A shift to online and telephone customer service will take place with The City of Red Deer limiting public access to its facilities, such as Civic Yards, City Hall and Red Deer RCMP. This is being done in the effort to strengthen Alberta Health guidelines for social distancing.
While the risk to residents remains low, we are taking steps to protect staff and the public to prevent community spread.
“We encourage citizens to visit us online or call the Call Centre before coming to City Hall to do business,” said Tara Shand, Public Information Officer. “While City Hall does remain open for critical business, we are limiting public access as a means to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers and citizens.”
Effective tomorrow, The City’s Civic Yards facility (located at 7721 40 Avenue) and City departments located within Professional Building, including Human Resources, Corporate Services and Community Services (located at 4808 50 Street) will close to the public. The City’s Land and Economic Development office (located at 5000 51 Avenue) will also be closed to the public.
City Hall will remain open at this time, however, public access to City Hall will be limited to the main floor only. Residents are encouraged to do business with The City online or by phone as much as possible. Online services can be accessed online through www.reddeer.ca/mycity. Cemetery services, Waste Management Facility, and Sorenson Station Transit customer service remains open to the public. Transit continues to operate, with enhanced cleaning services, however dedicated school bus services are not running.
Also starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18, the following changes take effect at the downtown RCMP detachment:
- The front counter at the downtown Red Deer RCMP detachment is closed to the public.
- Red Deer RCMP is accepting all reports (vehicle collisions, information related to investigations as well as reports of crimes and suspicious activity) from the public through email or telephone.
- To make a report to Red Deer RCMP call 403-343-5575 or email [email protected]. Non-emergency reports can be made between 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. seven days a week.
- In an emergency, or to report a crime in progress, call 9-1-1.
- When calling 9-1-1, tell the operator if you are experiencing cold or flu like symptoms.
- Non-essential fingerprinting and criminal record checks are cancelled at this time.
Red Deer RCMP has also enhanced cleaning within its detachments and all staff are taking extra precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through wearing protective equipment such as gloves and increasing use of hand sanitizer.
“The safety and security of the public has always and will continue to be the top priority for Red Deer RCMP, which is why we are increasing our online and telephone customer service options,” said Gerald Grobmeier, Officer in Charge. “During these unprecedented times, we remain steadfast in our duty to serve and protect the citizens of Red Deer and are ready to respond to any potential situation while also continuing with high-quality around the clock policing services that citizens expect.”
“Our community has banded together through these difficult and challenging times,” said City Manager Allan Seabrooke. “We know the new additional restrictions announced today have significant impacts on our residents and their lives, and we thank everyone for their support of one another.”
The City is also mobilizing around our response to vulnerable populations, housing and social needs. Today, the Province announced funding to flow through Family and Community Support Services as well as Community Based Organization.
We encourage all citizens to follow the recommendations of Alberta Health Services. For the latest information on COVID-19 visit alberta.ca/covid19 and the latest on how City services are impacted visit reddeer.ca/covid19. Please call the Call Centre, open 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. with questions at 403.342.8111.