BARRHEAD- At first, if you don't succeed, try again.
That is what the Barrhead Community Program and Resource Guide Committee did, and this time, they received the result they were hoping for.
On Feb. 20, County of Barrhead councillors approved a request for a $1,000 donation to offset the costs of creating a community recreation and program publication. The committee hopes to distribute 2,000 copies of the program via the Pembina Hills School Division (PHSD). The publication would also be available electronically through the Barrhead municipalities' websites.
However, the council made it clear they consider the donation a one-off.
The committee made a similar request to Town of Barrhead councillors at their Feb. 13 meeting, which was also approved.
Initially, the committee applied to get the funds through the Community Grant Policy, but councillors denied their application, stating that one of the policy's criteria is that the organization and project could not receive funding through other levels of government and suggested they make a general ask.
At the meeting, deputy reeve Marvin Schatz said that the committee consisted of organizations, while non-profits received the bulk of their funding through other levels of government.
The committee includes representatives from the Blue Heron Support Services Association (BHSSA) town and county, Barrhead and District Family Community Support Services (FCSS), Barrhead Community Adult Learning (an offshoot of the Blue Heron) and the Barrhead Public Library.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said the committee hopes to publish three guides annually corresponding to the seasons, with the first covering April to July, the next two covering August through November, and the last covering the winter months.
She added that the contribution would come from the Economic Development budget, which aligns with the municipality's 2022-2026 Strategic and Economic Development plans, saying administration recommended approving the donation.
Coun. Bill Lane supported the request, calling it a good idea and moving its approval.
Coun. Walter Preugschas also supported the committee's request but was concerned that it might become ongoing, and if that were the case, he wouldn't necessarily be in support.
Schatz agreed, and the committee stated the funding would go towards one-time startup costs.
"I think we have to hold them to that," he said. "I don't want to see them come back to council next year or for their following issue."
Oyarzun added that she did not believe that would be the case, saying the municipalities' contributions would be for the printing company to create a template. Once that was complete, she added the project should become self-sufficient, with the committee raising most of the needed funds through advertising.
In the budget, the committee submitted as part of its Community Grant Policy grant application, out of the expected $5,600 project cost, layout and formatting expenses were projected at $2,300, while printing was roughly $3,284. On the revenue side, the $2,000 from the municipalities accounted for about a third of the budget, while they projected they would raise about $2,600 from advertising, with $1,000 coming from their own funds.
