While the province, and indeed the world, has been dealing with the COVID -19 pandemic, for the Village of Munson it has been business as usual.
Munson CAO Lyle Caweizel says it has been a quiet year for the village, and it has to take minimal action to deal with the pandemic.
“COVID per se hasn’t really affected us as a village yet, other than the regular closing of the playgrounds and that kind of thing,” said Caweizel. “We’re like many Alberta rural communities in that regard, we don’t have a seniors lodge or anything like that to look after. Our town staff has been able to keep going.”
Last year there weren’t any major capital projects undertaken by the village.
“We are just trying to keep an even keel, we have been keeping going day-to-day,” he said.
This is par for the course for Munson, making sure the day to day is getting done, and to keep taxes consistent. One pressure they are feeling as the budget is the increase for policing. In previous years, communities with a population under 5,000 were not responsible for the cost of RCMP. Last year the Kenney Government changed this policy. Caweizel said in the first year it looks like it will be about $40 extra per taxpayer.
“Our first year isn’t bad, it is when we get to year five that it is really going to affect the budget,” said Caweizel. “It would make a difference if the detachment in Drumheller sees another police officer. But when we contribute and nothing changes in the detachment, it would almost be better to get a county bylaw (officer) with Morrin and Delia and Starland contributing. That way, it would be local dollars contributing.”

The Drumheller RCMP is seeking community feedback from residents within their jurisdiction to help identify and address community safety and security issues.
“We continue to strive to meet our community’s needs,” explains Staff Sergeant of the Drumheller Detachment, Ed Bourque. “Tell us what your policing priorities are, from your first-hand knowledge of living in our detachment area.”
He explains the current Covid restrictions we are under restrict them from hosting Town Halls within all the communities it serves, but the input is very important. They want to hear from all of our community members, both within and outside the valley.
“Once we have your input, we will utilize the information toward building our Annual Performance Plan (APP) for policing priorities to ensure we are striving to provide you the best service possible,” said Bourque. “How does the APP work? We take your priorities and build objectives, issues, and measures that are backed by our review of past statistics. With your input, we cater our policing approach by incorporating initiatives that encompass most, if not all, of your feedback.”
In previous years Bourque says some of the priorities are division-driven. This year they have more autonomy.
“They are allowing us to take our leads from our town and community members,” he said, adding they hope to hear from residents within Drumheller as well as the rural communities served by the detachment.
“We’ve made some really good strides over the past year or so, getting more visibility and more community engagement with schools, and it is making a difference,” said Bourque.
The APP Survey will be online only this year and will be available until March 31, 2021. The results will be shared on Drumheller.ca.
Community members are also invited to contact us via phone on our administrative line at 403-823-7590, or email at kdrumhellerservices@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.