Council in Prince Edward County has approved the best use of over $175,000 that was unspent because of COVID-19.
Councillors approved the staff request to see $68,600 given to The County Foundation from this year’s Community Grants budget as well as $40,000 to the Regent Theatre.
The Regent Theatre will also be receiving $40,000 as requested at the last Committee of the Whole meeting earlier this month to allow them to move to a more online platform and allow them to continue to bring in revenue despite COVID-19. The funds would also come from the 2020 community grants budget.
Not everyone was happy with the amount of the request for the theatre and councillor Janice Maynard wished to see a smaller amount be granted to the organization.
Councillor Kate McNaughton said if they only gave the theatre $18,000 to purchase the equipment it hamstrings the Regent because they wouldn’t have the licenses or the expertise to use the equipment.
CAO Marcia Wallace told council this is the best plan the board has and September is their breaking point.
Mayor Steve Ferguson said he couldn’t imagine the Regent being dark.
The 2020 Community Grant budget, which was only partially spent due to the pandemic and only those projects and events involving in-kind or small cash requests and which were not affected by social distancing measures were granted funds from the 2020 Community Grant Program.
The $68,000 would go towards a COVID-19 Community Grant Program available this fall in order to support eligible community groups, not for profits and charities who have been unable to qualify for other COVID-19 related emergency grants and are finding it difficult to cover their operating expenses at this time.
This would be a one-time program. The eligibility and spirit of this proposed one-off grant deviates from the Community Grant Program in that it would support operating expenses rather than project-based funding. TCF would facilitate the grant process, advertise and adjudicate the grant in partnership with The County.
The remaining balance of $45,044 in cash and $23,142 in-kind would be transferred to the 2021 community grants budget. This is recommended by staff in order to alleviate some financial pressure on nest year’s municipal budget and still ensure much needed community grant funds will be available in 2021.
So far this year, only $42,850 in total grants were provided by the County.
Council in Prince Edward County met in person for the first time in months at Highlands Hall in Wellington on Tuesday night. The meeting was closed to the public but still available virtually.
Councillors in Prince Edward County met in person at Highlands Hall in Wellington on June 23, 2020.
