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MERRITT HERALD TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
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Council deliberates community grants By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
IT’S A BANNOCK DAY Judy Chillihitzia, a foster parent to Merritt Secondary School students, prepares bannock for lunch in the school’s home economics room on Thursday as part of activities for the We Stand Together campaign. Turn to page 3 for the full story. Michael Potestio/Herald
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The City of Merritt’s administration and council deliberated on 28 grant applications last Tuesday, tentatively approving 20 of them. Those 20 grants are a mixture of in-kind and financial contributions and add up to just under $34,000. The largest straight financial grants among them are two $3,000 grants, one for the Merritt and District Chamber of Commerce and the other for the Merritt Mountain Biking Association. The grant to the chamber of commerce means the City of Merritt will be a gold-level sponsor of chamber activities, and will get its logo on chamber publications. The grant for the mountain biking group is for the Tom Lacey Legacy Trail, which the organization spearheaded. Council said the trail is a good tribute to Lacey, who spent years working to fireproof the community. Council also said the volunteer power the mountain biking group is using to rough the trail in is a cost-savings for council if the city were to take on the project. Council also approved about $3,100 in in-kind donations to the Merritt Country Christmas committee, which includes dropping barriers for the parade route, rental of the Civic Centre for the weekend, and cleanup. The value of all 28 applications came in at the $50,000 mark — far less than the $86,000 requested by 25 organizations in 2013. However, the $34,000 running total is not necessarily the final one. Council is awaiting more information from at least three applicants. Council deferred a decision on the MSS grad committee’s in-kind
request for rental of the Civic Centre for the graduation dance until council can figure out if the dance is something the city, the school district or a combination of the two should support. Similarly, a $7,000 request from the Tumbleweed Play School Society was put off until council can determine the school district’s responsibility for the preschool. The Nicola Valley Community Arts Council’s request for $7,000 for day-to-day operations was deferred until councillors can see how that group parlays a municipal grant into more funding from the provincial government. In deliberations, councillors also have the option of suggesting alternate grant amounts for applicants. A financial grant for the Merritt Helping Hands Society, which distributes harm reduction supplies in the community, was approved for $1,500 — half of what the group asked for. However, it’s above the $500 recommended by staff as the group’s financial statements also showed funding from Interior Health and Rotary. “We do have an obligation to be part of this,” Coun. Mike Goetz said at the meeting. “I think going from $3,000 to $500 is a little extreme.” Five of the requests were defeated, including a $10,000 application from the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Council cited a federal grant the organization received last year for a senior employee’s wages in its decision. The food bank’s request for $4,850 to purchase fresh food for hampers was also denied as that organization’s application showed a healthy bank balance, council said.
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