City council has agreed to provide a $75,000 grant to the Orillia Rowing Club to help ensure it can meet its goal of building a new boathouse facility at Kitchener Park.
The funding will help offset the costs of various city planning and development fees associated with the project, the total of which club officials recently said could threaten the project — at least in the near term.
Over the past year, the club has lobbied the city for new facilities at Kitchener Park, which club officials say provides far better rowing conditions than its current home at Tudhope Park.
Council subsequently approved a lease agreement with the club, on the condition the boathouse facilities come at no cost to the city, and the club estimated a $250,000 budget to construct its new home.
In a plea to council in late January, club officials requested the city waive some of the estimated $140,000 in associated fees — on top of the discounted lease agreement for the site — to ensure the project can move forward in an expedient manner.
The club’s request for relief prompted Coun. Jay Fallis to bring forward a reconsideration motion at Monday’s meeting, as the requested help goes against the previous condition that the facility will come at no cost to the city.
“Essentially, there will be a lot more fees that the rowing club will be obligated to pay above the $75,000 amount. This is meant to offset some of their costs,” Fallis said.
“I think there is a real possibility … this project wouldn't come forward right away, or would take a very long time, and over that time we, ourselves, would be looking at building a facility, alternatively.”
Fallis highlighted the recreational and potential economic benefits the new facility could bring to the city, and said a partnership with the city can be “very important … when they’re applying to certain grants.”
However, the city’s deputy CAO, Amanpreet Singh, cited the city’s grants committee policy that organizations who have already received a grant or discount shall receive no other discounts, suggesting — along with Mayor Don McIsaac — that the request be forwarded to the 2025 budget deliberations.
“This request can then compete along with all other requests, so that decision can be made looking at all competing priorities in a fulsome, open, transparent manner,” Singh said. “Some other group may have requests that might even be more compelling.”
For Coun. David Campbell, who said he is generally a “big rule follower,” the situation is a bit more nuanced, as he pointed out the rowing club has been learning on the fly.
“I think when they came to us last fall, and we discussed this, they made their request based on what they knew at the time,” he said.
“Then they went to the next step in the process and discovered all these associated fees, etc, and went ‘Oh, we didn't realize that,’ so now they're saying we don't want to delay our fundraising and delay this whole project another year," said Campbell.
“Really, this is just a bit of, I think, folks not understanding the whole process, and I can certainly understand that,” he said. “I think this is a case where there are some grey areas where policies aren't always black and white.”
After discussion, council approved the $75,000 grant and voted against deferring the funding request, with Fallis similarly stating that “with projects of this nature, sometimes it requires policy adjustments or amendments, or working around policy.”
