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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRPS-08-194 - Environmental Committee RecommendationI~TC~~R .. ~ . corporate Services Report To: Councillor C. Weylie, Chair and Members of the Development and Technical Services Committee Date of Meeting: January 5, 2009 Submitted By: Environmental Committee Prepared By: Colin Goodeve, Committee Administrator - ext 2278 Wards}Involved: All Date of Report: December 11, 2008 Report No.: CRPS-08-194 Subject: ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION - 2008 COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT GRANT RECIPIENTS RECOMMENDATION: That the 2008 Community Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG), to be funded from the Environmental Stewardship Capital Account, be awarded as follows: $650. to Kitchener-Waterloo Urban Harvester; $2,000. to Opportunities Waterloo Region; $1,900. to Our Place Family Resource and Early Years Centre; $1,600 to Kitchener Master Gardeners; $1,600. to Forest Heights Community Association; $500. to Sustainable Cycles -Mothers of the Planet Earth; $1,500. to St. Mary's Catholic Church; and, $1,000. to Olde Berlin Towne Neighbourhood Association; and further, That the remaining $750. of the 2008 CEIG funds be prorated to assist with costs related to advertising the 2009 grant program. BACKGROUND: The purpose of the Community Environmental Improvement Grant Program (CEIG) is to encourage residents to actively participate in environmental initiatives. To facilitate the program $11,500. was budgeted to the Environmental Stewardship Capital Account in 2008, with a maximum grant allocation of $3,000. for any one project. Typically, only $10,000. is budgeted annually toward the CEIG; however, last year it was agreed that $1,500. of the 2007 CEIG budget would be prorated for distribution in 2008. In addition, $1,000. of the 2007 funding was allocated to assist with costs related to advertising the 2008 grant program. On average the City receives approximately 6 applications annually for the CEIG program and usually several of those applications only moderately meet the grant's criteria. Accordingly, at the January 10, 2008 Environmental Committee meeting, aSub-committee was established to review the CEIG program and put forward recommendations for improving the quantity and quality of grant applications. Subsequent to this review, revised grant criteria was put forward and approved by Council on October 6, 2008, following which Environmental Planning staff undertook an extensive promotional campaign. The 2008 advertising campaign was launched the second week of October and to enhance the accessibility of the application process the City's CEIG web page was redesigned so that applicants could apply directly online. In an attempt to reach as many people as possible, a notice was placed in the Waterloo Region Record and the Pennysaver Smart Shopper, which is circulated to approximately 95% of the homes in Kitchener. In addition, a media release was issued, approximately 150 CEIG brochures were made available at City facilities and distributed electronically to targeted neighbourhood groups, organizations and community groups. As a result, 20 CEIG grant applications were received in 2008 which represents more then a 300% increase over previous years. Due to the nature of many environmental projects community groups and organizations often do not begin to contemplate funding sources for projects until such time that the project is being planned (often early spring) for the upcoming year. Accordingly, staff will be commencing the CEIG advertising campaign much earlier in 2009 so that community groups will be aware of the grant when planning their projects. As the CEIG advertising campaign was relatively brief this year, it is anticipated that if the promotional efforts implemented in 2008 are continued there should be even greater interest in the 2009 grant program. REPORT: At the December 11, 2008 Environmental Committee meeting, the Committee considered the 20 grant applications received for the 2008 CEIG program and representatives from the following groups addressed the Committee in support of their applications: Community Renewable Energy Waterloo (CREW) -Power Saving Network; Our Place Family Resource and Early Years Centre -Our Outdoor Learning Environment; Opportunities Waterloo Region -Let's Open Our Gardens; Sustainable Cycles -Mothers of the Planet Earth; Queensmount Sr. Public School -Queensmount Greening Project; Kitchener-Waterloo Urban Harvester; and, Kitchener Master Gardeners -Seedy Saturday. In the past a significant number of applications have been received from school groups and one of the objectives identified during the grant review was to encourage a broader variety of applicants. Therefore, in accordance with the criteria outlined in Council Policy I-590 (Grant Program -Community Environmental Improvement) the Committee agreed to limit the number of grant applications it would consider from schools and school related entities in 2008. In addition, the Committee decided to withdraw the CREW -Power Saving Network application from consideration, as these are intended to be one-time only grants and in 2007 that project received a $3,000. CEIG grant. To facilitate the evaluation process, prior to the December 11, 2008 meeting members completed a scoring sheet for each of the 2008 CEIG applications; the results of which were compiled to produce an aggregate ranking of all the applications. At the meeting, the Committee used the average score a group received in the ranking as a percentage of the group's overall funding request to determine a baseline of funding that could be allocated to that group. For example, if a group was requesting $3,000. and had an average score of 50 points, the baseline for discussion of that group's potential funding allocation would be $1,500. Using this methodology, the Committee proceeded to deliberate as to whether the grant allocation for a particular group should be increased or decreased from its identified baseline. Resultant to this, the Environmental Committee is requesting that a total of $10,750. be allocated to the 8 CEIG applicants, as outlined in the recommendation contained in this report. In addition to build on the success of the 2008 CEIG program, the Committee is further requesting that the remaining $750. of the 2008 CEIG funds be allocated toward advertising the 2009 grants. The 2008 CEIG -Environmental Committee Ranking Chart and the grant applications for the recommended projects, along with a copy of Council Policy I-590 have been attached to this report for the Committee's reference. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: $11,500. was budgeted in the Environmental Stewardship Capital Account for the 2008 Community Environmental Improvement Grant Program and is available for distribution. The following is a breakdown of the Environmental Committee's recommended distribution of the 2008 CEIG funds: 2008 CEIG Applicant: Recommended Allocation 1. Kitchener-Waterloo Urban Harvester $650 2. Opportunities Waterloo Region $2,000 3. Our Place Family Resource and Early Years Centre $1,900 4. Kitchener Master Gardeners $1,600 5. Forest Heights Community Association $1,600 6. Sustainable Cycles -Mothers of the Planet Earth $500 7. St. Mary's Catholic Church $1,500 8. Olde Berlin Towne Neighbourhood Association $1,000 2009 CEIG Advertising Campaign 750 Total : $11, 500 If the Committee wishes to adjust the funding amount recommended for any of the 2008 CEIG applications, it would need to either decrease /eliminate another group's funding, or re-allocate the remaining 2008 funds away from the 2009 advertising campaign. It should be noted that if the remaining funds are not used to promote the 2009 grants, the capacity to build on the success of the 2008 CEIG program would be severely limited. COMMUNICATIONS: Please note that the delegation who addressed the Environmental Committee on behalf of Sustainable Cycles -Mothers of the Planet Earth, has indicated to staff that she may appear before the Development and Technical Services Committee to request that her group's funding allocation be increased. Colin Goodeve Committee Administrator