Although there won’t be a decision until March 14, community groups were given the opportunity to present their case to Council on Tuesday at a 5:00 pm public meeting. Thirteen groups took advantage of that and made their case. There are others who applied last October who did not make a presentation – Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin commented that the total “asks” amounted to $76,000 and given the goal of an increase of about 2% on last year’s awards of $43,000, council would be saying no to a number of the applicants. The time allocated was an hour but with up to 10 minutes that each were allowed, the presentations over-flowed into the 6:00 pm Committee of the Whole meeting – as did the full gallery!
Community Grant Presentations
Note that the links are to the presentations hosted on the Town’s Portal. Also, Michael Pepa rescheduled the presentation re Les AMIS to next week.
| Organization/ Presenter | Requested | Description |
| Victoria Hall Volunteers Janette Johnson |
$2500 In kind |
History of group; fundraising events and total donation to Victoria Hall of $333,000. Slides Text |
| La Jeunesse James McKernen |
$2500 In kind, partial Hall rental |
Young members will be presenting Lion King Junior in June this year at Victoria Hall. Michael & Riley represented two of them. Presentation |
| Therapeutic Paws Joannne Smith |
$214.70 In kind, Market Building rental |
Dogs (and 1 cat) for therapeutic use. They use the Market Building for evaluation sessions. Presentation |
| Northumberland 89.7 Barry Johnson |
$1500 grant and $600 in kind, bandshell rental |
Provide 8 summer concerts on Wednesdays. Costs include payment to musicians and poster costs. Presentation |
| Oriana Singers Brian Malcolm |
$3000 grant | Wants funding help for their concert on 25 May 2019 “North meets South”. Received $1000 in 2018 but they are now “raising the bar” in their performances. Presentation |
| Lawn Bowling | $5500 In kind for 40 parking permits |
Club is valuable to Cobourg. Without permits, members will likely go elsewhere. Other sports have free parking – e.g. at the CCC |
| Ecology Garden Dora Body |
$2575 grant | Natural garden at foot of Hibernia Street. $2500 approved last year. |
| Community Care Sheri Birnie |
$2000 grant | Grant last year was $2000. Provides Meals on Wheels and more |
| Cobourg Museum Foundation Joan Chalovich |
$8500 (including tax rebate) | Sifton-Cook Museum with new exhibits every year. 2000 visitors in 2018 – mostly from out of town. Slides |
| Historical Society Leona Woods |
$988.75 + security In kind for use of Citizen’s Forum |
Cobourg and District Historical Society – dedicated to promoting and preserving Cobourg’s history Slides |
| Fern Flodgett Sunde Leona Woods |
$5000 In kind for base of Statue |
For a statue commemorating Cobourg born female radio operator in WW2. More at Cobourg News Blog Presentation |
| S.O.N.G. Trish Dryden |
$2500 grant | Help children through learning of music Slides |
In addition, at the following Committee of the Whole meeting, Olinda Casimiro of the Art Gallery of Northumberland asked for a budget allocation of $250,000 – an increase from the $160,000 awarded in 2018. (Her presentation here) Olinda pointed out that 30% of this goes back to the Town for rental of the space they use in Victoria Hall. It seems that Town Funding is a condition of getting Federal grants. In response to a question, Olinda said that they would be pursuing collaborations with other Townships. It would seem sensible given the “Northumberland” in their name although other Towns have been reluctant given their Cobourg location.
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The numbers for the Art Gallery need to be considered in terms of our families. The taxpayers are being asked to directly contribute $250,000 to the AGN. Since there are fewer than 10,000 families in Cobourg, the AGN will cost each family more than $25 in 2019. Based on their presentation, the AGN had only 10,000 visitors in 2018 so Cobourg’s taxpayers will be paying $25 to subsidize each visitor. Why is there no admission charge?
As a comparison, Cobourg taxpayers subsidize the CCC by about $100 per family each year and many complain that this is excessive. Is the CCC — contributing to the health and enjoyment of young and old — only four times as important as the AGN which benefits only a few?
As another comparison, the $250,000 that the AGN wants is almost twice the total of the salaries paid to Cobourg’s Mayor, Deputy Mayor and all Councillors in 2017 (2018 data not yet released).
On behalf of my family, I gladly contribute $100 per year for the CCC; likewise, I gladly contribute $25 per year. They are worth it.
Unlike the CCC, and its extolled young people, the AGN is a centre for manifest creativity; it’s youth programs encourage and nourish CREATIVITY and INNOVATION and IMAGINATION, and prepare our youth for their future, which requires more and more creative people because the number of clone drone jobs are diminishing and bean counters are being laid off as redundant and inefficient, easily replaceable with an algorithm.
That kind of tightwad policy towards the AGN devalues and discourages creativity and innovation.
Why don’t they put in a, say $10.00 per person admission charge for one year and monitor the results…seems reasonable to me. Same thing goes for all the potential new cultural programs that may surface over the next few years in Cobourg. People who use it, have to help pay for it.
Ken,
I think it’s important to look at the AGN and CCN as other than user pay venues. As new families consider relocation to Cobourg, cultural depth and recreation opportunities are key considerations. It’s important that places like the AGN and CCN are accessible to all. Perhaps trying a $5 entrance fee or pay what you can at the AGN in 2019 would assist in deferring costs. A slight increase in sport participation programs at the CCN would also be in order.
Great coverage, as always John!
Just as an aside……it was Nan Hendren that made the presentation for the Lawn Bowling Club. 🙂
And ‘hats off’ to the statue of Fern! As an Amateur Radio Operator, myself, I feel she made a great sacrifice during the 2nd WW years and as a former Cobourgite (?), she deserves this memorial!
Like you Ken very impressed with the presentation but also the material. Very cool that we have this ‘type’ of person in our history.