CARSTAIRS - This past weekend, the town’s fire department and community peace officers began 24-hour a day patrols of the community.
“Because we anticipate as this prolongs, people will get desperate and crime rates will go up. So it just gives us that little bit of extra security in the town,” said Carl McDonnell, the town’s chief administrative officer.
Adjusting to the shifting challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic has been ongoing, he said.
To help pay for the newly enacted service, Town of Carstairs officials are using money originally allocated to its school patrol crosswalk program.
Classes haven’t been held at the town’s two schools since March 12. Learning online and through other means has continued though, as has the schools’ lunch program for kids in need.
As staff and students begin spring break this week, the municipality has now taken over the lunch program to ensure its continuation.
And, with organized sports on hold, one of the town’s ball diamonds has temporarily been turned into a second off-leash dog park to help maintain social distancing mandates.
So far, there’s been no need for the municipality to enact an emergency operations centre or declare a local state of emergency, although McDonnell said they are at the ready if conditions change.
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The municipality has re-allocated $75,000 originally earmarked for a transportation plan toward emergency management requirements that has also included purchasing masks.
“So most of the stuff that we’re doing – the funds that we’re looking at for the (lunch) program -- will come out of there and some of our other program dollars because programs that were in the first quarter of the year, we’re not doing,” said McDonnell.
Recognizing that many residents may be facing uncertain economic times and new financial challenges, the municipality will not charge penalties on utility accounts for March, April, and May 2020. Penalties will also be waived for 2020 taxes for 90 days beyond the posted due date.
At this point, McDonnell said he didn’t know when tax notices would be issued. The town’s 2020 budget hasn’t been set yet as municipal officials await the province’s education requisition.
“Cash flow is going to be more of the issue. Because people and their ability to pay the utilities and taxes – what does that look like? So, we’ll be taking some scenarios to council later on and saying here’s what we think the final budget’s going to look like once we get the numbers from the province and adjust toward what these costs are going to be,” he said.
The Town of Carstairs is in a pretty good financial position, said McDonnell.
“We’re at 38 per cent of our debt limit right now so we have lots of room to go there. But I don’t want to advocate for more debt. It might be where we restructure our current debt and take it over a longer period of time and then that would free up some cash flow. We are looking at different options,” he said.
Currently, town staff are focusing on maintaining vital infrastructure while also undertaking other projects.
“Because our facilities are shut down we’re getting a lot of work done,” said McDonnell. “So the community hall’s getting a paint job and some flooring work that needed to get done. The arena’s getting a paint job; the bleachers.”
The CAO is also eyeing the future.
Service levels for things like mowing grass will change if the crisis is prolonged.
“And with the businesses closed, they’re not going to be sweeping their sidewalks. So now that’s a service we’re going to look at, is having a backpack blower and going down and cleaning the streets. Will we need to sterilize the weeds in the alleyways in the summer if this is prolonged? So just some of the stuff that the business owners look after themselves in the downtown area, we’re looking at how do we look after those things as well,” he said.
So far, McDonnell said, most business owners are optimistic about opening up again.
