The Town of Bowden will set up two $250 scholarships for students at Bowden Grandview School entering into post-secondary programs that could lead to a career in municipal governance or administration.
One scholarship is intended for students pursuing an academic program—such as local government administration and applied land use planning— and the other is for non-academic programs—such as arena management or heavy equipment training.
Bowden council passed a motion creating the scholarships at its April 8 meeting and Coun. Sandy Gamble had originally suggested a single $500 scholarship.
Coun. Sheila Church, however, put forward the idea of breaking the scholarship into two so the financial assistance offered by the town is inclusive of all students.
She also said the town would be responsible for laying out the criteria for the scholarships and then the schools would award them to the students with the highest marks in academic and non-academic studies.
Mayor Robb Stuart said such financial assistance is a good idea since many communities are “feeling the pinch” when it comes to finding municipal staff members.
Andy Weiss, the town's chief administrative officer, advised council to set “finite” limits on how many years the town would hand the scholarships out.
Stuart and other council members agreed that, since this is an election year, it would be prudent not to commit a future council to terms that could last for years, especially if municipal budgets down the road do not allow for the scholarships.
“It's kind of bad if we make decisions for the incoming council,” Church said.
Stuart suggested future councils could renew the scholarships annually, if they so choose, and the current council set a one-year term for the scholarships.
The money for the scholarships comes from the town's operating budget.
