The Harrington Community Centre in Chapeau is one big step closer to getting a new generator after its pitch to have this project funded by the municipality received the most votes in a public survey circulated last week.
The win secures the community centre $10,000 from the Municipality of Allumette Island and another $10,000 in provincial grant money made available by MRC Pontiac, thanks to a new budgeting approach that saw the municipality set aside a set amount of money, matched by the MRC, for a community project pitched by residents.
Three other Pontiac municipalities – Waltham, Otter Lake and Campbell’s Bay – are at earlier stages of finding community projects to fund through this participatory budget initiative.
The generator project, which received 76 of the 154 votes cast, was pitched by the community centre’s governing board with a vision to create an additional emergency shelter for people when a power outage hits.
“It happens frequently,” said Robert Chafe, town councillor and member of the board, describing the power outages in Upper Pontiac.
“There’s a new power station going in, so things are on the rise to fix that, but this is still a big project, a very important project, to have a generator attached to this building,” he said.
David Brisard, president of the board, explained the non-profit group is looking to purchase a 100-kilowatt diesel generator, which will run an $80,000-price tag.
“With the grant it’s going to help out quite a bit,” said Brisard, who is also president of the local Lions Club, which has pledged to make a donation to the generator cause.
The board plans to apply to other funding sources and organize community fundraisers to collect the remaining money needed for the purchase.
Chantal Lair, the municipality’s community development coordinator, said Allumette Island received 20 different pitches for this funding. Next, a volunteer committee of residents narrowed down submissions to the top five, which were then put to a public vote.
“I was surprised by the amount of votes we got,” Lair said, explaining that most of the votes received came in the first few days the vote was open.
“I think people might have been more interested in this because it wasn’t really a political thing. It’s more projects that are for the community. I think our community is very involved in activities and community development here.”
Other finalists in the contest were pitches for a permanent sound system for the community centre, for a golf simulator for the community centre, for new bleachers, fencing and lights for the St. Joseph baseball field, and for bleachers and garbage bins for St. Joseph Park, for Centennial Park and for the Chapeau Market.
“[It] shows just how important this building is,” Lair said, noting three of the five final proposals were for upgrades to the hall.
“Some of the projects that were submitted were things that maybe we would have never even thought of as potential things that could happen here, so it definitely brought some new ideas to the table,” she said.
“I think in the future, council might look at these other ideas that may have not won as potential projects they could focus on. It kind of showed what people find most important.”
With files from Emma McGrath.
