TAMRMS#: B06
title
Time Extension - Capital Fundraising Campaigns
Presented by: Anna Royer, Manager Grants and Partnerships, Recreation & Parks Department
label
RECOMMENDATION(S)
recommendation
That the deadline for bringing forward to Council a Council Policy regarding community facility partnerships be extended from a June 2019 Council meeting to a June 2020 Council meeting.
body
PURPOSE OF REPORT
To provide Council with an update on the progress of the development of a Council Policy capturing the principles regarding capital fundraising for community facility development, as reflective in the New Infrastructure Development Process and to request a time extension to present this Council Policy to Council.
This Council Policy will be utilized as a review process for analyzing significant community facility capital project requests for funding and/or land support which are received from external organizations and will align with existing policies. In addition, the policy will identify the Community Services Advisory Committee as the review body for receiving the analysis by Administration and providing feedback to Council.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
N/A
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
Management of Community Granting:
Provision of funding to eligible St. Albert Not-for-profit organizations and residents in the areas of special events, sport and culture development, operational funding and capital renovations and development.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
At the March 14, 2016 Standing Committee of the Whole Meeting the following motion was passed:
(SCW16-2016)
That Administration develop a report, based on the Committee members’ comments and feedback, by the end of October 2016 outlining a set of principles pertaining to the fund development expectations and limitations that will be conveyed to the appropriate facility beneficiaries.
On May 15, 2017 Council passed the following motion:
(AR-17-257)
That the following deadline extension for item indicated be approved. Capital Fund Raising Campaigns - extended to Q2 2018.
On May 28, 2018 Council passed the following motion:
(AR-17-488)
That Administration develop a Capital Fundraising Campaign Policy and bring it back to Council for consideration on or before the first meeting in June 2019.
CSAC Bylaw (Powers and Duties)
21. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Committee is authorized to:
(b) review, comment and recommend policies and allocations for grants and municipal assistance programs in relation to Community Services to Council;
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
History
In early 2016, Administration introduced a potential initiative involving the development of a Governance policy related to “Capital Development Campaigns”. The impetus for this was to establish policy framework around funding contribution expectations from local organizations towards the development of new infrastructure that the community will benefit from (i.e. Branch Library, Capital Region Soccer Centre, etc.).
Council was supportive of the idea presented in 2016 and were provided the opportunity to submit additional comments and thoughts related to the development of the framework. Feedback received focused on the need to ensure groups requesting funding have also made a significant funding contribution. There was also an expressed need from Council feedback for the development of a process which would provide direction for which facilities or organizations the City supports and why.
Staffing changes have hindered movement forward with this initiative in the past with requests from Administration on two occasions to Council for time extensions.
There are programs currently in place to manage external requests for capital project support, which informally speak to the funding contribution expected of the applicant including grants/sweat equity contribution, operating expenses, utility costs, future development expenses, etc. Administration has reviewed the current policies, administrative directives, and practices related to granting programs, capital project development, taxation, partnership development, and fund development.
The additional time extension requested will allow Administration opportunity to further develop and endorse a framework currently used informally for recreation projects and to include a broader scope of projects and requests from external organizations.
The New Infrastructure Development Process incorporates the principles and parameters for recreation facility development from the Recreation Master Plan, New Facility Predictive Model, Partnership Handbook, existing Council Policies and historical best practices. It has recently proven to be a valuable tool for the review and analysis of proposed capital projects.
Community Capital Grant Program
Currently the Community Capital Grant Program supports community organizations proposing smaller scale renovation based on the principles as outlined in Council Policy C-CS-06 - Community Capital Grant Program (Attachment 1). The program has been in place since 2009 and has provided $2.9M in funding for 78 capital projects, ranging from cabinet replacement in existing community facilities to bus/playground replacement to additions to existing heritage facilities.
New Infrastructure Development Process
Since 2017, when organizations have approached Administration or Council directly for capital support of large scale recreation infrastructure development, Administration has informally utilized the parameters of the New Infrastructure Development Process in their recommendation to Council. This consistency has ensured transparency, fairness and best value for the City based on the broader strategic plan and the identified community need.
This process does include specific funding parameters for partnerships with community organizations grants/sweat equity contribution, operating expenses, utility costs, future development expenses, etc.
An example of when the New Infrastructure Development Process was recently utilized is in AR-17-202 (Attachment 2). This report provided Council with summary of the background to the specific proposal and the current process for evaluating proposed recreation infrastructure development.
In response to the aforementioned Council request for a “Capital Fundraising Campaign Policy”, Administration will formalize the New Infrastructure Development Process into a Council Policy and expand this process to include community facilities that are recreation, cultural and social service related.
The process would also be expanded to specifically include a step in which Administration submits their analysis of a proposed capital project to the Community Services Advisory Committee (CSAC) for their review and a subsequent recommendation to Council for final decision. The addition of this work aligns with their current powers and duties from Community Services Advisory Committee Bylaw 10/97 (Attachment 3) which includes to “review, comment and recommend policies and allocations for grants and municipal assistance programs in relation to Community Services to Council”.
Alignment of the Community Capital Grant Program (Policy C-CS-06) and a Council Policy capturing the principles of the New Infrastructure Development Process will ensure that the two programs or streams will have consistent analysis and external review by the CSAC, with recommendations or feedback from the CSAC provided to Council. This process has been documented in the proposed Community Facility Partnerships structure (Attachment 4).
Through this process, if the decision by Council is to add the project reviewed through the “New Infrastructure Development Process” to the ten-year Capital Plan, then a project charter would be developed, prioritized and ranked against all other growth capital charters as part of the capital budget development.
All partnerships are unique and the funding expectations from the City and the potential partner would be developed as part of the project development. The project charter that would be submitted to Council will clearly outline the financial commitment required of the City as well as the terms for partnership agreement should the project be approved.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
The overarching concept contained within this agenda report has been discussed with the CSAC. Administration will move forward with involving the CSAC in the review of large capital project proposals as identified in the Council Policy. Detailed information and training will be provided to the Committee.
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
None at this time.
Legal / Risk:
None at this time.
Program or Service:
The Administrative Backgrounder will formalize a process that is currently existing and will not have significant impact on existing programs or services.
Organizational:
The process in the Council Policy will provide clarity and streamlined process for the community, Administration and Council to utilize relating to the process and parameters for community facility development.
It will utilize the Community Services Advisory Committee to help to ensure transparency and fairness based on the identified community need.
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
If Council does not wish to support the recommendation, the following alternatives could be considered:
Alternative 1. That Administration proceed based on specific direction from Council.
Alternative 2. That no action be taken at this time.
Report Date: June 17, 2019
Author: Anna Royer
Department: Recreation & Parks Department
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble