ThisWeek CW 01/08/2015
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/01/05/canal-winchester-council-oks-8-requests-for-bed-tax-grants.html
Canal Winchester City Council approved $13,000 in bed tax grants to community organizations at its final meeting of 2014.
The grants are funded through the city’s hotel bed tax, which provides funding to Destination: Canal Winchester as well as to community organizations that apply for help in offsetting costs related to events and certain outreach projects.
Finance Director Amanda Jackson said Canal Winchester can distribute about $20,000 each year from the bed tax revenue; in 2014, city council chose to cap individual grants at $2,000 per application.
This year’s applicants asked for a total of $18,000.
Requests approved at council’s Dec. 15 meeting, were:
* Canal Winchester Area Historical Society, $350 for the annual Ghost Tour.
* The National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame, $1,650 for printing brochures.
* The Canal Winchester After Prom Committee, $2,000 for after-prom entertainment.
* Canal Winchester Relay For Life, $2,000 to be used toward event promotion and entertainment.
* Canal Winchester Area Chamber of Commerce, $2,000 for marketing and setup of the 2015 Taste of Canal Winchester.
* The Community Food Pantry received $1,500 of the $2,000 requested to support the Souper Bowl, Pack the Pantry and Football for Food annual events.
* The Canal Winchester Senior Citizens Club, $1,500 toward its annual Veterans Day pancake breakfast.
* The Rotary Club of Canal Winchester, $2,000 for hosting the 2015 Harlem Wizards appearance at the high school.
Two requests were denied: Eastside Athletics asked for $2,000 to spend on volleyball equipment and the Canal Winchester Alumni Scholarship Association asked for $2,000 to be used for its annual scholarship awards.
Councilman Joe Abbott said he was concerned that providing funds to Eastside Athletics would set a bad precedent.
“The Eastside Athletics group is a direct competitor of the Canal Winchester Joint Recreation District, so I don’t think it’s appropriate that we give them money, and if we do, we’re going to end up with every athletic organization in the area asking us for money,” Abbott said.
As for the alumni group, Council President Rick Deeds explained that not granting the $2,000 request from the Alumni Scholarship Association was a decision strictly based on council’s desire to award those scholarships directly. He stressed that there are no issues with the alumni group.
“We made a decision that we want to be directly involved in awarding these scholarships, but want everyone to know the association has been good to work with,” Deeds said.
Jackson said when final hotel receipts have been turned in, she will ask council to discuss whether remaining funds should be used for a specific project, such as maintenance on the historical society buildings.