District of Sechelt council voted in committee last week to award up to $40,000 from the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) Legacy Fund to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 112 in Madeira Park.
The original application had been for $68,120 to renovate the Legion hall and kitchen, but some councillors raised red flags over the project at the April 8 finance, culture and economic development committee meeting.
Noting council had recently approved a $36,000 Legacy Fund grant for trail signage in the Pender Harbour area, Coun. Noel Muller said he was well aware the Legion needed repairs, but he would be looking for a portion of the project cost to be covered by the community or the Legion itself.
“I have some serious reservations about it,” Muller said.
The value of in-kind donations for the project is about $10,000, staff reported.
Coun. Doug Wright said he had “real trouble” with the application.
“The Legion does some great work, but it’s a semi-private club and we’re going to put $68,000 into this semi-private club,” Wright said, adding that with three other Legions on the Coast, the District could be putting itself on “a slippery slope.”
Wright also warned that if the Legion were to fold at some time in the future, the building would revert to Dominion Command “and we would have lost $68,000.”
Speaking in support of the grant, Coun. Alice Lutes pointed to the Outreach Healthy Meal Program that has operated out of the facility since 2006, serving more than 11,000 meals to seniors since then.
“It’s not so much for the Legion members. It’s for the community,” Lutes said.
A motion to provide the entire grant request was defeated in a 4-3 vote, but a follow-up recommendation by Coun. Darnelda Siegers to award up to $40,000 carried, with Muller and Wright opposed.
The recommendation — conditional on the Legion securing the remaining funds from other sources — was subject to council approval on April 15.
If the recommendation from committee is adopted, the fund will carry a balance of just under $33,000.
The Legacy Fund review committee, made up of SCCF and council reps, had recommended council approve the full amount requested.
