The Municipality of Jasper has released a document laying out its response and relaunch in regards to COVID-19.
This spring, after the pandemic hit, council approved an operating budget with a reduction of $982,000 from the 2019 tax requisition - a 12.3 per cent decrease.
Adding in loss of revenue from facility user fees and less use of municipal utility services, plus some operating costs remaining fixed, massive cutbacks were needed to balance the budget.
Capital projects totalling $2.89 million were cancelled or put on hold and the Municipality of Jasper workforce was reduced by 58 per cent.
Some of these reductions are still in place, but as some facilities reopen and some services are reinstated, the extent of reductions will change in upcoming weeks and months.
Council had given administration two forms of direction. Firstly, to plan for the possibility of facility closures until the end of 2020; continue the implementation of previously identified reductions; and reduce transfers to reserves by 25 per cent.
And secondly, to bring facility or service restart requests to council in a timely fashion as public health directives allow for those services to reopen.
The reopening of the Wildflowers Childcare daycare and Out of School Care (OOSC) programs was the first of these discussions. Council voted in favour of reopening the daycare and OOSC programs starting June 8 at a limited capacity.
And now the province is in Stage 2 of its relaunch strategy, council and administration are looking at how facilities such as the Jasper Activity Centre, the Jasper Arena, the Fitness and Aquatic Centre, and the Library and Cultural Centre can reopen.
“The reopening of facilities and the resumption of pre-COVID services is complex,” says the COVID-19 Relaunch for Municipal Facilities and Services document.
“Council and administration understand that the community is eager to get back to more normal life, and thanks residents and visitors for their patience and understanding as we respond to rapidly evolving circumstances and continue to develop relaunch plans.”
Council and administration are looking at four guiding principles when relaunching services: Provincial relaunch plan, safety mitigations, demand for service and fiscal responsibility.
Council will receive reports from administration considering reopening facilities based on strategic guiding principals, and council will allocate the fiscal resources.
Some services may reopen or resume over time, while others may remain closed or suspended for the rest of the season or the year.
The municipality included a list of services closed following the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to be reduced or closed at this time.
