Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The town’s elected officials have decided to suspend the Kindersley Community Initiatives Program (KCIP) in 2018 to use the funding for the town’s needs.
Council passed a lengthy resolution at its meeting on March 26 to suspend the KCIP grants for 2018. The town gets approximately $45,000 in annual funds form Saskatchewan Lotteries and the town accepts applications from community groups and organizations to award KCIP grants.
The purpose of KCIP is to support new programs and activities in the community with a focus on underrepresented groups of citizens. Municipalities have the option to use the money for its own programs, activities and projects.
Mayor Rod Perkins said council made the decision at a previous meeting to “change direction” with the grant program in 2018. He noted that the lotteries funding will be used to try to develop the Wall of Champions in the lobby at the West Central Events Centre, a project in waiting that was not completed.
[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see the Mar. 28 print edition of The Clarion.’]
The funding will also be used to purchase fireworks for the town’s Canada Day celebration and to cover expenses for the grand opening of the Kindersley Aquatics Centre. The resolution states that the KCIP grants have awarded more than $500,000 to community-based initiatives.
Bernie Morton, the town’s chief administrative officer, said there are several other grant opportunities available to community groups including the town’s community grant and various other grants, so it was decided to change the program for 2018.
He told council that accessing the funds solely for town initiatives is “not unlike what other communities do” with the lotteries grant. The resolution adds that the town is balancing several budgetary matters such as investments into parks, roads, recreational facilities and a new fire hall among others.
The lotteries funding is based on the town’s population and the RM of Kindersley has historically contributed a portion of its population to support the town. The resolution passed to suspend the program for at least one year.
Town cancels IT RFP process
Council members have passed a resolution to terminate the procurement process it was using to secure a firm to manage its information technology (IT) services.
Mayor Rod Perkins said the town has not successfully arrived at a solution for its IT services, so it was time to “do away” with the current request for proposals (RFP) process and go back to the drawing board. None of the proposals meets the expectations of council, he said.
According to the resolution, the process will be terminated and the town’s administration is directed to review current IT services to provide a report that recommends alternative options for the provision of IT services to the town.
[/emember_protected]
