ATHABASCA - Athabasca County is looking to support two of its more urban agricultural societies following a closer look at what community halls are supported and which ones aren’t.
During the Oct. 22 special council meeting, councillors voted to add the Athabasca & District Ag Society and the Boyle & District Ag Society to the Community Hall Assistance Grant Policy. A follow-up motion to request the town provide additional financial support passed, while a twin motion for Boyle failed.
“Being that we do a lot of funding back and forth, maybe they would be interested in helping out with as well,” said then-councillor Tracy Holland, who has since been elected reeve.
“Back in 2016 our Agriplex did an amazing job for evacuees, so its not just county residents that are benefitting. It’s province wide whenever we need to call people into action. It’s really amazing and I’m supportive of it.”
Under the policy, a maximum of 50 per cent of the previous year’s power, gas, building and liability insurance bills are eligible for funding. In total, 22 buildings receive funding, including community halls in Wandering River, Forfar, Ellscot and Breynat.
The Athabasca society has been in a tough spot for funding for years. Despite catering primarily to county residents, the hall and grounds are located on the very edge of the Town of Athabasca, so utilities and other operating costs fell solely on the society.
Coun. Ashtin Anderson is the president of the Boyle Ag Society, and Coun. Camille Wallach chairs the Athabasca counterpart. Niether councillor weighed in on the decision, besides a comment from Anderson regarding a decrease in funding for community halls as a whole. The grant exceeded its $92,000 budget in 2024, but administration said it planned on increasing the line item for the upcoming year.
While Coun. Joe Gerlach supported the motion, he did express his disappointment that the funding only seemed to go one way.
“Our contributions to both those municipalities are very significant. When you get out into the county, there’s only support from one side, and they’re sitting there with only 50 per cent of the support that other communities have,” said Gerlach, who didn’t provide an example.
“With the changing demographics, when I was on council in the ‘90s, our population was over 10,000, now it’s 6,000, or 6,900. There’s fewer and fewer people, and the old established families are gone to a certain extent. There’s a lot of people coming in that aren’t fitting into the community … the responsibility is falling on fewer and fewer shoulders.”
