County approves CERB funding

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland County council approved almost $400,000 funding to community groups as part of this year’s Community Enhancement Regional Board (CERB) grant funding.

Among the larger allocations, the Cheadle Community Hall is receiving $50,000 for plumbing upgrades; the Gleichen and District Community Association is receiving $40,000 for hall upgrades; and the Lakes of Muirfield Recreation Society is receiving around $25,000 for the Lyalta Outdoor Rink.

This year, CERB received 47 applications representing over $729,000 in funding requests. The board met in March and April to review these requests, of which they approved 40, totaling about $397,000.

Many of this year’s requests were focused on operational funding, due to challenges presented by the pandemic. This is because many organizations lost revenue, as they were prohibited from renting their halls or other venues, explained Marcy Field, CERB chair.

“We changed our formula based on letters from the community associations this year, indicating (operational funding) is a particular need for them, just to be able to maintain the halls during this time when they’re unable to rent them out and hold activities in them in the same way,” said Field.

CERB is composed of two representatives from each of the county’s seven divisions appointed by council to review grant funding requests by local groups and organizations. Starting in 2021, almost $4 million has been contributed to the betterment of the county through this program to date.