Sound check. 1 2 3. Sound check. 1 2 3. Welcome to the grant subcommittee meeting for May 20th, 2026. Vice Chair, Councelor for W 2 Cameron Cretch, joined today by in the chambers by councelor Tom Jackson, councelor Mark Tatterson, online by chair Nan, councelor Wilson, morning Wilson that is, and councelor Matt Francis. Thanks for being here today. Everyone's here. So, we have quorum. Just a reminder that if your phone is switched to an audible function right now, please make it quiet um lest it annoy your neighbor. We'll move to the first item on our agenda which is approval of the agenda. Clerk Kelsey, are there any items to include in the addendum? >> The agenda items have been included on the published agenda which is 6.1 delegation. >> Okay. Can I have a mover and second to approve the agenda as presented? Moved by councelor Tatterson, seconded by Chair Nan. Any discussion on today's agenda? I'm not seeing any. And this is a show of hands. All those in favor? Thanks. That's carried. We're on to declarations of interest. Does anybody have a conflict of interest they want to declare for today's meeting either disqualifying or non-disqualifying? Seeing no hands, we'll move to item number five, which is the approval of the minutes of our previous meeting, which was held on February the 18th of this year. I have a mover and second to adopt the minutes from our previous meeting. Not everybody at once now. Councelor Tatison. Thank you so much. And chair Nan, all those in favor of approving the previous minutes, a show of hands. Thank you so much. And that is everyone. And that's carried. And now we're on to delegations. Delegation 6.1 and Robert Rakuzi, the Festival of Friends, respecting the Festival of Friends 2025 city enrichment fund grant. Uh delegate will be calling in today. We're having a few phone related issues as far as I understand in terms of how we might be able to connect that delegate by phone. We're going to just pause for a moment and see if the delegate can hear me and the delegate is online and able to speak. >> And right now the clerks are telling me that he's not. So we'll just take a brief pause in case he does call in suddenly at this moment. >> Yeah. What the clerks are telling me is that what we can do is maybe hear him after the items for consideration come up at 8.1. So what I'll do is we'll wait. We'll see if he calls in and we can hear his delegation later because the item to which he's speaking is 9.1. So this time we're going to move ahead to 8.1 then as delegate has not called in. And 8.1 is G2603 which is the 2026 city enrichment fund recommendations and staff have asked for some more time for their presentation today. Excitingly if you know the procedural bylaw gives everybody 10 minutes for a presentation and they'd like to have 20. So they're asking for 20 and councelor Jackson his leap literally leaped from his seat to move that motion. Would anybody anybody else like to join councelor Jackson in that enthusiasm as a seconder? Councelor Tatterson, thank you so much. Oh, councelor Francis's enthusiasm was greater. So we're going to go to councelor Francis as a seconder there. Sorry, councelor Tatterson and um to extend their presentation to 20 minutes. This is a show of hands. All those in favor >> councelor Tatson wants to let us know his enthusiasm as he drove here. >> [laughter] >> Um, I'll make sure you're second or next time, councelor Tatis, and that carries. Now, a staff presentation will be delivered from Andrea Carvalo, adviser for the city enrichment fund and community outreach, and Rebecca Farat, grants and strategic partnerships coordinator, and I'm going to have them go ahead and do the presentation, then we'll receive it afterwards. But I think Heather Anderson wants to introduce it. Go ahead. Please introduce yourself. >> Thank you very much. Good morning, members of council, community organizations, and the viewing public. My name is Heather Anderson. I'm the director of communications and engagement. I'm joined this morning by Andrea Carllo, advisor, city enrichment fund and community outreach. Rebecca Farat, grants and strategic partnerships coordinator, and Manique Garwood, business administrator, who together oversee the role of the fund. Joining us virtually and in person is the city enrichment fund corporate team. also behind me uh who directly support applicants and bring subject matter expertise to the ongoing development of the CF program. I am also joined by Lisa Abbott, director of tourism and culture and Sarah MKI, manager of creative industries and cultural development. An investment of 250,000 from the city of Hamilton municipal accommodation tax is recommended in support of the shared goals of the CF arts and CCH areas and the tourism strategy to strengthen cultural development and the delivery of impactful programming recognized at the regional, provincial, and national levels. The 2026 CF recommendations before you are the result of a highly competitive year. Together with the multi-year funding applications, we received 565 requests for funding, which is an increase of 22% over last year. The CF program has been [clears throat] a steady in has seen a steady increase in applications and requests since 2023 with new records set each year reflecting greater