Cornwall turned down for climate grant; taxpayers expected to pick up tab

(Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

CORNWALL – Even though it was unsuccessful in its grant application, the City of Cornwall is planning to forge ahead with hiring a consultant to write its climate action plan.

That will mean, if approved Monday by city council, city taxpayers will pick up the entire tab at nearly $92,000.

Cornwall had applied for a $50,000 grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Green Municipal Fund and had planned for $50,000 to come from the tax base.

“Unfortunately, the grant application was not successful,” a city report states. “Administration is recommending that the remaining $41,889.29 required to award the project be funded from the Waste Management Reserve.”

Under municipal rules, money taken from reserves has to be paid back at budget time the following year, meaning ratepayers will see it included in the 2023 budget.

A consulting firm from Vancouver was the lowest of five bidders – there were none locally.

The climate action plan is expected to a “results-oriented policy” and will “identify a path forward for a zero-carbon community that is resilient to climate change” through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

According to its website, FCM has approved just over 1,700 sustainability projects worth $1.1 billion.