Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
At their July 7 meeting, Jasper municipal council revisited a topic that had been discussed at length last week: reopening Jasper's fitness centre and climbing wall.
The discussion was lengthy again and comments ranged from safety concerns to the fiscal side of matters, to the timing of the reopening.
"I don't think we should be opening the fitness centre, adults can easily use the outdoors," deputy mayor Bert Journault said, and motioned to reopen the fitness centre and climbing wall after Thanksgiving in October.
Coun. Scott Wilson noted many businesses in town are struggling and said it should be opened sooner to entice people to visit Jasper, in a safe manner.
Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey said: "I'm very concerned about the rise of COVID [cases].
"We really need to gauge what's happening in the next six weeks."
Coun. Paul Butler said: "I'm quite worried about the rise in infection rates," and added that costs will skyrocket with reopening the fitness centre, in part because of the extra measures that have to be taken.
"I'm not convinced the fitness centre is an important attractant," he said.
Mayor Richard Ireland noted the province has given the go-ahead to open it and said there is a demand for the service.
An important question, he said, is 'Is it fiscally responsible?'
"Yes, these facilities cost money [but] local government is responsible for providing these [services],鈥� he said. 鈥淪afety has to be foremost."
Journault amended his motion to a September 21 reopening of the fitness centre and climbing wall and council voted in favour, subject to their final approval on the financials, at a meeting in August.
The Aquatic Centre and Activity Centre reopening report comes back for decision July 21.
Jasper wins hub status
Kathleen Waxer, Community and Family Services (CFS) director, told council CFS secured funding from the provincial government to continue to offer prevention and early intervention services for families with children 0-18 years of age.
Their work will be done under the newly-named West Yellowhead Family Resource Network (FRN).
Through a 'hub and spoke' model of service delivery, Jasper CFS will coordinate prevention and early intervention services in the West Yellowhead region, and be the 'hub' for Jasper, Hinton, Edson, Yellowhead County and Grande Cache.
CFS also secured 'spoke' funding for Community Outreach Services (COS) to offer social connection programs, parent education services and family support services to families with children 0 to 18 years old.
CFS' longtime contracts with Children's Services were terminated as of March 31. The FRN funding is the province's new regional approach to prevention and early intervention services.
Promoting masking
The general consensus in a discussion about mandatory masking in public spaces was to use education, not legislation, to get the message across.
Coun. Jenna McGrath suggested using 'strongly recommended' on signage to encourage people to wear masks, rather than putting a bylaw in place for that purpose.
Kelleher-Empey agreed, saying 'mandatory' is not the way to go, education is. Wilson noted the province says wearing masks is strongly recommended anyway, and asked if there are other measures that can be taken to have that important message heeded.
Coun. Rico Damota said the big issue is that asymptomatic transmission is occurring and there needs to be a balance between not hindering visitation and keeping the town safe.
A motion by Butler was carried that council direct administration to develop a COVID-19 health information campaign.
The campaign will include signage at the town entrance, for businesses and indoor public spaces. Leaflets will be distributed at park gates, if Parks Canada is willing, and website and social media updates.
Mayor Ireland also proposed a 鈥榯ake the pledge鈥� program, where people could be rewarded for promising to help keep Jasper safe with COVID-19 protocols.
The communications will focus on strongly recommending masks in indoor public spaces, and where physical distancing is difficult, with messages of welcome and thanks.
