By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle

Osoyoos has given out its second round of funding under the Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) Grant program based on recommendations by the Grant Evaluation Committee.

The RMI grant money does not come from local tax dollars but rather comes from the hotel tax collected from hotel stays by the province and goes to 14 designated Resort Municipality communities in the province to spend on tourism.

This second disbursement is aimed at enabling eligible groups that missed or were late for the first round to still be able to pick up some grant funding. 

Nine organizations applied in the second round for the remaining $24,500 still in the pot. In his presentation to council, Gerald Davis, Director of Community Services noted that the committee wanted to “ensure all organizations received funding if they met the criteria”. The committee met on Feb. 20. 

The second round of grants worth a total of 24,500 were disbursed accordingly:

  • Osoyoos Festivals Society – Gyro Park entertainment and traffic control – $4,500 (ask – $8,000);
  • Desert Sun Counselling – Community Kitchen – $0 (asked $6,000);
  • Music in the Park – Shortfall from Round 1 – $2,000 (asked $6,000);
  • Osoyoos Childcare Centre – Fundraising event – $5,000 (asked $5,000);
  • Lake Osoyoos Sailing Club – Sail into Summer event – $$2,000 (asked $2,176.71);
  • Osoyoos Elks Lodge #436 – Afternoon coffee house – $3,500 (asked $12,000);
  • South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce – Osoyoos Oyster Festival – $1,500 (asked $2,867);
  • Osoyoos Lake Paddling Club – 6th Annual Dragon Boat Race Festival – 6,000 (asked $6,000);
  • Hisac Events – Community-based festivals – $0 (asked $300,000).

Mayor Sue McKortoff added some context to the Osoyoos Festivals Society noting that two events which require the closing of Main St. – the Christmas and Canada Day/Cherry Fiesta parades – both require the hiring of a professional traffic control company. This is a requirement of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MOTI) and necessary for permit approval because it is a highway. 

At a cost of $1,561 for each event, McKortoff noted, “It’s a lot of money. We used to do it with volunteers but that’s not allowed anymore.” 

Additionally, the Vancouver-based HISAC (Happiness is a Choice) Events was dented a grant as it did not meet the town’s criteria for a grant.

The Desert Sun Counselling grant request was rejected as the request falls under a Community Service Grant not an RMI grant.

It was also noted during the Grant Evaluation Committee special meeting that the committee would like to see the town’s Community Programmer to be more involved and to act as a Town Liaison with Music in the Park. The summer-long lineup of free music performances at Gyro Park received $32,500 in the first round of grants and $2,000 in the second for a total of $34,500.

The Grant Evaluation Committee is made up of one town staff, Gerald Davis and three councillors, Jim King, Myers Bennett and Johnny Cheong.