Mayor Kathy Moore
There’s been a lot of excitement in Rossland recently. The Canada 150 Community Infrastructure grant has created a big buzz. This is a federal grant that will dedicate $150 million dollars over two years to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial. One hundred and fifty years since Confederation is indeed something to crow about and so is $150 million dollars!
At our May 25 council meeting, the council chambers were full of citizens lobbying for their favorite project. The greening of the Emcon lot, the designated future home of the Rossland skate park, had the biggest turn out. There was also support for the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture’s ambitious Miners Hall renovation project. And in addition, the library and the museum have large renewal projects that qualify for this grant stream as well. With all these great projects, it is council’s job to select the one that best meets the grant criteria.
The goal of the grant is to rehabilitate and renew existing infrastructure. Under the theme Giving back to Canada: shaping the future, leaving a lasting legacy and giving a gift to Canada, the tag line, “Strong, Proud and Free” is meant to reinforce pride, national identity, unity and attachment to our great country. The Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program is intended to support projects that celebrate our shared heritage, create jobs and improve the quality of life of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. It’s a big undertaking by the government.
Western Economic Diversification Canada is the body entrusted by the Federal government to determine the best projects for our region. They have the daunting challenge to allocate the $46.2 million dollars earmarked for the western provinces. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, strong preference will be given to projects that are undertaking meaningful upgrades to existing cultural and community facilities. The upgrades must provide long-term benefits to the community, be viewed with pride by the community, and are recognized as providing a lasting legacy to the community.
The program anticipates funding 1,800 projects that will hopefully be significantly completed in time for the sesquicentennial celebrations in 2017. The details of this massive program were announced on May 21 with the application period closing at 1 p.m. on June 17. That doesn’t give applicants much time to meet the elaborate requirements for consideration. While it is rushed, in Rossland we are confident that we have several really strong candidates. However, the competition for these funds is going to be really intense. As with any grant program, the needs and plans of communities far exceed the money available to pay for them.
Many projects qualify. Examples of the type of community infrastructure that could be supported include: existing museums, community and cultural centres; parks, recreational trails, libraries; recreational facilities including local arenas or other sport-specific facilities, tourism facilities or other community infrastructure for public benefit.
There are some strict guidelines for eligible projects: The amount of funding requested under the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total cost of a project, up to a maximum of $500,000. Strong preference will be given to projects that have the other half of the required funding already confirmed.
One important criterion is the funds must be used for the rehabilitation, renovation, or expansion of existing infrastructure for public use or benefit. The guidelines are quite specific that projects involving construction of new infrastructure or significant expansion beyond 30 per cent of existing infrastructure, are ineligible.
The project must be community-oriented, non-commercial in nature, open for use to the public and not limited to private membership. Preference will be given to an applicant that has strongly demonstrated the ability and the capacity to complete the project by the fall of 2017.
It is interesting to note a number of entities have standing to apply for these funds: A local or regional government, a not-for-profit entity or a First Nations government. In addition, eligible applicants must directly own the facility that is being renovated or have a long-term lease in place (with permission from the owner to undertake renovations); and finally, the entity must be incorporated. Each of these requirements presents it’s own set of challenges to proponents.
As the Rossland News goes to press, Council has not held our Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss which project has the best chance of success but by the time you read this, that discussion will have happened and a decision will have been made. Check the City’s website at www.rossland.ca or my facebook page, Mayor Kathy Moore, to learn of the outcome. Then, all we can do is cross our fingers, wait and hope our proposal is a winner.
