Wednesday, April 1, 2020 Vol. 43, No. 14
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Holden Village office Irma CAO resigns, by-election closed to public delayed due to COVID-19 situation Patricia Harcourt
Returning travellers noted for not self-isolating as required Holden Village Office has closed its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, effective March 26. Administration staff will be working from home while public works will work when required. The notification from the village office also included this warning: "We have been informed about a few groups of youths hanging around. Parents please talk to your children about social distancing while out in public. “This virus is spreading and to ensure the health of our community we need everyone to help prevent the spread. "We can't say this enough, stay at home if you are not feeling well, had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, or recently traveled outside of Canada." Some older adults were also sanctioned for not self-isolating when necessary, such as having recently returned from outside Canada.
"We have received reports that travellers have returned to Holden who decided to not follow these important steps and this is very disappointing. "Through amendments to the Procedures Regulation under the Provincial Offences Procedures Act, community peace officers, in addition to police, will be able to issue tickets to enforce COVID-19 public health orders. "Fines now administered through tickets for violating an order have increased from up to $100 per day to a prescribed fine of $1,000 per occurrence. Courts will also have increased powers to administer fines of up to $100,000 for a first offence and up to $500,000 for a subsequent offence for more serious violations. These fines will be in force over the coming days." Holden residents can email vholden@telusplanet.net if there is an emergency as the office staff will not be in the office.
Editor
Lisa Brown has resigned her position as CAO for the Village of Irma after working there about five months, Irma Mayor Joan Green has announced. Green said Brown has returned to her home community of Slave Lake/Grande Cache. "This job was not a good fit for her," she said. Village employee Stephanie Rinas will once again take over as Interim CAO for the time being, a position she held after the last CAO moved on to a job in Wainwright and before Brown's arrival. A by-election had been set for April 7 to fill a village councillor position with Robert Parkins and Jim Schubada vying for the council seat. Before her departure, Brown had already overseen an earlier by-election in January to replace former mayor Vance Fuder, who resigned last November. After this election, the next Mayor Dennis Fuder resigned and nominations were held. However, the current situation has
meant the April 7 by-election won't proceed. "Due to COVID-19 our April 7 election has been postponed until further notice," said Green, adding the search for a new CAO has also been delayed, "as our priorities are keeping our communities safe," from the coronavirus. "We are working closely with the Director of Emergency Services, Alberta Health Services, the M.D. of Wainwright, the Town of Wainwright, and the two other villages (Chauvin and Edgerton) to support the province's efforts to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Green. The Village of Irma is working to ensure the health and safety of its citizens, and keep essential services and businesses operating, states a media release. "The Village of Irma has placed signage within the community and has spoken to businesses about taking all precautions outlined by Alberta Health Services," states the release, noting further changes to the COVID-19 directives were made in recent days that limit gatherings to 15 and close businesses to all but essential services.
Viking nixes idea of declaring state of emergency for now Patricia Harcourt Editor
As of Monday, Viking officials were weighing their options in dealing with the COVID-19 virus, including the possibility of declaring a state of emergency on the municipal level. Mayor Jason Ritchie confirmed a meeting of town council was held the previous Friday "to discuss things." But he said that on Monday after another meeting, "we're not doing anything right now." Council was also looking into ways to communicate with the public about the issue of the coronavirus.
The town is currently without the presence of its CAO Don McLeod, has been on holiday in Thailand but can't return due to flight cancellations. He is expected to return on a plane May 2 but once arriving he will have to go into quarantine for 14 days. Ritchie stated: "I am in continuous contact with him and in the process of getting him setup with his emails while he is away." In the meantime, the mayor put in a word about others in the community who are supposed to be self-isolating at home after returning from a trip but are failing to do so. "Some people are not staying home
as mandated to do so," he said, adding, "but it is appreciated to those that are." Meanwhile he said town staff are set up to work from home during the shutdown of the town's administrative offices. The entire Carena Complex which houses the town office is closed until further notice. Public Works staff will still be on the job to deal with infrastructure and other issues. A recent sewer backup kept them busy recently that was caused by someone throwing sanitary wipes down a toilet. Ritchie had considered the idea of a state of emergency being declared to be prepared for any eventuality, but said: "There's no urgent situation, it's being
pro-active." In any case, he said it would have to be done through the Beaver Emergency Services Commission (BESC) under its Regional Emergency Plan. This plan encompasses Beaver County and the five towns and villages within its boundaries and has been in place for the last three years and is under the direction of Allan Weiss, Regional Emergency Manager. In dealing with the COVID-19 threat, The threat from the virus is real as Alberta's Provincial Operations Centre has raised alert level to Level 4, the highest See VIKING P11