The City of St. Albert is working on figuring out what the province's new restrictions mean for the city.
Premier Jason Kenney declared a state of public health emergency on Nov. 24 and announced a host of new restrictions on social gatherings, worship services, businesses and schools. The restrictions will be evaluated after three weeks.
The city's emergency management advisory committee met Tuesday evening to discuss how these new restrictions will affect the municipality. Kevin Scoble, chief administrative officer, said most of the work happening right now is seeking clarification from the province.
"We're as well-positioned as we can be at the moment. We have some work to do, but I wouldn't say we're behind the eight-ball," he said.
"We're just evaluating and planning tonight, obviously acting on the things that we need to immediately. We'll err on the side of caution if there's ambiguity with the stuff that's in effect immediately – we can always rescind it later if we need to."
Before the province made the announcement, Percy Janke, director of emergency management, said the city had little information from the province ahead of the announcement on further restrictions.
“We're in the same boat as the general public in understanding what measures are coming,” Janke said.
The province was unclear whether the restrictions would mean the city would have to close its outdoor rinks, Scoble said. If not, they would be limited to 10 people with social distancing.
Before the announcement, the city was expecting to open staffed outdoor rinks in Alpine, Flagstone, Gatewood, Larose and Willoughby beginning Nov. 25.
"The one that's immediately outstanding to me is the outdoor rinks. That was a bit of a grey area, and we have to make a call on that tonight because it's effective immediately," Scoble said.
He said he believes the city would have to close its community halls, though the city's libraries, art galleries and museums could remain open at 25 per cent capacity. He said the city will also be looking at whether the indoor winter farmer's market could remain open.
Kerry Hilts, deputy chief administrative officer, pointed out that the city will also have to take a look at its recreation facilities.
"It sounds like pools and rec facilities may be able to maintain open at 25 per cent (capacity), and it may become a costing issue that we may have to look at," Hilts said.
When the province first announced two-week restrictions on Nov. 12, the city kept water in its pools and ice in its rinks. Hilts said it would take at least three weeks to refill facility pools, and Scoble said the city incurred “all the energy costs to keep things circulating."
Talking about the potential for regional collaboration, Mayor Cathy Heron said the province's new restrictions were so detailed and complex that regions would need time to digest what they mean. With restrictions limiting customers to people within the same household, she said the restrictions will have a "significant" impact on restaurants in the city.
The meeting was recessed until a later date. It is not yet known when the meeting will reconvene.
Twenty more people were diagnosed with COVID-19 over the last 24 hours in St. Albert, bringing the city’s active case count to 214 people. Seventeen more people have recovered. In total, the city has seen 625 cases of COVID-19.
