The District of Tumbler Ridge has approved just under $60,000 in new Grant in Aid and Fee for Service funding.
This doesn’t include Grant in Aid and Fee for Service funding previously approved—which includes $30,000 to the South Peace Health Services Society, $43,000 for the Tumbler Ridge Youth Services Society, and $22,870 for the Tumbler Ridge Forever Young Society.
Nor does it include the $220,000 annual funding to the Museum, or the $67,000 special projects earmarked for the museum for 2022. It also doesn’t include the $150,000 operating funding to the Tumbler Ridge Geopark.
All these things have previously been voted on and approved.
It also doesn’t include funding for the Library, as the library has been a municipal library and has not been part of the Grant in Aid process for the last decade.
Grant in Aid funding is typically short term funding to various groups for special projects, while Fee for Service funding is the District providing funding to organizations that provide ongoing services, typically on a three year contract.
Last year, the District paid $92,000 in Grant in Aid—$30,000 to the South Peace Health Services Society, $30,000 to the Tumbler Ridge Days Society and $32,000 to the Tumbler Ridge Mountain Bike Society. It also paid out five Fee for Service grants: $3500 to Summit Avalanche, $43,000 to the Tumbler Ridge Youth Services Society, $22,870 to the Forever Young Society, $8500 to the Society for Children’s Needs, and $29,820 to the Chamber of Commerce.
This year, the total will be $132,000 in Grant in Aid and Fee for Service, not counting the museum and Geopark.
New funding this year includes $2000 each year for the next three years to the Tumbler Ridge Mountain Bike Association (TRMBA) for insurance costs. “These costs would include supporting the fees associated with carrying the $5,000,000 liability insurance required by the District,” says the report to council. “This is the minimum required amount of insurance required for any work taking place on District property, which would allow TRMBA to complete projects on District land in partnership with the District over the next three years, with Council’s approval.”
Mayor Bertrand was not sold on the proposal. “I kind of think that, as a non-profit organization, there comes a responsibility to operate,” he says. “I get that the $5-million is expected to do the work on the ridge, and maybe if they weren’t doing that work, they wouldn’t have the $2000 cost. This is a tough one for me. I believe TRMBA should be responsible for their insurance. There comes a point where council needs to hold these non-profits responsible for being. I don’t think taxpayer money should be used for this.”
However, most of the rest of Council was in favour, including Councillor Howe: “They are a new organization that are just getting up and going,” says Howe. “I wouldn’t be interested in doing this in perpetuity, but really, it’s $2000/year. It’s well worth it, considering what they’ve brought into the community so far.”
Councillor Lehmann agrees. “Eventually the pump track and trails are going to come under the District umbrella anyway, so I can’t really fault them. The trade-off with the amount of work they have done, it’s a small amount.”
Also approved was a grant equivalent of the business license fees collected by the District. (In 2021, the business license fees collected were $21,400) for the Chamber of Commerce. “This grant would support this important community organization, which in turn supports and promotes local businesses and other organizations.”
For the first time ever, the Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society (WNMS) requested a Grant in Aid for a pair of proposals to extend the Windfall Lake camping area and build a new site at Bootski Lake, and a second to hire a contractor to do about a month’s worth of trail work on the trails this spring. “This would give the Society’s volunteers a significant head start in returning the trails to a usable and safe condition after winter, and in time for maximum trail usage for recreation over the spring and summer months,” says the report.
The other proposal would see the District covering about $6,662.48, or 25 percent of the total project, to build four new camping pads at Windfall Lake and eight new camping pads (with outhouse, pot wash, bear caches and signage) at Bootski.
The total project cost is $26,649.91, the majority of which is being covered by the PRRD.
Also approved was a request by the Johnny Malcolm Foundation to waive green fees for 80 participants for the Annual John O’Handley Memorial Golf tournament on Saturday June 18, 2022. “At their last event in 2019, the Foundation was able to raise $8,000,” says the report. “The Foundation has decided to keep their status as a Non-Profit Society as it allows them more freedom to allocate funds raised to organized sporting events. In 2019 the Foundation were able aid the TRSS Senior Girls’ Curling team to complete at Provincials in Lake Country, BC.”
The Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) Branch 286 is also requesting that green fees and cart rentals be waived for 50+ participants for their Golf Tournament on Saturday July 23. “The purpose of the event is to raise funds for charitable donations within the Tumbler Ridge Community and foster relationships with other Legions in the Peace River zone area.”
However, a request by the Tumbler Ridge Days Society for $55,000 for associated works to bring BC Hydro power to the fairgrounds site was not passed. According to the report, “the Society is currently unable to host proposed outdoor events including the Grizfest without power. The request includes electrical works to get power to the site and the purchase of a shipping container for the electrical panels to be housed in. The Society is currently waiting to hear back on two grant application approvals. The first to make the grounds accessible and another to complete a children’s area and add signage.”
However, staff is suggesting that bringing power to the fairgrounds site could be “project managed in house which could bring efficiencies and a lower cost for the associated works. If Council approved this recommendation, staff would need to include the cost in the 2022 Facilities Operational Budget.”
Because of this, Council did not approve the grant, but asked staff to prepare a report on the cost.
As always, figures are not final until the budget gets passed. Deadline is May 15.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
