Red Deer Minute: Shelter Engagement, Heavy Rainfall, and COVID Restrictions Lifted

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There are two meetings scheduled for this week starting with a City Council meeting today at 10:30 am. The meeting will begin in-camera, but once it has been opened back up to the public, Council will receive a Shelter Engagement Update and an operating grant request from the Central Alberta Sport Association. Council will also receive a report outlining annual policing priorities for 2022-2024. Identified in the report are police response and visibility, crime reduction, and engagement of community partners. A public hearing regarding the rezoning of a portion of Timber Ridge will also take place.
  
  
• On Tuesday, there will be an Audit Committee meeting at 1:00 pm. The Committee will receive financial reports from December 2021 as they relate to investments, debentures, reserves, and variances, as well as the 2022 Insurance and Risk Management Overview.
  
  
• Red Deer is celebrating National Indigenous Month. The third annual Waskasoo Seepee Traditional Pow Wow will take place today at Red Deer’s Servus Arena. Waskasoo Seepee is the Cree word for Red Deer River, and the Pow Wow will honour the lives of Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Residents have been making their voices heard on the future location of the permanent homeless shelter. The City has seen engagement from more than 800 respondents, with 723 coming from an online survey and the rest coming from in-person forums which took place on June 8th. Despite the City touting the engagement sessions as a success, 723 online survey responses and 37 meeting attendees doesn't sound like much consultation. What do you think is the best place for a permanent homeless shelter in Red Deer?
  
  
• The City of Red Deer activated its Emergency Response Operation Centre due to heavy rainfall. The City’s Director for Emergency Management said that while the city was not under a flood warning, additional steps, including closing down a section of Lions Campground, were taken as a precautionary measure. Red Deer River levels have peaked, but the river remains under a high streamflow advisory.
  
  
• The Province lifted all remaining pandemic restrictions as of 12:00 am on June 15th. Red Deerians are no longer be required to mask up on public transit. The decision comes as the provincial government shifts towards a policy of accepting COVID-19 as a continued presence in our lives and something we simply need to work around. Wastewater samples from Red Deer show that the Omicron wave is receding.

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