July 8/10 10:43 am - 2011 Road Nationals Receives Funding Approval

Posted by Editor on 07/8/10
 

After some tense moments, organizers for the 2011 Canadian Road Nationals in Burlington, Ontario can breath easier.  The Burlington Community Services Committee has reaffirmed their initial decision to provide funding to the event; albeit at a lower level than initially planned.

The Burlington Community Services Committee told the Midweek Cycling Club in October of 2008, when the Club was bidding for the Road Nationals, that they would support the 2010 and 2011 event with $70,000 in cash and support in kind towards the event for each year.  However, recently a report from the city staff was presented to the City Council that the support be reduced to $3,000 for each year. They also recommended that a decision to approve this be deferred to January of 2011, following final course route confirmation and the new development of a policy rolled out on city support for national and international events.

Craig Fagan of the Midweek Cycling Club appealed to the Committee on June 23rd, asking the Council to reject the staff report with the new funding recommendations and the revised timeline, and asked them to stick to their commitment from 2008 and to make the decision now; not in January 2011. He was supported by several key members of the cycling community who are excited to see the 2011/2012 Canadian National Championships hosted in Burlington for 2011 and 2012.

The Committee meeting started at 6:30 that evening and by 7:00 the Nationals was on the table. Three hours of delegation, debate over their 2008 promise of support to the Midweek Cycling Club and ongoing council/staff feedback/discussions resulted in a motion to revise the city support of the cycling event to $50,000 per year, pending the Burlington Hotel Association's agreement to put $20,000 of their own funds towards the $50,000. The final Burlington Committee of Adjustment Hearing was to be held from 5:30 - 11:30 pm on Monday, June 28th.

We have now received confirmation from Craig Fagan that the second meeting did result in approval of the revised $50,000 amount - at least for the first year of the Nationals in 2011.