North Huron staff updates council on grant application statuses

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

At its first meeting of 2025, North Huron Council received a report from the Department of Public Works that offered an overview of the township’s end-of-year grant application activity. 

 

The report highlights three grants which North Huron has already secured. Two of those grants come from the recreation-specific Vance Fund. Through it, $161,113 will be covering the lion’s share of the cost of renovating the squash courts at the North Huron Wescast Community Complex (NHWCC), while the fund has also provided $8,802.61 to fund trail and riverside improvements alongside the Maitland River. The third grant mentioned in the report, in the amount of $16,460.90, comes from the provincially-funded Fire Protection Grant. This grant covers 100 per cent of the costs for certain personal protective equipment and supplies.

 

Staff is currently working on applications for a few additional grants, including one from the Senior’s Community Grant Fund for $25,000 that would fully fund a senior’s health fair and active living workshops. North Huron has also applied for a grant from the Community Housing and Infrastructure Fund that would cover up to 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible project geared towards reinstating and improving infrastructure that enables housing.

 

The report also contains a lengthy list of the grants that North Huron staff has already submitted applications for and are waiting to hear back. Proposed accessibility retrofits, new equipment, and repairs to the NHWCC and Blyth and District Community Centre could potentially receive up to 80 per cent of their funding from the federal government's Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program, and the province’s Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund could provide up to 50 per cent of funding for arena upgrades in Wingham and new equipment for the Blyth arena and Blyth Baseball Diamonds.
The province also runs the Housing Enabling Core Servicing Stream, which could, potentially, cover the cost of up to 50 per cent of municipal road and bridge repairs. The township has applied for $50,000 from the Emergency Management Preparedness Grant that would fund 100 per cent of an Emergency Preparedness Training program.

 

Councillor Anita van Hittersum was a fan of the robust report. “Staff is applying for plenty of grants and some are granted and some are not. I think that, as a municipality, we really have to be happy to receive these grants. It gives us a little bit of relief for our taxes,” she pointed out.

 

Councillor Chris Palmer was also pleased by the extra effort put in by staff to gain access to government funding that could be put towards community improvement, but warned that many of those grants would come along with a couple of costly caveats. “Of the submitted grants, that would mean that, if we got them all, the township’s share would be over $3 million. That’s scary, just so you all know. It’s good to submit grants, don’t get me wrong!”