Alternatives sought to fund scoreboard

Township staff will investigate other options after council turned down a recommendation to use money from its 50/50 fund to replace the scoreboard for the “A” diamond at the Moorefield ball park.

A recommendation from the township’s parks and recreation committee that council direct staff to investigate options for using the 50/50 funding “to obtain the best value in a scoreboard” was presented to council at its July 12 meeting.

Councillor Michael Martin, a member of the committee, said he hadn’t realized at the time of the June 13 parks and recreation meeting that there was not enough money in the fund for the project.

The township annually allocates $20,000 in its budget to be used to match funds with community groups to complete projects in the community. Council agreed in February to dedicate a portion of the 2016 50/50 allocation to the Drayton Skate Park project in order to cover half of a $33,000 shortfall after the Ontario Trillium Foundation rejected an application for funding.

“Since the money has already been spoken for I suggest we defeat this motion,” said Martin.

CAO Brad McRoberts suggested the 50/50 fund may not be the appropriate source for the scoreboard funding, as to access the fund the Moorefield Athletic Association would have to come up with half the cost of the project.

Council defeated the resolution and directed staff to look into alternatives to fund the scoreboard project.