A glance at this week’s headlines provides an indication of just how tough municipalities and local organizations have it when attempting to fund major community betterment projects.
One Community News front page story reports on Mapleton’s unsuccessful application for Ontario Trillium Foundation funding for a proposed skate park.
Mayor Neil Driscoll’s frustration with the Trillium process is obvious from his comments at the Dec. 8 council meeting.
“It’s just very frustrating that they can say we only have so many dollars for your area … to me she’s saying, ‘Yeah, maybe you think your project is important but we only have so many dollars and we want to get rid of them as quickly as possible.’”
The sentiment is understandable, especially given Mapleton’s application was placed on hold for a considerable period while the foundation put in place a new application process and investment strategy. It’s taken quite a while to get an answer and some of the young people who originally lobbied council for a skate park will soon have outgrown their boards and bikes if a park isn’t built shortly.
However, railing at Trillium isn’t quite the same as dumping on the federal or provincial government for forcing municipalities to participate in an impractical and convoluted application process to receive their share of tax dollars in the form of grants. Trillium funds projects using government lottery proceeds, the most voluntary form of “tax” in existence. Funds are distributed through a relatively straightforward application process facilitated by volunteers on regional grant review teams. The organization receives around 3,000 applications annually and provides grants totaling roughly $110 million to about 1,000 organizations. When you know going in two thirds of applications, most probably for deserving projects, are going to be unsuccessful, there’s not much sense in taking it personally. Given that Trillium is an ongoing program, the best idea is probably to fine tune your application and try again.
If there’s a problem of perception, it may be partly due to Trillium’s own lack of communication. Of the latest round of grants issued by the foundation, three were for Wellington County organizations, including $30,000 for the Minto Mapleton Family Health Team for the purchase of accessible fitness equipment. The grants, among 14 awarded in Waterloo, Wellington and Dufferin, were announced on the foundation’s website but, as far as the local media can tell, no press release was issued. The Community News discovered the largesse while researching this editorial.
Elsewhere on page one is a story detailing council’s efforts to clarify a proposal from local service groups to build a splash pad in Drayton. Fundraising for the project is currently ongoing based on approval in principal of the idea by the previous Mapleton council. However, members of the current council are looking for a firmer idea of what the taxpayer contribution would be, both in terms of capital outlay and ongoing costs, and it’s probably time for that to happen before things progress further.
The cost of a splash pad is being estimated at between $100,000 and $200,000, and expenditures in other communities would appear to bear that out. So if the project is going to require significant municipal dollars, plans will need to be made and dollars budgeted. A suggestion of funding the splash pad through Mapleton’s 50/50 program would seem to be unrealistic, as the township share would probably eat up five to 10 years of the program’s usual municipal allotment. In addition, the township’s CAO/public works director is warning ongoing operation and maintenance costs may be prohibitive.
Between increasing regulatory requirements and ever-tightening budgets, providing municipal recreation facilities and opportunities is becoming ever more complicated and cooperation and communication between funders and facilitators is crucial.
Patrick Raftis