access to municipal support and a growing community need. As an annual program, CF strives to be responsible and accessible. Building on that strength, the 2026 recommendations reflect strategic targeted investments to maximize community impact and sector stability. All funding recommendations have been carefully considered to ensure program viability with adequ adequate funding levels prioritized to A and B rated applicants. This appro approach is focused on applicant merit, respons responsible budgeting and investing in meaningful public benefit. There are 456 recommendations totaling just over 7 million for your consideration today. I will now invite Andre and Rebecca to present an overview of this year's CF cycle. >> Thanks very much. as Andrea and Rebecca make their way up to the presentation. How we're going to do this is we're going to listen to the presentation and then when the presentation's done, we're going to receive the presentation and if there are any questions certainly we can ask some of the presenters at that time. Then we're going to put the report on the floor and get a mover and secondary and go from there. >> Otherwise, whenever you're ready to start presenting, take it away. >> Good morning. Uh, I'm Andrea Carvalo, adviser to the city enrichment fund, and I'm joined this morning by Rebecca Farat, our grants and strategic partnerships coordinator. I'll be sharing an overview of the program and key figures for the 2026 CF funding cycle, along with some very exciting data informed insights that demonstrate the impact and performance of the program. All right. I'm going to walk us through the CF program, introduce the team, and share general updates. I will also be sharing an overview of the assessment and decision-making process, focusing on the 2026 results and highlights in each program area. Rebecca will be sharing insights on grantee performance and impact which is the result of multi-year continuous improvement efforts that have been focused on strengthening data collection and performance measurement. Our presentation also includes images from last year's grantees that really illustrate the breadth of our program and reach across the city. The CF program embraces a city's vision to be the best place in Canada to raise a child and age successfully. The program decisions are driven by five values. Increase transparency and community impact. to evolve the program to reflect funding best practices, to be flexible, and to increase opportunities and access to municipal funding. We are only able to achieve this work through the dedication of our corporate team. Thanks to program managers Tyson McMahon, Christina Durka, Carmen Bine, Fernando Duk Drada, Whitney Cchac, and Mike Seavoy who work closely with the admin team to ensure excellent applicant communication, support, and consistent access and delivery to the city's annual funding program. CF operates throughout the year. Launching in the fall, the team work with the public sharing program information with new and returning applicants. Following the application submission, the CF team quickly move into the assessment period, which begins with staff reviewing for eligibility and performing financial reviews. In preparing, of course, for the formal adjudication process. This involves several teams of staff, subject matter experts, and external arms length community adjudicators who together carefully review and assess each application. The results of which inform the allocations and bring us to today where we are presenting the 2026 results and recommendations for your consideration. Following council's approval, our team quickly move into proc processing the grants, setting up the appeals process, and inviting all applicants to meet with staff to review their application and share adjudicator feedback. Now, who are CF applicants? The CF program is very far-reaching, supporting several sectors with an investment focus on the notfor-profit community. This includes incorporated organizations, registered charities, community groups operating as notfor-profits, and professional artists that work within the public realm. These are new groups, wellestablished and long-standing organizations, volunteer and professional groups, equity-led and serving organizations, and importantly, all CEF funded programs and services directly enrich the lives and experiences of residents and visitors. Now, what does that really look like? CF funds organizations with mandates supporting agriculture, arts, communities, culture, and heritage, community services, digital environment, and the sport and active lifestyles areas. Specifically, these are Hamilton's fairs and festivals, farmers markets, art galleries, theaters, and music organizations. These are community choirs, culturally focused groups and programs. This looks like food banks, housing support services, mental health support, and newcomer programs. CEF supports programs that help to make sports inclusive and accessible, and supports active living for equity deserving groups, youths, and seniors, only to name a few. With council's support, the city invests in many excellent programs and services delivered throughout the year and in every ward across the city. The team is proud to make the process of applying to CF as