City of Powell River Council has authorized a $30,000 expenditure to hire a consultant to assist with updates to the city’s community partnerships policy.
At the October 19 city council meeting, chief financial officer Mallory Denniston outlined the community partnerships policy, which involves annual financial support to nonprofit organizations through arts and culture grants, Powell River Community Forest grants, general community grants-in-aid and grants-in-kind, and permissive tax exemptions. She said city council had requested that the policy be updated so that it can best align with council’s strategic priorities.
“The proposal is to use funds from the COVID-19 safe restart reserve to hire a consultant who is experienced in engagement and policy development to update this policy,” said Denniston. “The reason for this consultant is because of the complexity of this project. This policy includes four granting programs, for roughly $1.7 million in annual financial assistance.”
Denniston said there are roughly 100 organizations that benefit from the financial assistance that is distributed according to council’s policy. She said the community forest board and qathet Arts Council, which oversee grants, are key partners in this policy and would also be part of the engagement.
Denniston said the project would be a collaboration with staff and the stakeholders involved.
City councillor Trina Isakson said she was looking forward to the matter coming to council.
“I’ve often had many questions and opinions on how we do this,” added Isakson.
Councillor Jim Palm said the policy is a complicated matter and he appreciated Denniston bringing it forward.
“I’m not sure of the city’s finances going forward so all the work we do in this regard in my estimation is valuable,” said Palm.
Councillor Rob Southcott said at one time there was a committee formed which resulted in the formation of the community partnerships policy. He said Denniston’s predecessor Adam Langenmaier did some investigative work and wrote some good, detailed reports, which could inform council.
“This is critical work, managing a lot of money,” said Southcott. “The $30,000 is a good investment in being as conservative and careful as we can. I take this project very seriously.”
Council voted unanimously to direct staff to amend the city’s 2023 five-year financial plan to include a consultancy contract to update the council policy on community partnerships – investment through grants and permissive tax exemptions, funded up to $30,000 by the COVID-19 safe restart reserve.
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