The Village of Clive council will send a letter to its MLA regarding COVID-19 pandemic rules and the negative effects the rules are having on local small business. The decision was made at the Nov. 29 regular meeting of council (pictured). ECA Review/Screenshot

By Stu Salkeld, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Clive village council will send a letter to its MLA regarding COVID-19 pandemic rules and the negative effects the rules are having on local small business. 

The decision was made at the Nov. 29 regular meeting fo council.

During Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Carla Kenney’s COVID update Coun. Tracy Hallman asked if there was anything the village council could do to change the negative effects pandemic rules are having on small businesses, especially in Clive.

Coun. Norma Penney added that the pandemic restrictions are also affecting the volunteer sector, as groups can’t sell food at some events which is affecting their ability to generate revenue.

Coun. Sarah Fahey stated she wanted more information about natural immunity to COVID and why it’s not talked about in the same way vaccines are talked about.

Mayor Luci Henry, addressing Hallman’s comments, stated the village can speak up to the upper levels of government and voice its concerns and perhaps develop a talking point sheet for COVID.

Kenney suggested a letter to Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Ron Orr listing the council’s concerns about pandemic restrictions and their effects on businesses and perhaps suggesting the province look at alternatives for addressing the pandemic.

Penney suggested sending the letter to other central Alberta councils who may also have the same concerns about their business community as Clive. 

Kenney stated since this is such a broad based issue it would probably be best to address the letter to Orr, but send copies of it to other councils.

Councillors approved by resolution to develop a COVID talking sheet, send a letter to Orr voicing their concerns about pandemic restrictions and their effect on local business and send copies to other central Alberta councils.

New coordinator

Councillors decided to advertise for a new FCSS coordinator and boost the employee’s hours to 56 per week. The mayor reported the current FCSS coordinator has informed the village she plans to retire.

The CAO reported Clive’s FCSS coordinator currently works 40 hours a month while there was a suggestion to boost that to 56 hours a month, which means the Clive FCSS office could be open two days per week. 

However, that also meant the village needed to find more funding to cover the extra hours, roughly $5,000 per year.

During discussion councillors agreed they would like to see the Clive FCSS office open two days a week, as it gives more consistency to the programs in question. 

The CAO stated there was about $13,000 in an FCSS reserve, but that she didn’t think it was a good idea to use the entire reserve for boosting coordinator hours. 

Kenney added that Neighbourhood Place also has some money set aside, but it’s earmarked for youth programming and probably can’t be used for salaries.

Councillors decided by resolution to advertise for a new FCSS coordinator to work 56 hours per week, with the extra funds for the first year to come from the FCSS reserve.

This item is reprinted with permission from East Central Alberta Review, Village of Clive, Alberta. See article HERE.

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