accessible as possible. To do this, we email groups directly, update our handbooks, translate documents as needed, and offer applicants the option to submit in the language of their choice. Each year, we host public information and drop-in sessions and meet regularly with applicants to provide one-to-one support. With council support, we are now in year two of our multi-year funding pilot. We launched the community services capacity building stream that provides project funding to support strengthening organizations. We are piloting a longer reporting period for the one-time grants within the creation and presentation stream. And this year, we worked with City Lab and McMaster University partners to use our collected data to better examine CF's impact, return on investment, and grantee achievement. By the numbers, staff facilitated 29 teams made up of 84 community and staff adjudicators to review all 565 applications. This work determines the final rating between A, B, and C, which are eligible for funding or D and D and Q rated applications. The funding recommendations before you strive to meet the CF values, funding principles, the city and council's priorities. They are focused on applicant merit, responsible budgeting, and investments in meaningful public benefit to maximize community impact. The recommendations focus on A&B A and B rated applications. And I'm pleased to share the onetime $250,000 investment through the city of Hamilton municipal accommodation tax in support of the shared goals of the tourism and cultures strate tourism strategy and the arts and communities and culture and heritage program areas. Since Thank you. Since 2022, the CF program has experienced significant growth and this year is no different. with a 22% growth overall and specifically an 11% growth in eligible applications. This tells us that more groups and programs are seeking municipal funds. There is greater visibility of the CEF program and our community and its needs continue to grow to ensure the city's investments are strategic and that feasible funding levels are recommended this year. A and B rated and select C-rated applications are recommended for funding where possible. 225, excuse me, where possible, 200 20 thou last year's prior funding levels were met uh for returning groups with a focus on viable funding levels for new groups. You will note that this differs from the past three-year trend where all passing applicaations were funded. Due to budget pressures and the significant growth, it is not possible to fund all passing applications in 2026. So the results we received again 565 applications with a total request just over 13 million. This year's funding recommendations include the $250,000 investment from the city's Matt Reserve together with the CF budget of 6.7 million brings this year's total investment to 7,19,443. This includes allocations to multi-year funding grantees and this year's eligible single year applications. noting that the 6.7 million CEF budget reflects the $1 million transfer of funds supporting the Art Gallery of Hamilton, now managed through the tourism and culture division. Otherwise, the CF budget remains unchanged from 2025. I would now like to briefly share a few highlights from the year. It is the unique programs and specific details from each CF area that illustrate the growth, the need and impact and relate these results to our own experiences throughout the city. Agriculture saw considerable growth in applications with new unique community garden programs that are focused on culturally relevant food growing and education. The three multi-year funding grantees represent the annual fairs, annual fall fairs. Uniquely, the arts program is assessed by full arms length adjudication teams. The majority of applicants to this area are from returning organizations with new applicants well represented in the creation and presentation stream. Our third largest area, communities, culture, and heritage, is known for funding many grassroot programs, diverse cultural heritage organizations, and events that bring communities and neighbors together. Our largest area, community services, funds critical human service programs and local social safety initiatives. Notably, 16 new programs are recommended for funding through the emerging needs and capacity building streams. The digital program experienced tremendous growth this year with many of these programs supporting newcomers and residences residents experiencing systemic barriers to digital access. This area is unique in that we work closely with the RR Macan Foundation that offers matching grants to successful charitable CEF digital grantees. We first began working with the foundation to launch the digital area and are pleased to continue this part partnership for the next two years. Another major growth area environment received a significant number of new applications. New initiatives include innovative waste reduction programs and green space accessibility for youth and seniors. The sport and active lifestyles area has experienced steady growth in the last few years, making it the area receiving the second highest number of applications. The sport and active lifestyle areas funds in many different capacities supporting inclusion, accessibility, long-term active