Four Pontiac municipalities are taking a new approach to community project development this year, one that will see greater participation and input from the municipalities’ residents.
The initiative, called “participatory budgeting,” will invite community members in Otter Lake, Allumette Island, Campbell’s Bay and Waltham to pitch ideas for projects they believe will benefit their communities, for a chance to have one of them funded by a portion of their municipality’s budget, supported with financing from the provincial government.
Projects will then be evaluated by a committee made up of council, citizen and MRC representatives.
Allumette Island, Campbell’s Bay and Otter Lake have all set aside $10,000 to put toward these projects, while Waltham has set aside $5,000. Each municipality’s contribution will be matched by the MRC, with funds being made available through provincial FRR grants.
Over the coming weeks these municipalities will decide on the makeup of the committees that will evaluate projects. They will then decide areas of priority for the kinds of projects they wish to support, and evaluate submissions based on those criteria.
Allumette Island is the furthest along in this process, and released a call for projects earlier this month asking residents to submit ideas related to tourism, culture, economic growth, socio-community or environment.
“A citizen’s committee will then comb through the applications to select the top three to five projects. These projects will be voted upon by the public to choose the winning project,” wrote Allumette Island development coordinator Chantal Lair in an email.
Allumette Island councillor Mariette Sallafranque will sit on the committee that will evaluate the projects, and is interested to see what ideas will come across the table.
“You may get some really innovative ideas here, because it’s not just like a non-profit organization or a group that is making these decisions, it can come from anyone,” she said.
Sallafranque highlighted that after the options are narrowed down to a handful, residents themselves will be able to vote on the submissions, making this a truly resident-driven project.
“It’s really neat that citizens get to voice their opinion. Any other time there are projects that are called, it’s either the MRC [or the province], but it doesn’t mean there’s anybody local on it that assesses the projects,” she said.
“And the same thing with the provincial level and the federal level, we don’t have a whole lot of say. This year, we have all the say, and we get to say what is most needed for our community.”
Chapeau Regionale Gallerie is one of the community groups working on a proposal for the funding in Allumette Island.
Gallerie board member Gene O’Brien said the non-profit will be submitting an idea for cultural programming during the summer months, including an art exhibition featuring the work of local artisans.
“People will come to present their project at the gallery [ . . . ] we could probably give an award to somebody that did something extraordinary,” she said, describing the board’s vision.
O’Brien added that most of the organization’s money right now is going toward the purchase of the building’s lease from the Archdiocese of Pembroke, and that the extra money would go a long way in helping the gallery still offer summer programming.
O’Brien said there are also some agricultural projects in the community that may end up being submitted to the municipality for consideration.
Otter Lake mayor Jennifer Quaile said the municipality is still in the process of forming a committee to evaluate submissions, and should be ready to put out a call for proposals in early April.
“Council sees it as an excellent opportunity for the people of Otter Lake to put forward projects for the greater good of the community,” she said.
Waltham and Campbell’s Bay are also in the process of forming committees. Waltham estimates it will release its call for projects in April, while Campbell’s Bay director general Sarah Bertrand said her municipality will release its call in May or June
