Montague council approved requests from two community groups during the Committee of Council meeting and will now officially vote on the resolutions during next month’s meeting.
One request asked council to back a $5,000 credit card from Scotiabank for the Community Welfare League (CWL) so the non-profit group can operate in a more efficient manner.
Greg MacLaren, general manager of the Cavendish Farms Wellness Centre run by the CWL, said the group was not looking for extra credit but that having the card would be easier than dealing with cash.
“That’s the smallest amount we could go with, we’re just looking to streamline our bookkeeping,” said MacLaren. “It also gives us a little bit of control if a staff member shows up at Home Hardware or Kent saying ‘I’m going to charge this to the CWL,’ should they or should they not? This has happened in the past.”
Town CAO Andy Daggett said it’s often difficult for community groups to obtain credit, with individual board members sometimes backing the financing.
Daggett said a guarantee from the town would take pressure off CWL board members.
Coun. Wayne Spin said his only concern was who would be able to access the card.
MacLaren said the card would be kept in a safe and used at his discretion.
“I have no problem with that at all. You don’t just don’t want six or seven people (with open access). That’s my only concern,” said Spin.
Although Daggett said backing the card could expose the town to potential fraud, he noted council gives the CWL much more in an operations grant every year.
This year’s budget includes $62,700 for the CWL.
“($5,000) isn’t a huge amount of money …. It’s similar to what the province would do to us if we defaulted on something. They would simply hold on to the money,” said Daggett. “We would always have the option to recover it that way.”
Daggett also suggested the town be provided with quarterly statements and that the town be named as “additional insured” on the CWL insurance policy.
Mayor Richard Collins also seemed to be in favour of the motion.
“It sounds like a positive step to me.”
Council also responded positively to a request from CanSkate Montague for a minor grant of $200 to help run its program at the Wellness Centre.
The program is provided by the Sherwood Parkdale Skating Club and after being absent from Montague for several years, the number of skaters this year was lower than projected.
Organizers said they were hopeful the number would grow as community awareness builds but that they would like to cover this year’s deficit before returning again.
Council was in favour of the request, and Daggett suggested the grant be given directly to the Wellness Centre to offset the group’s ice rentals.
