New RM of Prince Albert mobile app launches

The home page for the RM of Prince Albert mobile app, which launched on Jan. 18. /SCREEN CAPTURE BY MICHAEL OLEKSYN, LOCAL JOURNALISM INIATIVE REPORTER/DAILY HERALD

After a year and a half of work the Rural Municipality of Prince Albert officially launched their new mobile app last week.

Reeve Eric Schmalz explained that the process tried the council’s patience but it has finally been completed.

“The  app is another way for us to communicate with the ratepayers and residents so we can inform them. Basically it’s another mode of information distribution as far as our road bans in the spring go, our fire bans when they come on or they come off, road works, taxes, information that we feel is germane to the residents and ratepayers in the RM of PA,”Schmalz said.

The app went live on Jan. 18 and is available for download for both Apple and Android products through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

“We are trying to get as many avenues of communication locked up for us,” he explained.

According to Schmalz, when he was first elected Reeve in June, 2019 he felt that communication between the RM and the residents could be improved. What began as simply keeping Facebook and the website updated eventually grew in scope.

“Through further discussion we discovered that other municipalities had apps that were sending out push notifications to their ratepayers through and making them aware of things that were happening in the RM,” he said.

They began pursuing an app and eventually found a company in Regina that could create what they were looking for at a reasonable price, according to Schmalz.

He said the municipality was happy to have another means of communication to keep residents and ratepayers informed.

 “I mean we are trying to make sure people are informed of what is going on, when the meetings are, the agendas, things like that, that is all accessible through the app. Everything that is on our web page you can access through the app,” he said.

During the election virtual forum hosted by the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce in October, 2020 many candidates expressed how much communication had improved.

 “It has been a lot better because there were times when there was basically a vacuum when there was no information passed between the RM and the residents. Now we are changing that for the better,” Schmalz said.

Links to the Apple and Android download links are available on the RM of Prince Albert Facebook page and website.

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