Belleville residents feeling the summer heat will be able to find a little relief this summer.
City council decided at its meeting this week to open the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre as a cooling centre.
A number of councillors asked that the standard for opening the centre be lowered slightly, for when the temperature reaches 30 Celsius or the Humidex at 35.
The standard for opening has been slightly higher than that in the past.
Councillor Sean Kelly noted that, “Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be day five of our current heat wave, and we are only in June. What will things be like in July and August? This is very tough for a lot of people and they are looking to us for help.”
CAO Rod Bovay emphasized that it would only be open in the heat of the day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., not at night.
Fire Chief Mark MacDonald, who is in charge of the group that oversees the cooling centres, and the warming centres in the winter, was asked whether or not data had been kept on how many people use the cooling centres.
