Chatham-Kent council will consider an addition to the 2022 budget as new funding from the province has come in to construct up to 10 pickleball courts.
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Chatham-Kent council will consider an addition to the 2022 budget as new funding from the province has come in to construct up to 10 pickleball courts.
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The Ontario government is providing $429,600, which covers approximately 80 per cent of the project, through the Community Building Fund of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, a news release from the municipality said.
Since municipal staff presented this year’s draft budget to council the day before the announcement came in, Chatham-Kent’s portion of the project was not included in the initial estimates.
“The grant does require the municipality to contribute a portion of the capital costs and continued operational and lifecycle costs,” Gord Quinton, Chatham-Kent’s general manager of finance and budget, said in the release. “Council will be presented with this new request when they begin 2022 budget deliberations on Jan. 26.”
The municipality put in its application in September. The locations and exact number of the courts is still being discussed with local pickleball groups, the release said.
Mayor Darrin Canniff said the announcement was welcome, but council will have to look at the full impact of going forward with the project.
“Senior government funding allows municipalities to undertake projects that they might not otherwise be able to consider,” he said in the release. “In the end, council will make its decision based on the greatest good to the community and our ability to pay for our portion.”
Without the pickleball project included, administration is proposing a 4.74 per cent increase in tax dollars this year. The final budget is subject to council deliberations.
The funding from the province was part of a $5.6-million announcement for sports and recreation facilities and community organizations in Southwestern Ontario.