HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnv - 2015-12-17 - Item 3 - CSD-15-093 - 2015 Community Environmental Improvement Grant ApplicationsREPORT TO: Environment Committee
DATE OF MEETING: December 17, 2015
SUBMITTED BY: Brandon Sloan, Manager Long Range Policy Planning
PREPARED BY: Carrie Musselman, Senior Environmental Planner x 7068
c/o 2015 CEIG Sub Committee
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: December 1, 2015
REPORT NO.: CSD-15-093
SUBJECT: 2015 COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
GRANTS (CEIG)
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RECOMMENDATION:
That a total of $6,500.00 from the Community Environmental Improvement Grant
capital account be awarded as follows:
Two thousand and four hundred dollars ($2,400) to Crestview Public
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School Council for a School Garden Project; and
Two thousand dollars ($2,000) to Rockway Public School Greening
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Project - Waterloo Education Foundation Inc. for a School Greening
Project; and
One thousand dollars ($1,000) to IMPACT: Eastwood Collegiate
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Institute’s Environmental Group for a School Greening Project.; and
Five hundred and fifty dollars ($550) to Sustainable Youth Canada –
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Waterloo Region for a ‘What can YOUth do?’ conference; and further,
Five hundred and fifty dollars ($550) to Grand River Ontario
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Professional Organizers in Canada for an ‘Organizing Your Environment
for Better Living & Healthier Communities’ workshop series.
BACKGROUND:
The Community Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG) was created in 2004 to
foster a sense of environmental stewardship throughout the City. The aim of the CEIG
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program is to encourage residents to actively participate in environmental initiatives, by
undertaking projects that meet the following objectives:
Increase awareness of how we view and treat air, water and land resources, and
encourage solutions to improve the quality of these resources;
Promote healthy lifestyle practices;
Foster a sense of environmental stewardship;
Promote and initiate the development of short term, intermediate and long term
community-based environmental programs; and,
Support environmental research.
REPORT:
This year the Environmental Committee received applications for the 2015 Community
Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG) from the following groups:
• Rockway Public School Greening Project;
• Community Renewable Energy Waterloo;
• Huron Cleanup Crew;
• Grand River Ontario Professional Organizers in Canada;
• IMPACT: Eastwood Collegiate Institute’s Environmental Group;
• Crestview Public School Council;
• Sustainable Youth Canada – Waterloo Region.
To facilitate the evaluation process, Environmental Committee members completed
scoring sheets for all CEIG applications; the results of which were compiled to produce
an aggregate ranking of all the applications.
On November 26, 2015, the 2015 CEIG Subcommittee evaluated of all seven
applications received based upon the criteria for funding, the merits of the applications,
and the scoring provided by the Environmental Committee members.
The sub-committee followed a review process that has been in place for several years.
Upon review, if the application met the eligibility criteria the average score a group
received in the ranking was used as a percentage of its overall funding request to
determine a potential baseline of funding. Using this methodology, the sub-committee
deliberated as to whether the grant allocation for a particular group should be increased
or decreased from its identified baseline.
Based on its deliberations, the sub-committee is recommending that the following
projects/programs that ranked highest receive funding:
• Crestview Pubic School Council,School Garden Project - The project is to
grow and improve an existing school / community garden to engage students
and neighbours. The grant is to be used for the construction of raised
accessible gardens, plants, seeds, a gardening shed and tools.
• Rockway Public School Greening Project - The project is to expand / improve
an outdoor full-day kindergarten area to get students engaged in a variety of
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learning opportunities. The grant is to be used for plant material (multi-stem
shrub plantings).
• Eastwood Collegiate Institute’s Environmental Group - The project is to
expand upon the community gardens and outdoor teaching / gathering
spaces by creating a butterfly / sculpture garden. The grant is to be used for
local plants and seeds that support monarch butterflies as well as other
pollinators such as bees.
• Sustainable Youth Canada – Waterloo Region - The conference will educate
youth on how they can adopt and encourage sustainably in their local
community.
• Grand River Ontario Professional Organizers in Canada - The workshop
series will provide environmental education and public awareness about
resource consumption and waste management.
The recommended projects support initiatives found within the Strategic Plan for the
Environment and the Citizen’s Report on Air Quality in Kitchener.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The recommendation of this report supports the achievement of the city’s strategic
vision through the delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The Community Environmental Improvement Grant capital account has $6,500
available for use toward the 2015 CEIG program. The annual allotment is $5,000;
however, a 2014 recipient was not able to utilize the $1500.00 allotted to them and so
those funds were carried over to 2015.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM - This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in advance
of the environmental committee meeting.
In September, planning sent targeted e-mails to a database of approximately 60
relevant organizations, non-for profits and neighbourhood associations. The September
edition of the Kitchener Citizen (east and west) included an advertorial highlighting the
J.F Carmichael School Greening Club who received a grant last year and how to apply
to CEIG this year. The focus of communication was social media such as Facebook,
Twitter and the City’s website.
COLLABORATE – This initiative was done in collaboration with a subcommittee of
community volunteers.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Alain Pinard, Director of Planning
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