Kimberley City Council has approved the allocation of the City’s annual Community Grants. The City will disburse a total of $131,227 to various community groups and foundations in 2019. $75,612 will be awarded as cash grants, while $55,615 will be awarded through in-kind support with the City.
Krista Waite, the City’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer, explained at a Regular Council Meeting on Monday that this year’s grant allocations come in just below the maximum amount of available funding. The funds come from two per cent of the mill-rate tax revenue.
Mayor Don McCormick explained that last year the grants were undersubscribed, compared to this year that saw a much higher level of engagement.
The largest amount of funds, which is a new standing grant allocation, is $24,217 for the Kimberley Trails Society (KTS) for general maintenance and the Bootleg Bike Festival.
Councillor Nigel Kitto says the grant for KTS will be a huge help, and that plans are underway for many good things to come.
“The trails society is working with Teck to potentially connect the rails to trails to Lois Creek, and they are also looking into fat bike trails in the Lois Creek network. There are some really good things coming,” he said.
The second largest grant, which is part of the Annual Grant Allocations, is $16,914 for the Kimberley Nordic Club (KNC) for the parking lot remediation and expansion.
Back in May, KNC president Derm Kennedy reached out to Council stating that the conditions of parking lot at the Nordic Centre are not up to par compared to other recreational venues in Kimberley, and that the Nordic Centre frequently finds parking over capacity.
CAO Scott Sommerville says that some work has already been completed on the parking lot project, and the City will continue to work with the KNC on the remediation and expansion over the winter and into the summer of 2019.
$14,286 has been awarded to the Spark Society for Youth, which is the third largest grant in the lot.
Other recipients include, but aren’t limited to, the B.C. 55+ Games Society, the Friends of the Kimberley Bike Park, Healthy Kimberley, Kimberley Arts Council, the Kimberley Community Band, Kimberley Gymnastics Club, Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank, Kootenay Orienteering Club, Rocky Mountain Event Planners, Summit Church, Summit Community Services, and Wildsight.
One of the grants discussed is $4,894 in in-kind funding for the Kimberley Lawn Bowling Society. Councillor Sandra Roberts questioned this specific grant, stating that the park was recently updated for the B.C. 55+ Games that took place this September.
“The operations department spent huge amount of time there last summer…” she said. “It’s an awful lot of in-kind support for something they completed last year.”
McCormick replied saying that the in-kind support will allow for annual maintenance to prevent bigger projects and updates from needing to happen in the future.
Sommerville agreed saying, “this in-kind grant allows the lawn bowling park to become a part of regular park maintenance, and ensures that resources will be allocated for its upkeep.”
For a full list of grant allocations, visit the City of Kimberley website and click on the regular agenda for Monday, Dec. 10, 2018.