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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-14-003 - Festival of Neighbourhoods Grant Increase Staff Report I r Community Services Department wvwuukitchenerra REPORT TO: Community and Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: April 7, 2014 SUBMITTED BY: Mark Hildebrand, Director, Community Programs and Services, 519- 741-2200 ext. 7687 PREPARED BY: Janice Ouellette, Facilitator, Volunteer Resources and Community Engagement, 519-741-2200, ext. 7227 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: March 7, 2014 REPORT NO.: CSD -14- 003 SUBJECT: Festival of Neighbourhoods Grant Increase RECOMMENDATION: That the Council Policy 1-525 (Community Investment) be amended to remove the Community Grants Tier 3 program; and further, That the annual funds from the Community Grants Tier 3 program be reallocated to the Festival of Neighbourhoods capital improvement grant on an ongoing basis. BACKGROUND: For the past 20 years, the City of Kitchener has worked in partnership with the Social Planning Council of Kitchener-Waterloo and John MacDonald Architect to create and offer the Festival of Neighbourhoods (FoN) initiative. As a partner in the FoN, one of the City of Kitchener's contributions to the initiative includes a $10,000 capital improvement grant for one winning volunteer group each year. The $10,000 capital improvement grant has resulted in important projects in a variety of neighbourhoods across the city (see Chart 1 on the following page). Report The $10,000 FoN capital grant has remained the same amount for 20 years. A historical review of the grant projects completed through this program shows that the projects require a substantial time commitment from community volunteers. Winners of the grant engage their neighbours to determine potential projects; review consultation input, source purchases and pricing for projects, determine feasibility of ideas, select an appropriate project; create a project plan; work with various departments and divisions and levels of government to implement the plan; and, gather neighbours to celebrate the completion of the project. 12 - 1 Chart 1: FoN community,oantributions throc>Igh $14,©©0 Capital grant Year Grant recipient Project completed Ward 1994 Mt. Hope-Breithaupt Pk Duke St Playground re-design &upgrades 10 1995 Courtland Shelley Vanier Park bridge, playground upgrades & 3 planting 1996 Cedar Hills Residential Fagade Improvement Loan Fund 9 1997 College St Safety audit and streetscape improvements 10 1998 Kilkerran Crescent Accessible nature trail in neighbourhood woodlot 4 1999 Doon Pioneer Park Doon Skatium mobile skateboard park 4 2000 Brubacher St Park upgrades 10 2001 Asgard Green/Cherry St Green space improvements & accessible walking 9 trail 2002 Huron Park Improvements to Huron Park(Weber & Louisa Sts) 10 2003 Country Hills Multipurpose sports pad, accessible playground 6 2004 Breithaupt Park upgrade to park area with soccer field, winter rink, 10 storage shed &outdoor performance area 2005 Chandler-Mowat Spray pad 6 2006 Margaret/Guelph/Weber/ Erb Hartwood Green Park landscaping 10 2007 Auditorium neighbourhood In progress-- Park picnic/weather shelter 10 2008 Chandler-Mowat Park up-grades, benches etc. 6 2009 Topper Woods/boon Playground and park up-grades 4 2010 Robert Ferrie Dr & Monarch Playground and park up-grades 4 Woods Dr 2011 Olde Berlin Town In consultation - Heritage banners 10 2012 Valleyview Neighbourhood In consultation— park up-grades 6 2013 Chandler Mowat In consultation 6 In reviewing the projects funded through the FoN capital grant, it has become clear that the $10,000 is not sufficient enough to cover the costs of projects being considered by the grant recipients. Projects either have had to be scaled back or the community volunteers have had to find alternative sources of funding to achieve their capital project goals, which has proven quite difficult for volunteer groups and time-consuming for staff supporting them. As an example of how costs easily exceed the $10,000 grant, the following is a recent example of the costs associated with a park upgrade. • Playground supply and install $ 9,800 • Trail (by developer— no cost to City) $ 0 • Park development (grub, grade, seed) $10,200 • Tree planting 2,400 • Original total $22,400 • Remedial turf work to complete original park plan (topsoil, seed, stone, shrub plantings) $15,000 • Total $37,400 Staff's recommendation to reallocate existing funding from the Community Grants Tier 3 program to increase the FoN capital grant will provide greater support to a very popular and effective program enabling volunteer groups working to improve their neighbourhoods through important projects and initiatives. 12 - 2 Staff did consider utilizing the increased FoN capital grant to create two grant winners per year. However, all of the FoN partners and organizers have identified a preference to increase the single annual grant to an amount of $20,980 each year. This increased grant will provide volunteer groups with greater flexibility in the projects they choose to achieve their goals, and better utilize limited staff time who support the neighbourhood projects. ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: The Festival of Neighbourhoods capital improvement grant is designed to provide opportunities for community members to connect further with their neighbours, to determine communal interests and needs, to decide together on a project that will benefit their area and to work with local government staff to bring their project to fruition. The process itself creates opportunities for leadership and engagement. It addresses the community priority of inclusion and diversity, requiring all neighbours to be offered an opportunity for input and to be part of the decision- making. The resulting projects and connections made through the process can have a powerful impact on the quality of life in that neighbourhood. It is this grassroots connectedness and leadership that helps us to work towards the community priorities of leadership and engagement, diversity and quality of life and, to achieve Kitchener's Community Vision that "together, we will build an innovative, caring, and vibrant Kitchener with safe and thriving neighbourhoods". FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: This proposal would have no financial impact on the City as it is simply reallocating existing funding from a lower and little used priority (Tier 3 grants) to a higher priority (neighbourhood projects through FoN). The Tier 3 Grant of the Community Investment Fund, known as the "Community Services Innovation Investment Fund" was designated for programs and projects that respond to a recognized and identified new or emerging need and that provide a new/ innovative service to the community. Since the launch of Tier 3 grant program, $10,000 was approved in 2009 for the Waterloo Region Resiliency Initiative and $10,260 was approved in 2010 to support expanding the YMCA Cross Cultural Services Mentoring Program. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 grant allocations were left unspent because no applications were received that fit this granting category. The 2014 Tier 3 budget is $10,980. The Tier 3 grant fund is not being used to its full capacity and community members who win the Festival of Neighbourhoods grant are struggling to find a project they can afford for $10,000. For these reasons, staff recommend reallocating the annual Tier 3 funding to increase the Festival of Neighbourhoods capital grant. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The capital grant projects themselves include a combination of consultation, collaboration and entrusting citizens to decide how to allocate grant dollars to meet specific needs in their community. Through the evaluation of the capital improvement grant projects and discussion with grant winners and staff, we have heard the limits of the grant amount and need to consider increased support for the valuable community-led projects. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Michael May, Deputy CAO, Community Services 12 - 3