City council has approved a new scoring rubric for Community Vibrancy Grant applicants. Couns. Chris Hellman and Bill Cocks are seen in chambers at city hall on Tuesday evening.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
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City councillors approved changes to how events and applications will score when they apply for funding through Community Vibrancy Grants.
The changes update how the city ranks a festival or event throughout its scoring rubric, which weighs different elements of the event such as social, arts, cultural and heritage value to the community, as well as weighting flagship events more heavily.
The new scoring rubric will now also consider the related economic development of events.
“One of the key areas of this change is to see longstanding or flagship events prioritized while elements of innovation have been down prioritized as compared to the original funding,” said Leah Prestayko, director of community development.
This scoring rubric helps guide members of the Community Vibrancy advisory board allocate funding through grants such as Community Vibrancy, Family and Community Support Grants and microgrants.
Prestayko told council that typically the funding available for grants does not meet the amount from requests from the community.
“We have tremendous local groups and organizations in our community wanting to add vibrancy for both residents and visitors alike,” added Prestayko. “We are confident that the change to the rubrics will continue to see quality festivals, events and activities take place in our community.”
Staff have also added clear definitions and questions to gauge the quality of an application proposal and its potential impact to the public.
Previous council requested last July that staff make changes to the grant funding framework after rising concerns over funding dollars going to organizations that receive city funding through other avenues, educational grants or other government institutions receiving funding.
Staff were also directed to make changes that will allow potential delegation of decision-making authority on grants from the Community Vibrancy advisory board to councillors.
“So we will still have to do some homework here and review the applications in some detail ourselves,” said Coun. Bill Cocks.
Changes to the framework 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 and was expanded upon in 2023 when the previous council approved the Community Funding Framework.
