The Community
Press Telling your story
Volume 112, Issue 43
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
$1 Including GST
y t s i y t d BRCF announces r s i a d H r a n H o n g o n i g k r n i o k r w o s r w e s e r t VVoolluunntee and hhiikkiinngg ttrraaiillss new fund for d n g a n i g k l n i a wwalk COVID-19 response Leslie Cholowsky Editor
Hardisty and District Development Group volunteers led by Brittany MacMillan have been hard at work clearing out walking trails around Hardisty Lake. The group has taken on the job on a volunteer basis and plans on developing new trails, with the idea of developing up to 5km of interconnected trails in the community.
BREOC reaching out to help Flagstaff region businesses Leslie Cholowsky Editor
The Battle River Economic Opportunities Committee (BREOC) has a number of programs available to all businesses in the Flagstaff Region. Flagstaff County Reeve Don Kroetch talked about BREOC and the Battle River Innovation Centres (BRIC) during the County’s April 8 Council meeting. Kroetch said that the committee had taken a lot of positive steps forward to help retain and attract business to the region, saying: “This has gained a lot of positive traction in the community.” Kroetch said the group was making good progress pre-COVID-19, and has since worked on getting a
number of initiatives before the region, including local procurement information for personal protection equipment. “The BREOC team has identified some key elements moving forward to strengthen businesses in the region,” he said, talking about a new program that allows businesses to access funding to address some specific needs of that business, including Human Resources support, accounting, legal, marketing, and other. Kroetch says a number of businesses in the region have already applied for that. He mentioned another new program called the Business Success See BREOC P9
The Battle River Community Foundation (BRCF) announced this week that it has committed $100,000 of its discretionary income to establish a flow-through fund available to eligible recipients to assist in sustaining their operations, meeting different or expanded client needs, and to ensure essential organizations can continue to provide the services needed in communities throughout the region. Executive Director Dana Andreassen says, “The fund is not intended to duplicate government programs developed to respond to this emergency, nor is it designed to replace the normal fundraising processes established by the organizations in the Battle River region.” The Foundation says that communities served by BRCF are experiencing unprecedented consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic. Andreassen says, “I think everyone’s first reaction was that this will pass. One of our board members said recently that this isn’t going to pass anytime soon, and we’re going to need a lot of help. We know a lot of people are not working, and food banks, for instance, are going to be stressed in ways we can’t imagine. “The health and economic impacts throughout the region are unlike anything we have ever seen. “It is important that we work together to ensure the community supports that define our region are maintained as we learn over the weeks and months to come what our “new normal” will be.” Andreassen adds, “This isn’t our normal business; life is anything but normal. We recognized that we have the opportunity to help and we need to do something.” She says that groups are under pressure to provide services, and may no longer have access to a large part of their volunteer base, and can no longer hold traditional fundraising events. “We hold no presupposition that we know what these groups are going through right now.” To maximize the impact of private donations to this new flow-through fund, the BRCF has also partnered with the Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF) to access provincial funding that matches donations made in support of COVID-19 response programs from April 22 through May 31 if individuals, companies, or organizations wish to donate to this new flow-through fund. “We are grateful the province is providing this assistance.” See FUND P22
Page 2 - The Community Press, Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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The Community Press, Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - Page 3
Changes to Summer Jobs program Leslie Cholowsky Editor
The Government of Canada announced some changes to the Canada Summer Jobs Program last week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that the changes will help employers hire summer staff and provide young Canadians access to jobs, with the potential to create 70,000 jobs for youth between 15 and 30. These are temporary changes for this year, and include an increased subsidy; the program will now cover up to 100 per cent of the province’s minimum wage. In previous years, private and public sector employers were only eligible to receive a wage subsidy of up to 50 per cent of the provincial or territorial minimum wage. The increase to the wage subsidy for private and public sector employers will be for this year only. Employment under the program can now be extended to Feb. 28, 2021, which will allow employers to adapt the projects under which the applicants will be working, and to support essential services provided by those employers. Eligible employees may now be hired on a part-time basis. "In these extraordinary times, we realize the impacts small businesses, not-forprofit organizations, and public sector employers have on our economy and our communities. Our role is to support them.
This is why the Government of Canada has made changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program, so that we can help employers help their communities through good quality, safe job placements for youth,” says Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. While the call for applications for the 2020 season closed on Feb. 28, the program will work with members of parliament to identify organizations that provide essential services in the community and could provide youth jobs but did not apply for 2020. Battle River-Crowfoot Member of Parliament Damien Kurek said April 16, during a telephone conference call with constituents, “If you know of someone who would benefit from this expanded program, contact my office.” Kurek says he needs the name of the employer, contact information, a job description, the wage being offered, and the number of students wanted. He will then submit that information to the Canada Summer Jobs program, who will reach out to employers with a proper application form. “This is open mainly for employers who did not apply this year, however, Damien would like it to be open to all so he will be sending along any interested parties to the program,” said his office on Monday.
