BARRHEAD – Although it was not in effect for long, the Restriction Exemption Program (REP) and the subsequent hiring of a security firm had the desired impact at the Barrhead Regional Aquatics Centre.
Town of Barrhead chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc told councillors during their Feb. 8 meeting the eight days the municipality operated the aquatics centre under the REP guidelines were relatively trouble-free.
He said that despite the number of calls and complaints the municipality received over shifting the facility to the program, they only received six requests asking for refunds for pre-paid passes.
"Three patrons did not want to wear masks and subsequently were turned away," LeBlanc said, adding the only other problem security noted was one patron did not have the proper identification. "They said they left it in their car, causing a bit of an issue, and that patron never returned."
LeBlanc also noted that the implementation had little impact on attendance, adding that weekend, as well as afternoon and evening numbers, were on par with normal averages. However, he noted that daytime hours did see a slight dip.
Council reluctantly shifted the aquatics centre to the REP program during a special Jan. 17 council meeting after the municipality received a non-compliance report by Barrhead's public health inspector.
The report stated that on Jan. 12, he witnessed adults from different households failing to respect the required three-metre distancing requirement as set out under the provincial public health restrictions.
Specifically, the health inspector stated that on Jan. 12, several adults from different households were within three metres of each other and that to become compliant, the town had to either develop and enforce a policy to maintain physical distancing or opt into the REP. Feeling that it would be difficult to impossible for staff to enforce any such policy, councillors opted for the REP.
On Jan. 26, council approved a $2,500 weekly budget for a security company to enforce the REP, noting before its implementation, aquatics centre staff, especially lifeguards, were subject to harassment and abuse to the point the RCMP had to be called on multiple occasions. LeBlanc noted that even though security will no longer be needed to enforce the REP, the municipality will, in all likelihood, be on the hook for a few days of security costs, adding they had a two-week contract.
The need for security became moot after the province ended the REP program last week. Although the municipality has not received a non-compliance report on its other recreation facilities, parks and recreation director Shallon Touet in a Feb. 3 e-mail to Barrhead Agrena user groups noted that Alberta Health Services (AHS) has received additional complaints about non-compliance of public health orders, most notably masking and physical distancing.
The Barrhead Minor Hockey Association posted the e-mail on their webpage.
"We know that the RCMP have been called to the Agrena more than once for non-compliance, and we know our local AHS representative has been in the Agrena and has seen the non-compliance of CMOH orders," Touet wrote. "Please encourage all your members to abide by these rules as set out by the Government of Alberta. (Do) not give our local AHS representative any reason to write a non-compliance order to the Town of Barrhead like what happened in the Aquatics Centre."
This week, the province also eliminated masking requirements for school students, and if the number of hospitalizations continues to fall, the provincial mask mandate will end come March 1.
