Funding agreement recommended for Powell River Academy of Music

qathet Regional District’s finance committee is recommending a change in the way the regional district financially supports the Powell River Academy of Music.

At the September 4 finance committee meeting, directors reviewed a proposed four-year funding agreement, which would provide the academy with $9,000 annually. According to a staff report, in 2021, the regional district entered into a three-year agreement with the academy, which provided $15,000 for International Choral Kathaumixw years, and $3,000 in the years when the choral festival was not being held. The agreement has expired.

Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox said the regional district was responding to changing needs from the academy and that the annual funding being proposed was predictable.

“They are good at what they do and I’m sure they can manage their organization with that certainty,” said Lennox.

qRD manager of financial services Linda Greenan said she thought it made sense to have the contributions evened out, so that is why she included that option in her report, as opposed to the two different allocations.

Electoral Area E director and finance committee chair Andrew Fall said the regional district would be relying on the academy to set aside the right amount for Kathaumixw years. While Kathaumixw used to occur in even years, with the pandemic causing cancellations, the festival now takes place during odd years. The next International Choral Kathaumixw is scheduled for 2025.

Greenan said it does concern her having an unusual contract such as the one that has expired, and the proposal before the committee would even out the payments, which would be simpler administratively for the regional district.

Academy representative Arlan Smallwood said the academy had not planned on changing the years of the festival, but COVID-19 necessitated that. He said he believed the similar annualized payments would be okay.

City of Powell River director George Doubt said in reading the staff report, it appeared that it was directed at sorting out the regional district’s grant applications for this year. He said his question was: did the academy agree it would be satisfied with this change, because logically, the academy would be expecting to receive $15,000 and may have budgeted for that.

“I would hate to change that without having an agreement from the academy that they could deal with that,” said Doubt, adding that he’d like to know if the change was acceptable for the academy before it was voted on.

Doubt made a motion to postpone the recommendation until the music academy had been heard from.

Doubt’s motion, however, was defeated. The committee then carried a motion that it recommended that the board direct staff to renew the agreement with Powell River Academy of Music for a four-year term, from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2027, amended to provide the society with annual funding of $9,000.

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