living, and funds many different sports and ways that residents can be active. I'm now going to invite Rebecca to walk us through the 2026 community priorities idea and CF program impact. Thank you. Good morning. Rebecca Farat, grants and strategic partnerships coordinator. When applying to CEF, applicants are required to indicate which of the community priorities from the city of Hamilton strategic plan our future Hamilton their project supports and describe how it does so. Applicants are able to select multiple priorities when more than one is applicable. The highest representation is for the community engagement and participation priority from our future Hamilton while the lowest being to build environment and infrastructure. The wide range of programs receiving CEF grants help work towards accomplishing these important community priorities and leveraging the good work of the not for-profit and charitable organizations across our city. Initiated in 2023, CF began collecting idea inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility data that measured grantee program targeted populations and equity in organizational governance. 2026 reflects the fourth year collecting this data and comparing it. At a high level, grantees are indicating greater diversity in their governance and are more intentional in targeting audiences and their clients. Looking at the grantee targeted audiences data, grantees are being deliberate and thoughtful about the audiences they serve. As of 2026, only 34% of CF funded programs are designed for universal access or have no targeted population. This is an improvement from 57% in 2023 when we began tracking. Direct targeting of all equity deserving groups has increased in 2026 and are the highest levels since tracking began. New grantees to CF are serving racialized peoples and communities at a slightly higher rate than returning groups, 41% compared to 38%. In all other areas, our returning grantees to CF are serving equity deserving groups at higher rates. Grantee governance employment equity designated groups are increasingly present at the governance tables of CF grantees. Returning grantees have higher rates of equity designated groups present within their governance structure and just 1% of returning applicants have no equity present at their governance tables. Additionally, we are seeing a sustained transition towards greater numbers of equity deserving groups around the governance tables with returning groups reporting high metrics for two or more equity deserving groups present. New this year, we are pleased to be sharing details on the return on investment and impact from CF grantees. The data presented today is aggregated from the final reports of all 2024 grantees. This research was empowered in part through a partnership with a class of students from McMaster's degree school of business and facilitated by our colleagues at City Lab. To begin, it's important to understand that while CF is an important revenue tool for grantees, across the entirety of the program, CF makes up just 9% of the total funding of these projects and their deliverables and the impacts that they have in our community. The not for-profit and charitable sector funded by CF also leverages other government and foundational support, earned revenues, and fundraising from private individuals in order to fund their programs. We are proud that CF is one lever supporting these programs. For every $1 invested by CF into these programs, an additional $9.70 is invested from other sources. Funding from foundations, provincial, and federal sources make up $4.30 of this. While we cannot definitively say that without CF, these groups would not still be able to leverage these other dollars, we do know anecdotally and from the work that our team does that there are both federal and provincial grants that require the evidence of municipal support. Often this is shown through CF. In order to access these funds, we sign off on documents showing that yes, they got a CF grant, so they're eligible to get federal or provincial support. We know that municipal support is often also a confidence bringinger to private donors and helps organizations show their value and trustworthiness. An example of this is our own partnership within the CEF program wherein the matching funds are made available to charitable organizations funded in the digital program area through the RR Macan family foundation to those granted by CF. But the impacts of CF grantees are more than the that of leveraged return on investment alone. There are also the tangible community impacts. Approximately 2.7 million people participated in programs funded by CF in 2024 and 84% of that participation was free in nature. The cost to the municipality for those participating in CF funded programs is just $2.78 cents a person. And for every one grant awarded, approximately 50.3 events or programs are delivered across the year. 17,866 events or programs were delivered in 2024 through CF funding. And when broken down by dollars, we are seeing that there are approximately 360 participants per $1,000 granted. With final reporting for our 2025 grantees just wrapping up on April 30th, we are additionally looking forward to beginning to analyze this data over time for trends and