of those challenges include IT and technology, as well as possible reconfiguration of staff space and council chambers within the county office, as a result of the pandemic.

See the full story in next week’s Echo and Times.