LAC LA BICHE - An annual funding partnership between Lac La Biche County and Portage College that sees $100,000 granted to the college's sporting programs will continue into 2025.
Councillors recently agreed to continue the funding program that has been in place since 2017 – but the decision was made with at least one councillor questioning some of the previous funding.
At Lac La Biche County councils most recent regular meeting, councillor Darlene Beniuk was opposed to the latest contribution, saying at council's most recent regular meeting that she wanted to know how the taxpayer funds were spent at the college during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021– when classes were held virtually and the sporting programs throughout the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference were halted.
"Did we give the $100,000 per year when the COVID time was on and there were no sports going on?" Beniuk asked.
Municipal administrators said the funds are issued as part of a three-year commitment, the first running from 2017 to 2020, then a second round from 2020 to 2023. The recent funding is a one-year commitment for the 2024-25 school year.
Before agreeing to more spending, Beniuk said she wanted clarification on where some of the funds went during the pandemic.
"What are they doing? Are they banking the money until they want it?" she asked.
Beniuk was told by county administrators that the funds go toward program support and are part of a formal agreement between the municipality and the college. It was also explained that costs at the college were still incurred during the pandemic.
"The world didn't stop. The programs did to a certain degree, but they still had to have staffing and work to do," said the county's former associate CAO of Recreation and Community Services Darrell Lessmeister, who was laid-off two weeks after the meeting.
Beniuk maintained her concern, saying she thought continuing to give the funds was not the right move.
"I'm going to vote no until I get some clarification... I think we are falling off the rails here," she said.
The decision to continue with a $100,000 one-year funding agreement was approved by the majority of council, with Beniuk opposed.
Portage pays for sports
Portage College spokesperson Jaime Davies clarified the councillors concern following the council meeting, telling Lakeland This Week that partnership funding was not received by the college in the 2020-21 Portage sports season.
"During 2020-21 when the decision was made to suspend the athletic season, the college self-funded to retain coaching staff and honoured sponsorship commitments that were made to student-athletes prior to the cancellation of the season," she said, explaining further that the three-year agreement that was supposed to start in 2020 was deferred to start in the 2021-2022 season.
"That agreement ended June of this year," she said.
Part of the funding agreement includes ice rental costs at the Bold Center for Portage Voyageurs hockey and curling teams, as well as Bold Center fieldhouse and sports field rentals for the Voyageurs' soccer and futsal sports programs.
Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov supports the funding partnership with the college, saying it has helped to bring the two organizations closer, and offers benefits to the entire community.
