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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 13 ,2 02 2 | 10 oakville.ca Rotational Tree Maintenance Beginning in January 2022, the rotational tree maintenance program will include all town-owned street trees in west Oakville between Bronte Road and Third Line north of the QEW to Upper Middle road, and from Bronte Road to Sixteen Mile Creek between Upper Middle Road and Dundas Street. Through the rotational tree maintenance program, the town proactively prunes all town-owned street trees on a ten-year rotational cycle to improve tree health and structure, and provide clearance for sidewalks, roads, buildings, and traffic signs and lights. Rotational tree pruning is performedon town trees only. In some cases, town trees are located on the municipal property bordering a homeowner's yard which may include the house-side of the sidewalk. You can find more information about the town's tree pruning programs and track the progress on the interactive map on the Tree Maintenance page on oakville.ca. The Oakville Beaver first met Tarun Rawat last November, not long after he opened his restaurant Pizza Nest. Business picked up not long after that, owing in large part to Rawat offering the public a traditional Italian dough fermentation process called biga. But since then, the prov- ince of Ontario entered modified Step two on Wednesday, Jan. 5, and has introduced new measures to curb the spread of CO- VID. This has restricted Rawat's customers from dining in and absorbing the intimate setting of his restaurant. "I'm a little worried for sure for the business," Ra- wat said. "Since Monday, the sales have started to drop. Yesterday, (Wednes- day), was the day one. [I'm allowed] only take out, no dine in." Also featured in The Beaver were the business- es ShineWaves and Anu Raina, who have expressed similar anxieties about the new restrictions. All three businesses opened in the last few months and are now contending with an uncertain future in the wake of the lockdown. Stephen Hayman and his wife Courtney Hayman opened ShineWaves, a shop dealing in spirituality-re- lated goods, last fall. He said that his business saw zero foot traffic on Wednes- day when the new mea- sures took hold. "Nobody stepped in the store and I'm used to having to (help) 30 or 40 (customers). Maybe on a good day, 50 to 60," Hayman said. After talking to some people on social media, Hayman said that they told him "we're just didn't want to go out, it didn't feel safe." He also acknowledged that day's windstorms may have played a role as well. Both he and Raina say there was a significant drop in foot traffic on the Lakeshore strip in Down- town Oakville, causing few people to come into their shops. "There aren't much peo- ple outside," said Raina, who is a fashion designer. "Everyone is scared, but I just feel we cannot let fear psychosis take over our lives. We need to encourage each other. Then we will be equipped to deal with it." Oakville BIA's execu- tive director Adrienne Gor- don says it is hard to know whether there has been a drop in foot traffic in the downtown as "the restric- tions have only been in place for less than 72 hours. It is too early to know." Supply chain issues are also plaguing Hayman and Raina specifically. " My work is so dependent on ev- erybody else. My printer, my fabric supplier, my con- tractor is my source. It's not a one-person job." "(Our supplier's) prices are going up," Hayman said. "Number one: we can't get the product in. Generally we're between six and 10 weeks behind on product from all our sup- pliers locally and globally." Raina says that she of- ten wakes up in the middle of the night feeling anxious about her small business. Hayman is in the same boat, but says he is dealing with using his own "de- stressing techniques." He says he has seen an in- crease in stress level in his clientele, for whom he of- ten provides meditation and spirituality help. "But what we have been finding is that the levels of stress and the levels of in- duced fear is significantly higher every time a restric- tion comes in," Hayman said. Both he and Raina un- derstand why the restric- tions are in place, but they still would like the govern- ment to be smarter. "I just feel like the gov- ernment hasn't really han- dled it well," Raina said. Pizza Nest, ShinWaves and Anu Raina are all looking at government subsidies. The province of Ontario released a new set of small business subsidie- s on Friday. Supports are available for businesses like restaurants and bars, museums and sports facil- ities, among others. In the meantime, Pizza Nest is lowering the price of wine and offering take- out alcohol where "you can buy any five beers for $25." Hayman says he is offering 10 percent off if customers follow ShineWaves on "Facebook, Twitter, Tik- Tok and Spotify and can prove it." NEWER BUSINESSES GRAPPLE WITH NEW COVID MEASURES Pizza Nest in downtown Oakville. Mansoor Tanweer/Metroland MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com BUSINESS