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Council approves community grants for 2019

Dec 11, 2018 | 11:00 AM

North Battleford City Hall approved a number of grants for local community non-profit organizations for 2019, but noted it wasn’t able to fund every request since the city’s coffers are tight.

“That was arguably one of the toughest decisions for council to make,” Mayor Ryan Bater said following the meeting. “We dedicated a whole night to it actually.”

Among those receiving grants will be the North Battleford Transit System at $268,780 and The Battlefords Humane Society at $271,893.

Bater said while deciding, councillors looked for the organization’s demonstrated need as well as the city’s ability to be able to actually cover the grant.

“There is a lot of need out there in the community. There are a lot of third parties who had requests of the city government for funding. We couldn’t say ‘yes’ to them all,” he said. “So council had to make really hard decisions.

“That doesn’t say anything to their value to the community at all,” Bater said of those that didn’t make the final list. “It’s more about the city’s ability to meet those requests.”

He added organizations that were not successful in receiving a grant for 2019 can apply again later for the 2020 year for future consideration.

Here is the list of approved grant recipients:

North Battleford Transit System $268,780; Battlefords Handi-Bus System $103,588; Destination Battlefords $118,458; River Valley Board $68,000; Lakeland Library Region $361,024; North Battleford Library $147,600; Battlefords Education and Trade Centre $10,000; Battlefords Boys and Girls Club $15,000; Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts $235,000; North Battleford Golf and Country Club $75,000; The Battlefords Humane Society $271,893; the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club $25,000; Catholic Family Services $2,500; and The Lighthouse $25,000.

More highlights

CR Developments Inc. – the Prince Albert based developer of the new Giant Tiger store currently being built at 11 Avenue and 102 Street in North Battleford — was approved for the city’s downtown tax incentive program for the new construction project.

Mayor Ryan Bater said the project will be a huge development for the city’s downtown core.

“They were awarded a sizable incentive,” he said. “That’s consistent with the downtown incentive policy.”

The new store should be ready to open this summer.

While Bater conceded the incentive will mean reduced revenue for the city, there is also an opportunity cost for the project since it will be business boon.

“One could argue perhaps they wouldn’t consider downtown if there wasn’t an incentive,” he said.

Bater said new businesses eyeing downtown property “are making those necessary investments.”

“We’re seeing all kinds of new business downtown – big and small,” he added.

The city plans to review its downtown incentive program next summer.

Renewed lease: The city approved continuing Battlefords Agricultural Society’s lease for use of the North Battleford exhibition grounds that the city owns for another five years to 2023. The city leases out the land to the non-profit organization for $1 per year.

City assessor: North Battleford will be using the services of a city assessor, Tim Furlong, for a short-term contract starting in January for roughly about six months. Since he will be retiring from his current position with the City of Prince Albert he will be available to assist the City of North Battleford in reviewing its property tax operations, to provide his in-house expertise and suggest improvements. City administrators said Furlong won’t receive any payments from the city for his service. Instead he will receive a percentage from the savings he finds in efficiencies, as a one-time payment. If Furlong doesn’t find any financial improvements, he won’t receive any payment.

Managing assets: North Battleford administration will get started on developing an asset management implementation plan. It will be brought back to council for approval prior to March 31, 2019. The plan will also help the city keep track of its progress.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow