Jan 11, 2016 - The One with the 2016 Community Investment Grants
Council Highlights – January 11, 2016
Happy New Year! We held our first Council meeting of 2016 this past Monday. Also, My wife and I are a little over a week away from the due date of baby-at-large and we’re getting pretty excited! I already feel that 2016 will be a great year! Down to business…
Public Hearing – New Radio Communications Tower
1st and 2nd Reading By-Law300-32-2 (Radio Communications)
Community Investment Grants
Appointment – Town Advisory Committee on Disabilities
1. The Town has been in the process of a by-law change to address the construction of new radio communication antennas. The public hearing is to receive any public objection for the changes. Neither Urban Planning nor the Town of Riverview received any objections and no one was in attendance who wished to speak on the issue….the Public Hearing lasted about 2 minutes(ish)!
2. 1st and 2nd readings of By-Law #300-32-2 (2nd reading by section only). The town is not the governing authority to approve these radio communication towers actually, but we are consulted and so this by-law helps with keeping things slightly and to ensure the towers are compatible with their surroundings. While the by-law is much longer than this, here are the objectives listed in the by-law, section 4.5.A:
a. Minimize the number of new radio communication towers to be erected within the town;
b. Establish criteria and guidelines for the evaluation of new radio communication towers that will seek to minimize their impact on the community;
c. Provide the opportunity for public consultation with neighbouring property owners; and
d. Encourage town design options that make towers more aesthetically pleasing and compatible to their surroundings.
3. Community Investment Grants – Every January Council reviews and approves community investment grants or annual grants. In January we review these grants but throughout the remainder of the year, groups like sports teams, non-profits, etc… can apply for small amounts of funding. Last year we actually ran out of funds in October. Council has $67,823.00 budgeted for the entire year, yet the total requested through the various applications was $99,287.00. Obviously going into this meeting I knew it would be challenging because every group that applied does great work in the community and is deserving of funds, however we have limited dollars to work with and also had to ensure we have funds for the remainder of 2016 when groups come to the Town for support. This meant that many groups were not quite able to receive the full amount they requested and for two new applicants, nothing at all. In these cases the requests were simply too large for us to approve ($10K and $15K). Council approved a new grants policy using criteria from our recent sustainable development initiatives. It was important to us that groups are helping Riverview become sustainable, give back to the community and have direct impact here in Riverview. Here are the amounts that were given out:
292 Coverdale Sea Cadets (RCSCC) - $2,500
Albert County Action Committee (Food Bank) - $6,000
Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada - $3,000
Atlantic Wellness Community Center - $5,000
Capitol School of Performing Arts - $1,000
Frye Festival - $2,000
Greater Moncton Chorale - $600
Greater Moncton Crime Stoppers - $1,000
Greater Moncton Music Festival - $1,000
Greater Moncton Santa Claus Parade - $1,000
Harmonie Codiac Concert Band - $500
Hospice Greater Moncton - $1,500
HubCap Comedy Festival - $2,500
Metrotones Pop Chorus - $2,500
Riverview District Girl Guides - $600
Riverview Group Committee (Scouting) - $1,750
Support to Single Parents - $500
Seniors Roundtable - $800
Tri-Community RCMP Volunteer Policing - $1,500
Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue - $1,000
United Way GMSENB Youth First Committee - $1,500
YWCA - $1,000
Total: $38,750.00
Remaining for 2016: $29,073.00
4. Mayor Seamans appointed Barb Michaud to the Town Advisory Committee on Disabilities.
That’s all for this one! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, let me know. You can view previous Council Highlights on my website www.andrewjleblanc.com.
