Which community groups should get money from the city and how much should they get?
The city has launched a community grants program, but there are still a few kinks to be worked out.
After sorting through applications, City Hall put together a list of who is getting what, but City Council does not agree with every decision made.
For instance, the Thorold Elite Track Club asked to receive $1,900 but, because they missed the application deadline, City Hall deemed them ineligible.
“I like to see them get their fair share as well,” said Councillor Ken Sentance, during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I think they’re as important as any other group. They’re huge.”
“I know they submitted late but sometimes you got to bend the rules here,” agreed Councillor Mike De Divitiis.
Councillors also had questions as to why some sport clubs were on the list, and others weren’t.
“I’m just looking for a level playing field,” said Councillor Henry D’Angela. “We should have two intakes for community grants. This way, there are organizations that come in the second half of this year that still have an opportunity to get a community grant. We need to be prepared so we’re not always dealing with budget overruns.”
Ultimately, council decided to award the Thorold Elite Track Club $1,000 this year.
When it came to the $10,000 granted to the Thorold Museum Board, Councillor Tim O’Hare asked for an additional $25,000.
“One of the goals of the board is to create a fundraising campaign to raise $2M,” he said. “In order to do that they’re going to need some sort of staff on hand and they’re going to need some equipment to get rolling.”
The Thorold Museum Board has applied for six student jobs through the federal Canada Summer Jobs program, and some of the additional $25,000 would be used to pay into that program.
“I don’t want to lose a grant because it’s not in the budget,” said Councillor D’Angela. “There is a good likelihood they’ll get some students. I just want to make sure that they can then fund the other portion of this. I don’t want to lose out on it.”
But allocating the extra money would lead to a city budget overrun of $24,955.
“When it came to budget time we did warn you how much we had to strip the reserves to get you where we got you,” Director of Finance Maria Mauro told councillors. “This is a budget overrun so let’s call it what it is. It’s an operational expense and it shouldn’t come from reserves.”
But that did not go over well with everyone.
“I won’t support any budget overruns,” said Councillor Carmen DeRose. “We’re here to represent all taxpayers and to respect that the experts are the financial department.”
A staff report on the future of the Thorold Museum will come forward in June. At which time, council can decide to allocate more money to the project. In the meantime, Mayor Terry Ugulini asked that City Hall staff offer the museum board support so that they can reach their goal.
But some councillors are looking for more of a commitment.
“They’re struggling to locate stuff, they’re struggling to have the volunteers to do this,” said Councillor D’Angela. “They’re looking for a little bit of help. Our history is being eroded. Things are just disappearing. We’re losing relics, we’re losing time. They’re asking for a bit of support.”
In the end, council agreed that the city will pay for costs that might come up if the museum board gets approved for the Canada Summer Jobs program.
