Clarence-Rockland newest committee, the municipal grants committee, is now fully formed with the council appointing its members at the latest council meeting on April 17.
“The existing process lacked a formal mechanism for municipal organizations to access financial support and logistical assistance from the City,” a statement from the City said. “This committee’s mission is to institute an impartial and transparent system for allocating municipal funds, promoting fairness and equity in distribution.”
The committee features three Clarence-Rockland city councillors (Councillors Simon-Olivier Péladeau-Houle, André J. Lalonde and Stéphane Fournier), two members of the community, with Renée Forcier representing urban areas and the Sumaila Gariba representing the rural areas of the municipality, and the Mayor, Mario Zanth.
The committee will recommend an annual budget allocation for grant requests while providing a fair and equitable assessment of all grants and contribution requests, according to their mandate.
One of the committee’s first jobs will be to evaluate the City of Clarence-Rockland’s Municipal Grants Program, the Community improvement Program (CIP), and Economic Development Projects applications in accordance with the appropriate City related policy.
The Municipal Grants Committee will make recommendations to Clarence-Rockland City Council for all monetary grant requests while also providing the maximum level of community benefit given the approved community grant budget.
“The way it’s structure right now, there can be to many contributions coming from various sources,” said Councillor Lalonde.
Lalonde, one of the three councillors elected to the new committee, is the director of research operations with the University of Ottawa.
He said the new structure for grants allows for more development programs in Clarence-Rockland with a steadier streamline for funding requests.
“I do believe what we are trying to do has the capacity to build great things for the city of Clarence-Rockland,” added Coun. Lalonde. “Our goal here is to create new opportunities that will help our city prosper.”
There has been no date given as to when the committee will have its first meeting.
