A councillor's attempt to give more financial help to a non-profit gymnastics club was voted down by council on May 17 despite last year's decision to arbitrarily cut back funding.
Coun. Sheena Hughes took the community capital grant program recommendations off the city's consent agenda to gauge whether council would consider giving more financial help to Dynamyx Gymnastics Club. Her motion asked to give the non-profit $29,415, making up the portion of money scaled back by council last year.
On April 27, the community services advisory committee recommended Dynamyx get an additional $25,000 from the grant program to help with their new gymnastics building in Campbell Business Park. The gymnastics non-profit has had to navigate financing the new building with dwindling revenues from the pandemic and limited fundraising opportunities, forcing them to draw from their reserves and take out high-interest loans to complete the project.
Last year, council decided to cut down on Dynamyx's allocation from $94,815 to $65,000, partially because there was an expectation the grant program would be oversubscribed in 2021. Because Dynamyx's project is considered complete now, they can't reapply for funding in 2021. The total funding available for the community capital grant program in 2021 is $279,815.
There was a heated discussion when the recommendation came to the committee. Because the request didn't come from Dynamyx directly, Mayor Cathy Heron called the request "inappropriate" while the city faces the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee defeated the motion in a 2-2 tie vote, with Heron and Coun. Natalie Joly against.
"Dynamyx is available to those that pay to go in, this is not a publicly available space ... if you want to break the policy, why don't we open up the grant to all not-for-profits?" Heron said, adding that dollars rolled over from the program could be better used for city capital projects.
The recommendation may have failed at the committee level, but Hughes argued the motion should be a council decision, and brought it back during meeting May 17.
Hughes said she hadn't talked to Dynamyx about the motion. But given the impacts the non-profit as faced as a result of council's decision to scale back, she said this was a chance for the city to restore those funds.
"They had no venue to ask for more money, so of course they would not," Hughes said. "This is an unprecedented motion because we made an unprecedented decision just a few months ago. I do believe, because of that, we owe it to the people who we removed that money from to at least have a second discussion."
The motion failed in a 5-2 vote, with councillors Hughes and Ken MacKay in support.
Dynamyx reacts
Kim Farrell, executive director at Dynamyx, said the non-profit was elated to hear that Hughes was bringing forward the motion. If it had been successful, the $29,000 would have gone toward covering operational costs, as the organization had to deplete their reserves and borrow money just to catch up, Farrell said.
Dynamyx has a long history of asking the city for support through a lease agreement or partnership with no luck, and Farrell said the city is aware of their financial situation. They thought it was best to see where this proposal went organically, she said.
When council voted to not restore funds that were cut back last year, Dynamyx president Raeann Lefebvre said it felt like much of the same.
"The fact that they're not really looking at us and trying to find ways to help support us is very disheartening, having to come to council to plead our case continually and seeming like we're not getting anywhere," Lefebvre said.
Heron's concerns about Hughes' motion breaking city policy was "disappointing" to hear, Farrell said, as the city had broken their own policy by arbitrarily cutting back their recommended funding last year. "So they would break (policy) here, but not there."
Heron's comments about Dynamyx not being a public facility also don't make sense compared to other St. Albert sport groups or facilities that receive support from the city. For example, soccer players under the St. Albert Soccer Association still have to pay a registration fee to join, Farrell said.
Council's decision not to listen to the recommendations of their own city committee was "disrespecting" the citizens part of the committee, too, Lefebvre said.
"It's sad, because why do you have a committee if you're not gonna listen to them?" said Lefebvre.
The new gymnastics building at Campbell Business Park not only expands gymnastics offerings in St. Albert, Farrell said, but it has the potential to bring in regional competitions, tourism dollars, and athletes from across the region.
Farrell said continuously asking the city to support their project feels like "banging your head against the wall" sometimes. What the team at Dynamyx would appreciate is a sit-down conversation with the city about potential paths forward, she said.
Dynamyx is currently looking at hosting a grand opening in September, should health restrictions allow.
