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Mono donates to Community Foundation Founders Circle

November 3, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Jasen Obermeyer

Mono Council has joined the Dufferin Community Foundation Founders Circle (DCFFC) by making a donation to the organization, as well as applying for a grant to upgrade its asset management software.

At last Tuesday’s council meeting (October 24), council approved a donation of $2500 to DCFFC, joining the organization. The funds are from the Town’s existing 2017 donation budget.

In a memo to Council, CAO Mark Early said that since Mono has become a member, they can “recommend a person to sit on [the Foundation’s] steering committee when established,” and the Town will be “recognized on Foundation materials.”

Gord Gallaugher gave a presentation on the Foundation  to Council in June in which he states that the goal of the Foundation is to “supplement community funding and seek other forms of philanthropy,” creating an “arm’s length” of distributing grants to community charities and non-profit organizations.

Mono Mayor Laura Ryan says the Foundation is important because it enables a broader community to draw up funds.

“It gives a more holistic approach to the community well being, and be able to pool funds in order to enhance what we are in Dufferin.”

Council also discussed their intent to apply for a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to cover the cost of upgrading its Asset Management Software. The cost for the upgrade is $57,100, the grant would cover 80 per cent, $45,680, of the cost.

Mayor Ryan says they expect to hear back on the grant “early in the new year.”

She says that if the grant application is successful, the Town will add a Work Order module to its software that will be used to assist tracking complaints, service requests, work orders, and “be able to assign them to the appropriate departments to handle.”

It will further enhance Council’s commitment to citizen engagement and provide Town staff the ability to maintain an active log of all customer service requests made to the Town, which Mayor Ryan says they can deal with “in a timely and efficient manner.”

Mono’s Hiking Challenge has come to an end.

The challenge, which ran from June 4 to October 31, was one of the ways Mono celebrated Canada’s 150th year of Confederacy.

During the challenge, registered hikers walked along the 20 designated trails, receiving an entry into the grand prize draw, a one-week stay for two people at Canoe North Adventure Lodge, in Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, along with various other draw prizes made during Mono council meetings.

At the time of the press release, there were 378 registered hikers, completing 1987 hikes, for a total distance hiked of 9311.3 kilometres. The distance hiked surpassed the goal of 8780 kilometres set by Neo, the challenge’s alter ego, which is the distance to hike to Canoe North Adventure Lodge.

Registered hikers took selfies at specially designated sign posts on the trails, uploading the image through various social media outlets, using the hashtag “#monohikingchallenge.”

Island Lake Community Trails was the most hiked trail, hiked 117 times, while Laidlaw/Clifftop Loop and Burns Cemetery Loop were some of the other popular trails, hiked 109 and 107 times respectively.

Fred Simpson, the town’s deputy clerk, and the one who’s been managing the challenge, says it’s very successful, especially considering the rainy, cool summer. “The people did a tremendous amount of hiking.”

He says following the hiking challenge was “a blast” and enjoyed looking through the various photos posted.

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