Members of Medicine Hat city council observe a moment for prayer or reflection at the beginning of their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday. Six council members in attendance and staff sat with an empty spot between them due to two absences and two usually empty spots.--NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The City of Medicine Hat is not raising its alert level but is limiting access to city hall and other municipal operational facilities where the public may visit.
A Thursday afternoon update from emergency planners was held in the lobby of city hall downtown, where visitors and residents will be greeted and advised about how to accomplish any business over the phone, online or via the mail.
In-person appointments, if needed, may be set up, but the goal is to limit interaction as much as possible between the public and city staff to avoid spreading COVID-19.
“This building is open, we are still operating, but we’re modifying how we provide the services,” said Merrick Brown, the city’s director of emergency management.
He said the city is not in a position to require that a state of emergency be declared – a situation that would give the local government extraordinary powers to marshall resources to keep essential services in place.
“We want to be very thoughtful about that,” said Brown, noting that other municipalities like Brooks and Taber had made local declarations.
“There’s a sense of calm and we’re modifying (our operations) in a way that ensures the health and safety of our staff and residents both.”
Mayor Ted Clugston took it a step further, vowing to the citizens he has confidence in city hall organizational ability to weather any fallout.
“The city is not closing down,” he said. “We’re still providing services. Trust me, the lights will stay on, the water will flow, the garbage will be picked up, and the police and fire departments will do the job they’ve been doing for 100 years.”
Last week the city opened its emergency operations centre and began implementing Alberta Health Services recommendations to halt the coronavirus. Internally, that meant employees were given instructions about cleanliness or told to self isolate in case of symptoms of recent international travel.
This week, workers who could were told to work remotely. The overarching goal is to reduce illness or self-isolation so workers could backfill any vacancies.
As well as city hall, new public access restrictions are now in place at the municipal works, the human resources building, the parks department facility and transit offices.
The Medicine Hat Regional Airport, a facility that operates under federal regulations, remains open and operating under federal guidelines.
This week the Cypress County office was closed to the public and the Town of Redcliff announced that while operations were continuing, access to town hall and other facilities could be restricted.
On Sunday, the city announced that it was closing recreation facilities and the Esplanade in order to align with an Alberta Health Services order to bar groupings of 250 people or more. That agency now suggested Wednesday that events of 50 people or fewer should be cancelled. Further announcements were expected late Thursday.
Some minor projects have been altered in the face of added work.
This week the city planning department announced it would postpone the launch of its new electronic permitting service to relieve strain on the information technology office and its department.
