Council is reviewing the municipality鈥檚 grant programs in hopes of streamlining the application process and simplifying the selection process.
Currently the municipality gives out grants from two different funds, the Economic Development Fund and the Community Development Fund, but often applications are submitted that don鈥檛 fit into the parameters of either one, or they鈥檙e submitted to the wrong fund altogether.
Following last year鈥檚 selection process, council requested that administration review the grant policy and take steps to clarify it.
A draft policy was presented to council at the committee-of-the-whole meeting Feb. 9, recommending that the two funds be combined into one.
Mark Fercho, chief administrative officer, explained that when he looked back on the grant applications from past years, the requests often didn鈥檛 fit into the Economic Development Fund.
鈥淪o we thought we would combine them; instead of having two separate funds, we鈥檒l have one fund called the Community and Economic Development Fund.鈥�
The purpose of the fund is to provide funding opportunities to non-profit groups or individuals for projects or training that will improve the quality of life of Jasper residents, assist in community economic enhancement, promote the Municipality of Jasper and encourage community support of Council鈥檚 Strategic Priorities.
Administration鈥檚 recommendation is that the maximum request per application be $5,000 and that applicants only be allowed to apply for the grant for two consecutive years before they become ineligible for the subsequent two years.
Fercho explained that by having a two year gap, it encourages groups to seek out other funding sources.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about getting people started, but not creating dependency,鈥� he said.
As well as combining the two funds, administration has clarified the application process by creating a checklist that each applicant will fill out, showing that the application is complete. That checklist, along with the application, will then be checked by administration before it reaches council for discussion and decision.
In its first draft, administration recommended that a selection committee be created to determine the successful grant recipients, with members of the Culture and Recreation Board and the Jasper Community Action Team, as well as one councillor, making the decision. But council agreed that wasn鈥檛 necessary and that the selection process should remain a decision at the council table.
鈥淪omeone who checks all the boxes on that checklist should be in a sense pre-approved for funding, so what we鈥檙e looking at as council is two Tuesdays a year just putting our stamp of approval on these requests for funding,鈥� said Coun. Gilbert Wall, arguing that it鈥檚 not an onerous task.
The problem in the past, according to Wall, was that without a checklist and without administration thoroughly vetting the applications before bringing them to council, the selection process was tedious.
鈥淭he problem up to this point has been we鈥檝e been trying to find a way to qualify people after they get to the table,鈥� he said, explaining that often applications were incomplete or didn鈥檛 fit the requirements of the grant policy.
鈥淗opefully that is what the [new] policy does; it makes it much clearer on who can apply. They have a checklist that they go through and then it comes to us for approval twice year. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 too much to ask.鈥�
Coun. Rico Damota agreed and suggested that it鈥檚 good for council to be aware of the applications that come in each year, so that it understands the needs in the community and knows which applications weren鈥檛 approved鈥攂ecause often they appear on the council agenda again, when groups come directly to council to request financial assistance.
鈥淭hen if people come to council outside of this process we can say, 鈥榥o you should have gone through this process鈥� and if they鈥檝e already been there then we know that whatever they were trying to do didn鈥檛 work in that process,鈥� he said.
The municipality accepts applications twice a year, on March 31 and Sept. 30, and has $25,000 to award annually, with that amount split between the two application periods.
Grants are awarded to non-profit groups, residents and local organizations for capital projects or operating initiatives, provided they鈥檙e not core services.
For instance in 2015, the Jasper Pride Festival Society received $3,500 to hire a one-time contractor to develop a business plan for the festival, while an application from the Jasper Folk Music Festival to rent generators, lighting and portable toilets was rejected because those costs are recurring expenses. If the folk festival was using the funds to purchase a generator or lighting, the request likely would have been considered.
Council will vote on the amended grant policy during its March 1 meeting, allowing time for non-profit groups and residents to read it before the March 31 application deadline.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
