BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead councillors unanimously approved a community grant funding application for the Agnes Memorial Mosside United Church during their June 17 meeting.
The church will use the $2,048 grant to help offset the costs of subdivision fees to realign the cemetery lines to include all the gravesites on the church property. The total cost of the project is estimated at $4,048.
The policy, which has been in place since February 2021, enables eligible community organizations that meet specific criteria to receive up to $2,500 in funding for a project or event benefiting county residents.
To be eligible for a community grant, groups or organizations must be registered non-profit societies, charitable organizations, volunteer groups, or service clubs that provide services within or that are readily accessible to county residents. Groups must also be in good standing with the municipality and can demonstrate that the grant will be used for a project, service, structure, or event. The program funding pool is capped at $15,000 annually.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said the application was unique in that it did not involve hosting an event or constructing, improving or repairing a physical object.
She said that in early February, the council approved the church's subdivision request, which will effectively ensure that the church and the graves are essentially one entity, correcting not only the church and graveyard property lines but adjacent private property.
The problem, Oyarzun said, is that some of the graves were on private land.
According to one of the church's trustees, Carolyn Bajer, the church was constructed in the summer of 1913 on a one-acre site donated by Albert Larter. Sixty-two years later, when a cemetery was needed, another church parishioner, Bert Strawson, donated another acre.
However, she said, it wasn't until close to five decades later, after the cemetery was surveyed, that they discovered that some of the graves were actually on private land.
"Volunteers are solely responsible for the operation of our little church and cemetery. This situation has brought additional financial costs that we did not budget for," Bajer said, adding as such, the church is requesting that the municipality reimburse the subdivision fees they paid to the county's municipal planning service.
Oyarzun noted the church would still be responsible for the surveying costs.
She added administration recommended the council approve the request, saying that while unique, the application meets all the policy's criteria.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
