Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) has announced a second round of funding for its Recreation and Infrastructure Grants program.
This will offer those who weren’t able to apply in the first round a chance for funding. Part of the reason a second round is being done is because it’s the first year the grants program is happening.
Applications for the grants started in January and closed it in March, but staff at CBT didn’t know if everybody interested in applying was in the area, so the decision was made to do a second round.
“Part of the process is people have to go through a referral process, that can take up to 60 days,” said Rick Allen, manager of special initiatives at CBT. “Some people might not have been able to meet that with the first intake.”
In order to be eligible for funding, the applicant must be a local government, a First Nations, or a not for profit society.
Before getting an application, Allen must be contacted to discuss the project, because there is no sense in sending in an application if the project isn’t eligible. For example, maintenance projects, like painting, are not eligible. Neither is the purchasing of equipment.
“People will ask us for volley balls, and we won’t buy volley balls,” said Allen. “We’ll build a volley ball court, but we won’t buy the volley balls.”
If an application is given, the applicant must tell CBT within 10 pages what their plans are, how it affects the community, how it’s going to benefit the area, how it’s going to make people more active, healthier and happier.
CBT has an evaluation process, where they look at the applications that come in, which are then measured against their criteria for funding. If criteria is met, funding is awarded and will continue to be awarded until there isn’t any money left.
One of the applicants to receive funding is the Village of Nakusp to repair the roof of the Nakusp and District Sports Complex.
“When CBT announced the recreation infrastructure funding program, it was an opportunity for us to deal with something that is required to extend the longevity of the facility,” said Terry Welsh, director of recreations and parks for the village. “Because that is the original roof of the structure, what we’re getting is leakage, very much so in the lobby areas, and outside on the canopy as well, but [also] in the main structure.”
The sports complex was built in the late 1970s, officially opening on Feb. 12, 1980.
The tendering process has already been started, and construction is expected to be completed by the time ice is installed in the rink.
The deadline for applications is July 11.