Prevention

To help protect you and your family against all respiratory illnesses, including flu and COVID-19, you should:

• Wash your hands often and well
• Avoid touching your face, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched
• Stay at home and away from others if you are feeling ill
• Contact your primary health provider or Health Link 811 if you have questions or concerns about your health
• When sick, cover your cough and sneezes and then wash your hands

Wearing Medical Masks

Masks can be very important in certain situations. When sick, wearing a mask helps prevent us from passing illnesses on to other people. This is why we ask people who have a cough or respiratory symptoms to wear a mask and wash their hands when visiting an emergency department or clinic.

• If you are sick, wearing a mask helps prevent passing the illness on to other people.
• If you are healthy, medical masks are not recommended as they don’t provide full protection and can create a false sense of security.
• See appropriate infection prevention and control precautions for health-care settings

24/7 Mental Health Referrals and Support Available

The Town of Hinton FCSS wishes to remind all residents that they can call 211 at any time to speak with a live person who can assist in finding a wide array of social supports and referrals, or if a person is feeling stressed or anxious. This free resource is available 24/7 by call or text, with web chat also available by clicking here. 

Critical and Essential Services Continuing

At this time, the Town of Hinton has no impacts to core services based on COVID-19 response; while our buildings may be closed, many staff members continue to work in alternate capacities. This means garbage, water, roads, emergency and protective services are all continuing. Please continue to place waste containers for pick up in line with your scheduled collection date, and call 780-865-2634 for Infrastructure Services and Parks questions or requests.  

Utilities and Taxes Deferred

During a Special Meeting of Council held this (April 7, 2020) afternoon, Hinton Town Council took actions which are intended to provide relief to COVID-19 impacted residents.

These actions offer residents the ability to defer payment and penalties for Property Taxes until August 31, 2020 as well as defer payment and penalties for Town utilities for a period of 120 days ending in August 2020.

Learn more in the CivicSend, available here: https://www.hinton.ca/CivicSend/ViewMessage/message/109199

Enhanced Security Measures in Place for Closed Facilities

The Town of Hinton has taken expanded security related actions in relation to facility closures and reduced hours. All cash monies, including the ATM, have been removed and returned to a secure location. All Town Facilities are practicing No Cash on Site parameters.    

Payments

During this time, the Town of Hinton is engaged on expanding our Corporate Services online payment taking ability; find online forms for Business Licenses and Animal Licenses at the links provided.  OptionPay is now available for Credit Card payments. 

For recreation user groups, alternative arrangements for invoicing will be shared in the coming week.

Scheduled Meetings

Any scheduled meetings with the Town of Hinton involving members of the public from outside the community are hereby cancelled. Any meetings with Town of Hinton employees are encouraged to move to online or email based communications. Where meetings are necessary, meetings will occur in the public sides (i.e. Committee Room, Council Chambers, Mayor Office, or Interview Room) of the building.

Council Meetings

Hinton Town Council meetings will, at this time, continue in the interest of continued operations. However, they are now occurring remotely via zoom meetings and are being livestreamed on Youtube via Hinton.ca/CouncilLive. Check the Town of Hinton Meetings and Events calendar for links and schedule. 

New Business

Most Town of Hinton staff are continuing to work in differing capacities during this time. Individuals with new business to discuss are continued to call or email wherever possible to communicate, and new essential meetings with members of the community are currently being permitted. These meetings will take in the public sides (i.e. Committee Room, Council Chambers, Mayor Office, or Interview Room) of the building.

Cemeteries

At this time, new business relating to the Cemetery is encouraged to be handled via your funeral director through to the Town of Hinton, as drop in meetings are not being accepted from the general public at the Government Centre. Should you wish to meet with Cemetery staff, please call 780-865-6016 to schedule a meeting. 

Bookings and Rentals

With the reopening dates of our facilities undetermined at this time, the Town of Hinton is prepared to accept bookings and rentals, dependant on reopening dates. However, the Town will not be accepting deposits or providing firm confirmation on bookings until opening dates are determined and announced.

Friendly Caller Program

In this pandemic event, social connections are more important than ever. But finding them is also more difficult than ever. 

That’s why we’ve worked to reorient our Friendly Visitor Program to Friendly Callers! Our application packages are available now! Find the form for callers here, and form for applicants here. Learn more about the program on the website, available here. 

Taxes and Utilities

During a Special Meeting of Council held this (April 7, 2020) afternoon, Hinton Town Council took actions which are intended to provide relief to COVID-19 impacted residents.

These actions offer residents the ability to defer payment and penalties for Property Taxes until August 31, 2020 as well as defer payment and penalties for Town utilities for a period of 120 days ending in August 2020.

Learn more in the CivicSend, available here: https://www.hinton.ca/CivicSend/ViewMessage/message/109199

A support is available from the federal government; learn more about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit here: Link

More information on Federal Supports available here. 

Health Inspectors and Law Enforcement to Enforce Public Health Act 

Government of Alberta Communications and Public Engagement have shared an update regarding enforcement of self isolation rules:

Albertans have an obligation to protect themselves, their families, and others by doing what they can – including following self-isolation rules.

After receiving a complaint, health inspectors will be looking for voluntary compliance.
If that does not occur they can contact law enforcement to enforce the Public Health Act.

Health inspectors can also engage other regulatory bodies, such as Service Alberta, which could result in other regulatory and enforcement actions.

Learn about the Hinton Health Inspector here. Report Concerns to Environment and Public Health here.