Powell River Community Forest Ltd. (PRCF) representatives presented a large cheque and recommendations for dispersing the funds at the June 6 City of Powell River council meeting.
Greg Hemphill, president, announced the 2012 dividends were $539,950, money that is deposited into the community forest reserve fund. Monies from the fund are used for special community projects that benefit the community. Before the money from the fund is allocated, the PRCF board makes recommendations to council.
This year PRCF made the following recommendations for the money: Success by 6 Orca Bus retrofit, $55,000; Powell River Therapeutic Riding Association roof replacements, $50,000; Life Cycle Housing Society playground and community garden, $22,000; Myrtle Point Golf Club teaching centre, $54,342; Tourism Powell River sign, $5,000; Lang Bay Community Hall windows, $4,429; West Coast Animals for Community Care and Emotional Support Society dog care and training, $5,000; Far Off Broadway Theatre Company renovation of club building, $25,000; and City of Powell River, $210,000 to resurface tennis courts and $86,000 for UV (ultraviolet) water treatment system at Powell River Recreation Complex aquatic centre.
Council supported the recommendations and passed resolutions to award the funds as requested. The total amount granted was $516,771. There was about $46,779 in the reserve fund from the 2011 dividend and after the grant awards, there will be close to $70,000 in the fund.
Grant applications are submitted to PRCF and the city at any time. “There are many deserving project proposals,” Hemphill said. “I can’t say we’re over-subscribed, but we’ve got a lot. It would be nice to do more and over time we expect the fund will support grants to projects of different themes and different sizes.”
PRCF keeps a rolling project list, Hemphill pointed out. Some of the projects that have been granted funds have been on the list for up to two years. “We want groups to continually refine their proposals and make them better,” Hemphill said.
Mayor Dave Formosa recognized the PRCF board of directors. “These folks are volunteers, they get out there, they work hard and they do so much hard work for this community,” he said.
The community forest was the brainchild of Verne Kinley and David Gabelhouse, as well as others, who worked through the Powell River Regional Economic Development Society (PRREDS), Formosa pointed out. “This was an initiative that those folks worked years on,” he said. “It was also a place where SOAP [Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific] was born, with Michael Heron, who was part of the PRREDS board for years. A lot of good things came out of PRREDs over the years.”
Formosa said he wanted to say that because a lot of people don’t understand PRREDS that well, even after all these years. “Here’s an example of some of that work,” he said.
Powell River community forest was established in 2006 and has an annual allowable cut of 25,000 cubic metres from Haslam Lake and Lang Creek watershed area, encompassing about 6,500 hectares. The sole shareholder is the city and it is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Profits are returned to the community. Dividends from 2007 to 2012 total approximately $2.6 million.
Money from the community forest reserve is not intended to be used for city operations or capital expenditures of a regular nature.
In addition to Hemphill, other board members are Rod Tysdal, Bill Bird, Janet May, Mark Hassett, Rob Stewart, Ron Fuller, Lori Brown and Howie McKamey.
PRCF has a management contract with Results Based Forest Management (RBFM), a local consulting company that does a broad range of forestry work for a number of companies. Chris Laing, owner of RBFM, and his associate Alan Barker have worked with PRCF since it was formed. Laing and Barker work closely with the board of directors to ensure PRCF is a successful business and delivers a high standard of forestry practices.
More information about the submission of proposals and PRCF’s evaluation criteria can be found on its website.
