CBT funding
At a special meeting on Monday, Castlegar city council supported a motion to recommend that Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Funding be allocated to 23 different groups to the amount of $102,168.90.
"We had more people requesting grants than prior years," said councillor Kevin Chernoff.
In all, 33 groups requested grants for a total of close to $200,000.
"Some applications weren't completed," he said. "That takes care of some of them. We like to see grants that go to support our community that offer meaningful contributions to our community."
Some of the successful applicants include: Castlegar Sculpture Walk $18,700, Castlegar Arts Council (Kootenay Festival - Let's Celebrate) $17,000, Castlegar and District Recreation Centre (Summer Cool Camps 2012) $9,300, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 170 Castlegar-Robson (Heating and air conditioning upgrade) - $9,000, and Kootenay Gallery of Art (Marketing and social media development) $7,200.
Swimming pool
Also on Monday, council agreed to amend the city budget to allow for the building of the natural outdoor swimming project at Millennium Park.
The project received $400,000 from the provincial government's Community Recreation Program. The total cost of the project, which includes three pools connected by a lazy river, is $1.3 million.
"The rest of the money will come out of the city reserves," said Chernoff. "That money will be paid back over time."
The project is expected to start later this year and be completed in 2013.
"It's important to note that this is the catalyst project for everything that is going to happen down at the park," he said. "We want to get a lot of the infrastructure in that will provide servicing for things like the Rotary outdoor gym and some of the other projects."