Vauxhall Seniors Centre requests help from town council

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

With a tough stretch due to COVID-19, the Vauxhall Seniors Centre is hoping to get a hand from the Town of Vauxhall. The group was in council chambers during the regular Nov. 15 meeting and made a few requests.

“Our request is to have some help with the front of the seniors building where we had to cut the two trees down. We’re also requesting some financial help with water and sewage because, in the past two years, we have had no income,” said Alice Vander Ploeg.

She also said they usually make some money by running various tournaments within the facility, which can result in around $1,000 per tournament, but with COVID-19 restrictions on and off for the past year and a half, those have not been able to go forward. She also highlighted their other revenue sources have dried up.

“Not having that and our casino funds are running out,” she added.

On top of a financial boost, they were also looking for help with some beautification projects they want to complete.

“We’ve talked about putting in concrete or gravel, but we just need to clean it up and we’d like it to look better than it does,” continued Vander Ploeg.

She estimated concrete to be around $5,000, while also highlighting the fact gravel would be much cheaper.

Council inquired if the group had done any digging into grants that have been offered over the last year or so.

“Were you able to apply for any of the COVID grants? Since COVID started, there was a bunch of COVID grants,” stated Coun. Margaret Plumtree.

The delegation stated they were not aware of any grants to this point. She also added they have been able to open their doors for events now and have implemented the Restriction Exemption Program.

“The other issue we have right now is, we’re trying to find somebody to clean for us — which is almost impossible. All the ones willing to do it aren’t vaccinated,” continued Vander Ploeg.

In terms of the project outside of the facility, council stated they could get administration to view the area and see what could be done.

“Maybe someone can meet with Cris (Burns, CAO) or someone from Public Works to see what you’re looking at and what you want to do in that area. That would really help,” added Plumtree.

“And we can bring that back to council,” confirmed Burns.

Council also asked how much money they had left in their coffers. It was stated once the group pays their $2,000 for insurance, there would be nothing left. They stated they reached out to the Vauxhall Ag Society for some help.

“This will get referred to budget and it will be February or March before we have an answer,” stated Mayor Ray Coad.

“Any grants we see, we’ll let you know if it’s possible,” added Plumtree.

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