to allow database decision-making when considering program enhancements. We're looking at how funding can continue to improve these impacts. Investments in CF tangibly help community organizations make a difference in the realms of our strategic plan, delivering on equity, and delivering impact for every dollar invested. Today's recommendations look to the future and continue to recommend that CF funding be distributed broadly and to those demonstrating merit through the adjudication process. We look forward to seeing the impact that the 2026 CF grantees will continue to have in our community. Thank you. Thank you very much for your presentation. Take that down now. Are there questions for the presenters on the presentation today? Seeing councelor Jackson, go ahead. >> Uh thank you and good morning, Vice Chair Cretch. Thank you uh for the uh excellent thorough presentation uh senior advisor Carvello and coordinator fraud. >> [clears throat] >> So let me just um see if I captured what you presented in my uh own cursory way [snorts] in an accurate way and please correct me if I didn't. Um was there a total of then 565 applications to my knowledge that included 102 multi- uh qualified through you uh vice chair to whoever wants to answer that please. >> Through the chair yes we did have 103 multi-year funding grantees. We had one uh grantee who unfortunately was unable to move forward with their program this year, the 91st Highlanders. We worked with them to ensure that uh the funds in some capacity were not required this year. Uh they do remain in good standing as the reasons for the program not occurring this year were outside of their control. >> If I recall that was due to a facility that no longer was available, the Armory. So thank you for that. So uh you had then total of 463 net but 456 qualified. Can you explain the seven gap difference there through you vice chair and if I'm incorrect always senior adviser you can correct me anytime through the chair. Sorry councelor Jackson can you repeat the numbers for me? Okay. So from 565 you said there were 103 but one didn't qualify because of the unfortunate circumstances the 91st Highlander. So 102 I [snorts] subtract 102 from 565. That leaves my math 463 and you said though 456 qualified. Can you explain please? >> Through the chair. I'll do my best. >> Okay. Uh so we were able to recommend funding to 456 applicants uh but all not all passing applicants uh received were recommended for funding. So there is a difference there in the number of those passing and then those receive recommending funding today. >> Okay that I think that explains that for me further vice chair crutch uh let's see here. So altogether then we have now removed with council's endorsement the 1 million annual for the art gallery of Hamilton that's in a different stream correct through you vice chair >> through the chair. Yes that is well I'll correct myself it is not through a different CF stream it now sits with the tourism and culture division who now manage that portfolio. Okay. So, we would have been around 8 million in um available funds, but that's why we're sitting at around 7 million currently. Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay. On reserves, one of my favorite topics, senior adviser, and I know the business administrator um always raises her eyebrows when I get into reserves. Uh that was a that was a respectful comment. Um we have 245,141 in reserves. Um we're uh how much is left what is the net amount left after appeals process and any other deductions? What do we have left as a committee through you vice chair? >> Uh good morning Winnie Garwood business administrator. Uh so we starting out uh today at 245,141 in our reserve. That's the unodudited balance. As you know, we had some impact from the cyber incident and so that value is not reflecting interest acred uh interest earned for 2024 and 2025. So that value is subject to change later, but we're starting out at 245,141. Uh we do have some items included for recommendation today. Uh do you need the balance after those um pending approval or >> Sure. Why don't you walk us through the pending um okay recommendations, please, if that's okay with the vice chair. >> Thank you. >> Through the chair. So, we do have a recommendation um for $50,000 to fund our appeals program and there's a pending um motion for $90,000 to fund Festival of Friends. Pending those approvals, the balance will be 105,141 remaining in the reserve. >> Terrific business administrator. That kind of wraps up for me uh vice chair and I just want to put this committee on notice as I did the last couple of years where there are groups and organizations vice chair where unfortunately um they didn't receive what their full ask was they got a passing grade whatever it was AB uh selective C's um but I will be bringing motions forward hopefully as in the past gaining council's support to provide balances so that those great organizations festivals, events can carry on. And of course, it would be from either my budget or multiple budgets across uh the city. Thanks, Vice Chair Cretch, for your indulgence. >> No problem. You're the only speaker on the list, Councelor Jackson, so you're permitted to go ahead. On that note, I don't see any further questions here. So, I'm