Williams Lake City Hall closed until further notice

Williams Lake City Hall is now closed to the public.

The City closed its hall at noon Thursday until further notice due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation.

“It was quite a significant decision that was made to close City Hall to the public,” said Corporate Engagement Officer Guillermo Angel. “We are following suit as a number of municipalities have done so. For example, we know that the CRD has closed its offices as well we’ve been made aware that Kamloops has closed its facilities.”

Angel said they are airing on the side of caution and following the recommendations of public health officials to ensure that they are still staffing and providing the service needed for the City while trying to limit the amount of exposure that the public has to their staff to ensure that they can maintain appropriate services needed.

“Because we are continuing services, at this moment in time we are going to maintain the staff we have at City Hall and that’s why in the release we did provide all of the appropriate phone numbers and emails for people to contact if they still require assistance and service from City Hall in the various departments,” Angel said. “We want to provide as little interruption to the public service as possible and that’s why we’re ensuring that we have the adequate staff needed to make sure that these services continue.”

As well as Williams Lake City Hall, the city’s Public Works offices and Fire Hall are also closed to the public. The Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex is closed until further notice.

Although the Williams Lake Regional Airport is still operational, the City advises all passengers to check flight statuses with their airline.

Chief Administrative Officer Milo MacDonald said he would like the public to feel assured that services that residents rely on will continue to operate, and they have the required staff to maintain these services.

“We understand that this can create an inconvenience for some, and we ask for the public’s understanding as we work to limit the effect that COVID-19 could have on our community,” MacDonald said in a news release.

A regular council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 24.

Angel said it is unclear if that meeting will go ahead and that they were having a discussion with their legislative body at the City to decide what the best course of action will be for council meetings.

“We, of course, encourage those that are interested in Council to check out our live streaming available online because if we do continue with our Council meetings we will, of course, have them live-streamed for the public.”