Council will soon be presented proposed changes to how the city allocates funding through community during an upcoming public meeting in February. Coun. Chris Hellman speaks on Jan. 19 in council chambers.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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City staff presented this week changes to the Community Funding framework to members of the public services committee, to be voted upon at an upcoming council meeting next month.
During a public services committee meeting, the city’s director of community development Leah Prestayko provided a presentation on changes the previous council asked to be made to the framework used to dispute community grants.
Last summer that council raised concerns on how the city allocates grant dollars through grants such as Community Vibrancy, Family and Community Support Grants, FCSS and microgrants.
“Council also asked questions about grant eligibility criteria and the scoring rubrics that are used,” said Prestayko. “Specially, council at that time expressed concern about funding being provided to organizations that receive city funding through other avenues, educational grants or other government institutions receiving funding.”
Staff were also directed to make changes to the bylaw to allow potential delegation of decision-making authority on grants to the Community Vibrancy advisory board.
As well, councillors wanted to see changes to the bylaw that recognize unbiasedness among councillors or any organization applying for grants where a council member has pecuniary interest.
“They also expressed a desire to see funding directed at longstanding festivals and events, proposals that would see large numbers of people participate, and activities and events that promote economic development,” said Prestayko.
Specific recommendations new council will be asked to adopt during its next public meeting on Feb. 17 include changes to the application process, scoring rubric, decision making and communication with council.
Staff have added clear definitions and questions to gauge the quality of an application proposal and its potential impact to the public, Prestayko said. They have also changed the scoring rubric which is a method used to evaluate applications to allow a different scoring method related to longstanding or flagship events.
“Festivals and events often see a larger number of participants, volunteers and higher budgets associated with them as compared to projects and activities, so it was a little bit of comparing apples and bananas,” explained Prestayko.
Changes to the bylaw will also ensure representatives on council can attend when the Community Vibrancy advisory board evaluates grants and provides direct feedback.
Council directed staff to make improvements to the Community Vibrancy Advisory Board Bylaw, created in 2021.
It was expanded upon in 2023 when the previous council approved the Community Funding Framework used as a funding stream for social, arts, cultural and heritage events while ensuring transparent and accountable decision-making.
Council will be asked to vote on a decision on Feb. 17.