going to receive the presentation if I have a mover and second to receive the presentation. Moved by Councelor Chhattis, seconded by Chair Nan. And I'm going to have that's a show of hands vote to receive the presentation. All those in favor is so received. And now we're going to have a mover and second to put the report on the floor for the grants themselves. Moved by councelor Jackson, seconded by Chair Nan. Is there any discussion further discussion on this item? Not seeing further discussion. So we'll go to the electronic vote and I'll let you know when it's up. It's up. Please vote. Counselors Jackson and Tison are in favor. Councelor Wilson is also in favor. And that carries six to zero. We're now on to 9.1, but we're going to pause first because we're going to see if the delegate is now available. Uh, Robert Racuzzi, if you can hear me. Uh, you have five minutes for your delegation. I know you're calling in by phone. Uh, go ahead and let's see if we can hear you. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> We can hear you. So, go ahead. You've got five minutes and I'll let and you'll hear it. You might not hear the ding sound, but if you go over the five minutes, I'll just let you know. >> Okay, perfect. Uh, first of all, thank you for having me. I'm sorry for the delay. I uh broke my ankle last night and had surgery and otherwise I would uh be with you guys today. Um just want to talk about a couple quick issues. So the first is I'm coming today in regards to the $90,000 that we were awarded last year for the Festival of Friends and due to some accounting um issues and delays um not on our end but on our accounting firm's end uh we missed the deadline to provide our financials. So just to give a little bit of a background when COVID came um one of the challenges that comes with running the the any event for the CF is the audited financial statements. Often we find ourselves receiving $90,000 uh from the the program which of course is incredible and it means the world to us but we also end up spending you know 16 17 $18,000 in order to report those financials. I'm not suggesting that's no good, but often we need funds in order to uh to forward that process. So when COVID came, um we were unable to do our financials due to a lack of funds for a couple years. And as we got back on our feet, we found ourselves delayed year after year after year. Um and then working with uh the city staff, especially Andrea Cardalo and Christina Durka, who've been incredible. Um, we were able to come up with a plan in order to work with the accounting firm to get uh financial statements combined with audited statements to get us caught up up to 2024. And we put that process in play this time last year. And unfortunately uh because our accounting firm has uh sometimes has higher priorities than us uh we kept getting pushed on the back burner and as our deadline approached we kept missing the the the deadlines and we did not get our final audit statements completed until March of this year which was about 3 months past what the deadline was. So I'm not coming to you today to ask for more money. I'm not asking for uh anything extra. I'm just looking to have the funds released that we were uh uh awarded last year. And you know, as the Festival of Friends approaches its 50th anniversary this summer, um I think it's important when you see events such as uh Sound of Music, you know, a 48-year-old event that that died. Um we're seeing other events failing and having an issue. The Festival of Friends is strong. There's nothing wrong with our financial statements. There's nothing problematic with the organization. We are financially strong. We have incredible backing. Tim Hortons and a lot of other wonderful corporations. We are just uh we are stronger than ever. We're putting on the biggest festival ever. We're going to have a big all-star night this year. And you know, I think one of the things I think gets lost and if you haven't been to the Festival of Friends since we came back to Gage Park about nine years ago now, I think it's important to see uh what the event has become. It is the biggest stage. It's the largest crowd. We bring 18 to20 million in economic revenue. Um, for an example, last year we had the artist Brett Kell, a country music artist that may not be for everybody, but definitely is for a large portion of the population. And we offered that act for free. Well, to put it in perspective, there is a new music festival called Route 905. It's in Lancaster this summer, and they're charging $89 to see Brett Kistle in a festival setting. So I think often the festival of friends is often taken for granted as an insanely large event. We appear in textbooks in Alberta and you know we are the most efficiently run grassroots organization. 