Please remember to keep your distance! When shopping, please try to keep it at one person per family for our safety and yours!
Help prevent the spread. If you need medications/prescriptions refilled, please call ahead or use the Guardian App (Diem for Guardian) so that you will not have to be in the store waiting for your prescription. Please give our Pharmacy staff ample time to prepare. This is mandatory!
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Battle River Community Foundation COVID-19 Response Grants The Battle River Community Foundation has allocated $100,000 in discretionary funding for grants to eligible organizations in the region for urgent needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. For further information, go to our website brcf.ca, email to info@brcf.ca or call 780-679-0449 (mornings) Grants will be available until the funds are depleted.
Battle River Community Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund To supplement the $100,000 allocated by the Foundation, donations from organizations, companies and individuals are being accepted to the fund. Until May 31, the Province of Alberta will match donations made to this fund. Please contact Dana Andreassen at 780-679-0449 to find out how you can make a donation that will make a difference. In accordance with the Alberta Charitable Fundraising Act, we are pleased to advise the BRCF hopes to raise $50,000 for this Fund at a cost of $1,000.
Page 12 - The Community Press, Wednesday, April 29, 2020
May 2020 Meetings
C Council ouncil M Meetings eetings
FFlagstaff lagstaff C ounty C ouncil M eetings County Council Meetings aare re cconducted onducted the 2nd and 4th W ednesday of each month Wednesday a.m.. unless ccommencing ommencing at 9 a.m otherwise planned. C ouncil and Committee Committee meeting Council agendas are are aavailable vailable at the County’s C ounty’s website website at: flflagstaff.ab.ca/council/meetings-andagstafff.a . b.ca/council/meeetings-andminutes minu tes
780-384-4100 1-877-387-4100 Email: St ay C onnected with Us: Us: Stay Connected
M Monday onday to to Friday Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 pp.m. .m. ((Closed Closed Noon - 1 pp.m.) .m.)
A Address: ddress:
12435 TTownship ownship Road 442 P.O. BBox P.O. ox 358 358 SSedgewick, edgewick, AB T0B 4C0
Flagstaff.ab.ca Our Endless Thanks to Healthcare workers, Emergency workers, Law Enforcement, and all Essential Services that remain open and risk their own health to keep the world turning.
The Community Press, Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - Page 13
Council Highlights Regular Council Meeting of April 22, 2020 Council Highlights briefly identify decisions made by Council. Council encourages its residents, businesses and stakeholders to keep in touch with Council news. Cancellation of May 2020 Property Tax Penalty Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Council passed Bylaw 06/20 which is for the purpose of repealing Bylaw 02/11 which provides for penalties for unpaid taxes.
Revised Public Input for the 2021 Business Plan A revised Public Participation Plan for the purpose of informing the public regarding Council’s development of the 2021 Business Plan and budget was approved.
Tax Repayment Agreement—Roll 413110 Council rescinded Resolution FC20200408.1010 – THAT Flagstaff County enter into a tax repayment agreement with owners of Roll 413100 for payment of taxes in the amount of $6,116.66. Council approved to enter into a tax repayment agreement with owners of Roll 413110 for payment of taxes in the amount of $6,116.66. Once approved, the full Council Meeting minutes can be found at www.flagstaff.ab.ca under the “Council” tab and in the “Meetings and Minutes” section.
Public Works Updates Please refer to our website at bit.ly/PWUpdates for the latest information.
Road Closures: Tentatively, the following roads will be closed for road re-construction (local traffic only) as per the dates listed below: • Township Road 402 – May 8, 2020 to May 22, 2020 From Highway 872, east/north east 5 miles to Township Road 405 • Range Road 114 – May 8, 2020 to May 22, 2020 From Township Road 432, north 3 miles to Township Road 435 • Range Road 124 – May 23, 2020 to June 15, 2020 From Township Road 414, north 2 miles to Highway 608 • Range Road 124 – June 16, 2020 to July 5, 2020 From Township Road 454, north 2 miles to Township Road 460 • Range Road 124 – July 6, 2020 to July 20, 2020 From Sedgewick Lake Park Campground, north 1.5 miles to Township Road 444
Please be advised of the following road closures due to spring flooding: • Rge Rd 170 between Twp Rd 463A and Hwy 26 (northwest corner of the County) • Rge Rd 154 between Twp Rd 462 and 460 (northwest of Wavy Lake) • Rge Rd 161 between Twp Rd 440 and 434 (north of Heisler) (Note: Please keep in mind that our seasonal crews will be out working on our roadways and to use extreme caution while travelling on these roads while they are being maintained in any way. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.)