Community Grants Approved

At the 2019 Town of Cobourg Budget approval meeting tonight, a number of key decisions were made, including who would get Community Grants.  The budget initially suggested was $45,000 but with a total of more than $77,000 requested, that meant there would be some disappointments.  Each grant was subject to an individual motion and this task fell upon Councillor Adam Bureau.  Most of his recommendations were routinely approved although many got less than they asked for.  There was a long discussion about the Santa Parade – the initial recommendation to give to the committee was $3,000 compared to their requested $10,000.  But Mayor John Henderson convinced everyone to up that to $5,000.  Paul Pagnuelo (from the gallery using an allowed question time) said that more was needed and, later in the meeting, Councillor Aaron Burchat re-opened the issue and managed to get it increased to $10,000 with the idea that perhaps in future it will be a line item under Culture and Community Services.

Adam Bureau
Adam Bureau

Some organizations that might have looked to Community Grants for support were moved to different line items.

  • The Art Gallery of Northumberland had asked for support of $250,000 but initially they were budgeted at $160,000.  But Adam Bureau made the case that they should get $250,000.  After a long discussion, it was agreed to increase the amount but spread over two years.  So the amount in 2019 will be $205K and $250K in 2020.
  • The Concert Band of Cobourg will now be a line item under Culture and Community Services so will not need a grant
  • The Fern Blodgett Sunde Commemoration project wanted $5,000 in kind for the base of their proposed statue but instead of a Community grant, this will be funded (if Federal Funding comes through for the statue) from either the Parks budget or the CAPS program (Art in Public Spaces). More on this project here.
  • Mandy Robinson’s request for support of the Provincial Town Crier competition was moved to the Council’s budget.

The table below shows the amounts approved.

  2018 Approved 2019 Request Type 2019 Approved
Cobourg & District Community Care $2,000 $2,000 Cash $2,000.00
Cobourg Museum Foundation – Property Taxes $3,000 $4,000 In Kind $4,000.00
Cobourg Museum Foundation – Capital Grant $4,500 $4,500 Cash $4,500.00
Northumberland Orchestra $2,000 $4,000 Cash $2,000.00
Victoria Hall Volunteers $5,000 $4,500 In Kind $4,520.00
OSGA District 12 Senior Games $300 $0   $0 – too late
Legion Education Taxes $1,100 $0   $0 – not needed
Victorian Operetta Society $3,000 $3,000 In Kind $1,808.00
Marie Dressler $6,200 $1,000 Cash $1,000.00
Cobourg Ecology Garden $2,500 $2,575 Cash $2,000.00
Northumberland 89.7 FM $2,500 $3,000 In Kind + $1000 cash $1,581.95
Cobourg & District Historical Society $1,084 $1,487 In Kind $988.75
Oriana Singers $1,000 $3,000 Cash $2,000.00
Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club $5,500 $5,500 In Kind $5,438.12
La Jeunesse Choirs $1,000 $2,000 In Kind $1,864.50
Sound of The Next Generation $2,500 $2,500 Cash $2,000.00
Cobourg Highland Games $0 $9,000 Cash $3,000.00
Santa Claus Parade Committee $0 $10,000 Cash $10,000.00
Driftwood Theatre $0 $2,000   $0.00
Fern Blodgett Sunde Commemoration $0 $5,000 In Kind See notes
Les Amis $0 $6,000 Cash $2,000.00
Old Cat Hollow Studio $0 $2,000   $0 not eligible
Therapeutic Paws of Canada $0 $215 In Kind $242.95
Total Community Grants $43,184 $77,277   $50,944.27

Most of the “In Kind” grants were for the use of Town facilities with the notable exception of the Bowling club who got 35 parking passes.

The meeting went from 10:00am till 7:30pm and resulted in a good number of items of interest – stay tuned for more details tomorrow.

Links

Santa Parade funding request – 12 March 2019

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manfred s
5 years ago

as best as I can recall, the Santa Claus parade originated with the downtown merchants many years ago. For the longest time it was funded by the proceeds derived from the street carnival games and rides held during the annual Sidewalk Sale and contributions of sorts from the merchants themselves. Then, as the main source of support dried up with the removal of the carnival elements to the pier, sponsorships were pursued and eventually the Lions Club became a partner, some 8 (?) or so years ago (don’t quote me on that). Seems things have come full circle now. Personally, I always wanted the DBIA to collect “contributions” from the outright commercial “floats” (like vehicles with bows on them, or walking business ‘billboards’) as a prudent way to help finance the parade, which those commercial entries used as a huge advertising opportunity. It would be in their interest to keep that opportunity ‘afloat’, so to speak. Of course, the big ticket items are the visiting bands and they ARE not cheap, never have been. One reason the parade is so early is the availability of those bands during a very short but busy window, and what’s a parade without marching bands?

Albert
5 years ago

“On March 15th tens of thousands of school children around the world are expected to leave their classrooms in order to protest against climate change.
Organisers say that children are planning strikes in some 1,700 towns and cities in 106 countries, from Canada, to Tanzania to Australia. It could be one of the biggest climate protests ever. ” Economist
Maybe by next Christmas kids have other things on their minds than presents from “Santa”.

Stan G
5 years ago

Very happy to see the Santa Clause parade being given funding. I hope it will be around for many more years.

cornbread
5 years ago

If it is the “Art Gallery of Northumberland”, how come it appears that only Cobourg is on the hook for the total grant? Where are the contributions from the other areas of Northumberland…. or does the county contribute as well?

Small Town Lover
5 years ago

What are they spending $10,000 on? Why could it not be done for less?

Jim Thomas
Reply to  Small Town Lover
5 years ago

Marching bands brought in from out of town.

manfred s
Reply to  Jim Thomas
5 years ago

nothing like a loud, drums’n’horns marching band to excite a parade, and we don’t have that locally. There are about 6 “local” bands and over the years they’ve all taken part on a regular basis, but we’ve also seen as many as 9 bands in total in the parade and that made for some awesome Santa Claus parades. Some of those bands, even back when, were asking for upwards of $1000-$1200 to come. Heck, we were paying $500-$600 to the Air Cadets, which was a big help to a worthy organization. Even though the parade happens because of essentially a total volunteer commitment, it’s financial component is sizable indeed.

Hillary
5 years ago

Hats off to the Lions Club for coming up with a novel use for their Christmas funds.
They are giving the money to the ‘needy’ and perhaps taking their cue from the Christmas story in Matthew.
There the ‘needy’ are refugees and the homeless.
But the Santa Claus Parade sponsors now are the DBIA with help from the Town and goal is to boost Christmas shopping and consumption.