Staff with the County of Stettler continue to monitor the impact of the pandemic on residents and businesses, seeking government support and working to keep residents safe, officials say.
“We haven’t received any funding/stimulus for our municipality - but we have applied for several stimulus projects,” said Niki Thorsteinsson, director of communications with the County.
“But no official word on those yet.”
She added that in addition, working through these challenging times means collaborating closely with the County’s neighbours.
“Rural municipalities work very closely, as we do with the Town of Stettler as well, and there are phone calls and emails going back and forth all the time helping each other out and passing on information as we receive it,” she explained.
“For example, when Stettler Regional Emergency Management Agency (a joint agency) activated our Emergency Operations Centre in response to COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first tasks we undertook was to make a Community Resource Connection Form in order to help our citizens connect with resources and establish connections for services including childcare, groceries and household essentials delivery, medication delivery, petcare and tutoring.
”It wasn’t long before we were getting calls from neighbors, and I am aware we have passed this tool on to several communities across the province who are also now using this tool to help their citizens connect in their regions,” she said.
“Municipal Affairs is also always on hand to answer our questions and assist us, along with the RMA (Rural Municipalities of Alberta) the association we belong to. Both have been holding teleconference and town hall calls to share information and connect us with those who can answer our questions.”