Council wrestles with 'problematic' grant process

An appeal to council to reconsider staff's grant allocations this year rang out a win for a local charity event organizer whose $3,000 in-kind request was ultimately granted by council after staff turned it down. 

Council opted to give Wrestling Night in Collingwood free use of the Collingwood Curling Club this year, something usually given through the town's annual grant process. 

The decision came in response to a letter from John Edwards, the organizer behind the annual Wrestling Night in Collingwood event, which was included on council’s consent agenda for their April 22 meeting. In the letter, Edwards pleads with council to reconsider the town’s denial of his request for an in-kind donation through the town’s community recreation and culture grants for the rental of the Collingwood Curling Club on June 1.

The event, which has run for the past 10 years and donates its proceeds to Special Olympics, was denied the $3,000 in-kind grant this year for the first time.

“This was very disappointing,” wrote Edwards. “The reason I was given from town staff was I apparently missed some small items in my application and the number of applicants increased this year. We believe Wrestling Night in Collingwood is a valued community event.”

Since 2012, Edwards estimates wrestling events in Collingwood have raised more than $25,000 for Special Olympics.

“All we are asking for is the use of the curling club for a single evening so we can once again put on an exciting event for the people of Collingwood and to raise money for the Special Olympics,” wrote Edwards. “With June 1 fast approaching, our request is time-sensitive.”

At the end of his letter, Edwards called on council and the town to make changes to the town’s application process to allow an interview protocol, and to add a formal appeal process for denied applicants.

The town’s acting director of parks, recreation and culture Karen Cubitt noted that Edwards’ application indicated that the event wasn’t a not-for-profit event. She said it was also missing a second letter of support, and there had been a delay in Edwards providing a post-event grant report to the town in the previous year, all of which led to his application being denied.

She said that of the 14 applicants who applied for $39,950 of in-kind funding this year, the town managed to approve 11.5 of those requests with the $35,000 budget that had been approved by council for the 2024 grant cycle.

This past February, council passed a new formalized policy to hand out community grants. There are two funding streams: community grants through council and the community recreation and culture grants, which are decided by town staff.

Double dipping is not permitted through the policy, as organizations that receive funding through the town’s community recreation and culture grant program are not eligible to apply for a council community grant.

“Obviously there’s some (uncertainty) on the process,” said Coun. Chris Potts during council discussion on the letter. “One gets denied, one gets approved...it would be nice to channel that into one process.”

Potts put forward a motion – for which notice was waived by council – to provide the $3,000 in-kind donation to Edwards for the event, due to the changing nature of the grant application process this year.

“There is no cash ask here,” said Potts.

When asked about an interview process and appeals process, town treasurer Monica Quinlan said staff are open to discussing a future interview process, but adding an appeals process raises other concerns.

“We’ve put processes in place to make it as fair and transparent as possible. I think if we allow appeals, it degrades that process,” Quinlan explained. “It makes it difficult to allocate the grants that have been awarded. We would have to pause on the award of all the other grants so we could hear the appeals and re-evaluate.”

Quinlan also challenged the idea that there isn’t a cost to the town for an in-kind grant.

“User fees are an important part of our tax base. We couldn’t forego all user fees or there would be a serious impact in the millions if we subsidized,” she said.

Quinlan advised that if council wanted to approve the in-kind donation, that it would make the most financial sense to allow the budget overage, and then work it out at the end of the year, rather than borrow from reserves right off the bat.

“It’s likely there will be other surpluses that will offset this deficit,” she said.

While all councillors present voted in favour, a few raised concerns about the type of message it could send, and potential future repercussions.

“What I’m finding most problematic for us is because of the timing of the grants, it’s left Mr. Edwards and his group with eight weeks notice of not being able to proceed, which is an impossible time frame,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin. “I have some sympathy for this.”

Hamlin said she was opposed to adding an appeals process.

“I don’t see that working in the long-term if everyone who’s turned down comes to council for an appeal,” she said.

Coun. Rob Ring noted that applications for the grants opened in December, so he was unclear why applicants were only being informed recently that their applications weren’t approved.

“I know we’re saying time is short, but whose fault is it that time is short?” asked Ring. “I think it’s a worthwhile cause.”

Coun. Steve Perry cautioned councillors.

“I worry this could set a precedent. I think we have to form a hard line from here, on,” he said.

Coun. Kathy Jeffery agreed.

“You can fully expect others will come forward and I think it’s problematic because we can’t just say, well, now we’ve closed the gate,” she said. “The hard line we should take is now, or be prepared because we won’t be able to say no to the next ones.”

Council voted unanimously in favour of providing the Wrestling Night in Collingwood event with the $3,000 in-kind donation for the rental of the Collingwood Curling Club. Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer was absent.