By James Matthews

Dysart residents will have limited time to tend to their ServiceOntario needs.

ServiceOntario used to have a brick and mortar office on York Street. That was recently closed in favour of a mobile unit that will visit the township on certain days of the week to provide in-person service.

ServiceOntario is where residents can renew health cards, driver’s licences, obtain birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates. You have to go there to get accessible parking permits and vehicle licence plates.

Of course, many of those services can be done online nowadays.

Due to snow removal requirements and the need for public accessibility, this unit will set up in the A.J. LaRue Community Centre parking lot adjacent to the Skate Park.

The unit will be in the county two Wednesdays of the month and open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

People are encouraged to book a visit online or by telephone.

“It’s a trailer that pulls up into the parking lot here to service the community,” said Mallory Bishop, Dysart’s township clerk.

Councillor Pat Casey frowned on the service change.

“I’m not in favour of this whatsoever,” he said. “We’ve got elderly people trying to abide by the law, getting stuff licenced. I heard this trailer is 55-feet long.

“So it’ll be interesting to see how that works in the town parking lot in the middle of winter when there’s snowmobile trailers and cars all over the place, trying to get our elderly into this (ServiceOntario trailer) that comes twice a month that they have to get online to get to do it.”

Casey said the alternative is for them to drive into Minden Hills.

He suggested there may be something council could do, perhaps write the provincial government to have the decision revisited. ServiceOntario is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery.

“The horse has left the barn already, but I think it’s a miscalculation on the ministry’s part to even think about that,” Casey said.

“They haven’t had a lot of uptake,” Coun. Tammy Donaldson said. “They’ve only been here twice so far.”

She said the municipality has erected signage and has taken to social media channels to spread the word to the public about the service change.

“I did follow up and ask them if there’s anything we could do as well,” Donaldson said. “Unfortunately, from a staff perspective, they’re not going to change their decision right now because they deem Minden is close enough to be a full service centre for everybody.”