A report presented to city council at Committee of the Whole last week reveals some interesting ways the city supports events throughout the year.
The report, which was requested at the Jan. 30 regular council meeting, details the expenses associated with in-kind contributions to events taking place in the city throughout the year. It was presented by Manager of Operations Dave Reid, and details expenses for 2016.
Currently, Reid said, only two large events (the Grand Forks International and Canada Day) can be broken out individually due to the software used by the city to track time, but that will change come the 2018 budget cycle: smaller, individual events will be logged to provide “a more accurate overview” for council using the asset management and Worktech software.
The events logged under “other” for last year, including Community Appreciation Day, Rotary Spray Park Opening, National Aboriginal Day, Park in the Park, the airport Fly-In, Harvest Festival, Downtown Business Association Fright Fest and Rotary Halloween Bonfire the city spent $50,929. Eleven-thousand dollars of that amount was spent on Family Day activities, according to the line item. Nearly 50 events were included in that category making up the nearly $51,000 total.
By specific events, the city spent in-kind $18,012 on the GFI, $198 on Canada Day and $3,360 on the Fall Fair.
The report details other costs to the city as a result of events: the costs for washrooms and garbage collection were $9,378 and $6,215 respectively. Reid notes those estimates were at 15 per cent of total garbage collection and 50 per cent of total washroom cleaning costs.
Also noted in the report was $36,000 in electrical upgrades as a capital investment at James Donaldson Park in 2016. In response to a question from Coun. Julia Butler, Reid noted Cannafest would be making donations to the city while operating at the park. Deputy Manager of Operations Cavan Gates said the city received $9,000 last year.
Other interesting line items include nearly $2,000 to operate the star on Observation Mountain and $3,638 for “banners.”
Reid notes that as a result of the larger events (the Good Sam Samboree, the GFI, Cannafest and Park in the Park) about 1,050 overnight and 3,500 day visitors came to Grand Forks. Reid also notes that visitors spent an estimated $622,500 while attending events the city has supported, not including municipal campground revenue.