“At the very least,” said Stéphane Parisien, chief administrator for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR), during the June 24 teleconference session for council.

The UCPR main office on Court Street in L’Orignal has been closed, with all staff working from home, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring. With the start of the provincial government’s economic restart plan for Ontario, a few staff members are now back at the office but access is still closed to the general public with one exception.

Limited entry is allowed for individuals who need to go to the provincial offences and court registry office on the second floor of the building. They have to phone ahead to make arrangements for entry and then wait outside the door until the attending UCPR employee lets them inside to go straight upstairs to the registry area and then back out again once they are finished.

UCPR administration is now working on a plan to have full public access again to the UCPR office during the first full week of September. Parisien noted that it also depends on the state of the pandemic situation in Ontario at that time.