OLDS — The municipality needs a clearer policy on how it will handle requests for grants or sponsorships going into budget cycles, some Town of Olds councillors and administrative staff say.
That was the message as councillors received – and approved – a request from the Olds Firefighter Curling Association (OFCA) to sponsor a curling championship next year.
In a letter to the town, the OFCA asked for $5,000 to sponsor the 64th Alberta Firefighter Curling Association Championship Jan. 31-Feb. 4 next year in Olds.
In the end, council approved that request, but not before deputy mayor Dan Daley raised an issue. He questioned whether that money would be coming out of the Town’s 2023 or 2024 budget.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams said “there’s a good chance” it’ll come out of the 2024 budget.
"So really this is a request to put a hold on the funds within next year’s budget and we're committing to it now, but the funds will basically come out of next year’s budget,” Daley said.
“If this is done, we should be starting to look at a strategy for the town’s donations and where they are going to go – before we get to that budgeting time of the year.”
Williams agreed the town needs more clarity on that. He said that’s a topic that will likely come up in the next month or so.
"I concur with deputy mayor Daley that we get an awful lot of requests that bring a lot of teams and people to our community and we should be consistent,” mayor Judy Dahl said.
Williams introduced the OFCA request.
“The request is obviously a bit premature, but planning is starting right away,” he said.
He noted that according to a letter from the OFCA, 25 to 30 teams are anticipated, which could result in 100 to 120 people coming to town, as family members, coworkers and friends arrive to cheer on the competitors.
“The reason why it’s recommended from administration to approve is that even though we haven’t had a direct strategy or policy linkage yet, things such as sports tourism are quite beneficial for local businesses, to our facilities, and a variety of other things, such as promotion for the town,” Williams said.
In the OFCA letter, Cody Maetche, a member of the championship organizing committee, also underlined what the tournament can mean for firefighters as well as the community.
“This competition promotes camaraderie amongst the men and women who provide fire service to their communities, large and small, across Alberta,” Maetche wrote.
“The Olds Firefighters Association has sent teams to this event for many years and has enjoyed the hospitality of numerous different communities throughout the province.”
“This is a major provincial event that provides an opportunity to highlight what our community has to offer and demonstrate our support for the men and women serving in the fire protection industry.”