65% of all the money we've spent last year was spent on either artists both local and those that draw tourists as well as and staging. We are efficiently run. Our wages are only about 12%. That includes honorariums, that includes my salary, that includes our vendor people. Um, we are a welloiled, efficient machine who spends the money better and wiser than anybody else. And I think that's uh my five minutes. >> Thanks very much for dialing in. I see that there is a question from councelor Nan. Councelor Nan, go ahead. >> Thank you, Vice Chair Cretch. And uh good morning, Robert. Sorry to hear about your medical emergency. I hope you recover well. Uh that's um yeah disapp disappointing but I'm also sure uh really hard for you to navigate in this moment that you wanted to be in the room in chambers um with committee. So if you could please just speak to um I know this year is the 50th anniversary which is a big big deal not only for the festival but also for the city of Hamilton as well as music lovers who loved coming to Gage Park but can you speak a little bit about what you've had to do internally? You mentioned the work that you've done with staff to bring your financial statements um into order. How are you ensuring this doesn't occur again? >> Um well in this particular case I mean co was in this up until co we were bringing in our statements yearly on time. Um and it was just a matter of getting caught up uh the accounting firm especially after co was afraid of uh organizations not paying their bills. So a lot of what we've been having to do is prepay uh leading up to it and thankfully the firm understood that in order to get caught up. So we spoke so staff essentially said that we were as of the beginning of last year the last granting period we had provided the audit statements for 2022 and 2023 was in process and in order to make the process uh a little cheaper for us. We were able to work it out where we would 2023 would be um a non- audited statement and 2024 would be audited. And so the accounting firm was able to give us a significant break on the unodudited statements and they we bundled them together as they could do them all at once. It's quicker and more efficient for them. And it was the city staff who was able to say, you know, if you can provide us with 2024, we'll take 2023 unodudited um with the assurance from the accounting firm that it all made sense going forward. And by doing that, we were able to get ourselves caught up. Now, for 2025, uh the affirm has all of our books. Um they have assured us that um we will have uh that they will have it by the deadline of the application deadline, which I believe is like middle of November this year. Uh it's now that we're caught up, um it's no longer an issue. It's just a matter of us trying to get out of that hole from CO, you know, and there's it's a lot of it is we got especially right after COVID, it was a matter of like we had to put ourselves back on the map. So, it's very hard to try to allocate funds and say, you know, this might bring another 20,000 people. Um, and maybe, you know, and the accounting firm can perhaps we can, you know, delay that a couple months so that we can get that working uh to get things done. But, um, as as it stands right now, we are we are up to date and we will have last year by the time the the end of this uh this this period is over, which is the schedule. >> Thank you. That's what I wanted to hear. vice chair uh in terms of uh anticipating the reports that would be required and the deadline that would be needed to be met uh for these funds to be allocated and uh just to confirm again uh through you chair to Robert um this is again funds that were granted initially to your organization in the festival but due to the financial components not being met were withheld by the city. Correct. >> That is that is correct. does not additional money. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. I don't see additional folks on the list. So, at this time, we're going to go move to receive the delegation. Have a move and second to do so. Moved by councelor Nan. I'll second that. All those in favor of receiving the dele delegation by show of hands. That is everyone and the delegation is received. Thank you very much. At this time, we're now going to move on to 9.1, the Festival of Friends 2025 city enrichment fund grant. It's a motion from councelor Nan, seconded by myself. Councelor N, please introduce your motion. >> Certainly. Thank you, uh, vice chair. and um the whereas clauses and really appreciating staff doing the due diligence of ensuring that everything was documented in terms of um the funds that were granted, the financial statements not coming in on time and then the work that was done to bring it into compliance. Uh so as mentioned by the delegate this morning, u these are not new funds. This is to release funds that the organization was um had gone through the screening process and had been cleared to receive $90,000. So therefore be it resolved is that the 2025 CF grant allocated to Festival of Friends totaling $90,000 be funded one time from the CF reserve account 112230 and B that staff are authorized and directed to execute any required agreements and incillary documents um as is our standard practice. Thank you. Thanks very much. I don't see anybody on the list to speak to this motion. And so we'll go to the electronic vote. Thank you. Councelor Jackson's in favor. Councelor Tison's also in favor. And the vote is up. And the vote carries 620. And being that there are no notices of motion and we've already approved the private and confidential item, there's no further business for today. And today's meeting is adjourned at 10:12 a.m. Enjoy the rest of your day, everybody, and thank you for being here.