Red Deer Minute: Recruitment Delays, Cleaner Water, and COVID Policies Scrapped

Red Deer Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Red Deer politics

This Week In Red Deer:

• It’s going to be a particularly slow week down at City Hall with only one meeting scheduled.
  
  
• The singular event is a meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Committee on Tuesday at 5:00 pm. The Committee will begin this meeting in-camera. Once the meeting has opened back up to the public, the Committee will receive a number of reports, including a Housing and Homelessness Supports Section Report, a Reaching Home and Outreach and Support Services Initiative Funding Report, and a Housing Asset Development Sub-Committee Report.
  
  
• Join cyclists from around the province this Friday to participate in-person, at home, or outdoors for a 12-hour cycle ride to raise funds for healthcare. The Red Deer Regional Health Foundation is hosting Cycle for Central Alberta to raise $50,000 in funds that will go towards providing state-of-the-art medical equipment and services for Central Alberta, an area that serves nearly half a million people.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Mayor Ken Johnston said the recruitment plan for a new City Manager was delayed as a result of the election and pandemic challenges. The City began looking to fill the vacant position shortly after the former Red Deer City Manager unexpectedly retired in May of 2021 after working just two years in the position. Johnston says he expects the City to have a new manager by July 2022.
  
  
• The City of Red Deer suspended its COVID-19 testing and vaccination policy. The policy was originally implemented on October 5th, 2021. Since implementing the policy, the City has said 92.5% of staff provided full proof of immunization while the remaining 7.5% opted to provide ongoing proof of negative rapid antigen testing. Although the policy is no longer in place, the City has said they will continue to promote health guidelines handed down from the Province and the federal government.
  
  
• It was announced that cleaner water should be flowing into the Red Deer River following the completion of a new $28 million residuals management plant this spring. The project is the culmination of five years of work, including three years of planning and two years of construction. The City hopes it will provide a healthier environment for aquatic life in the Red Deer River as fish will no longer be exposed to chemical-laden soils.

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