Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Grants topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee forwards four community grant applications focused on food‑waste reduction and composting
Summary
The committee forwarded four grant applications (including Garden Quest and Wonder Lab) totaling about $13,741 for district consideration; members asked for clarification on internship reimbursement, grant‑eligible expenses, and program support details.
The Monroe County Waste Reduction District executive committee voted to forward four community grant applications to the full board for consideration, noting the applications together do not exhaust the current appropriation. The applicants include Garden Quest (a request to convert existing district‑branded Bokashi buckets to spigoted versions for a pilot), Wonder Lab (materials and a proposed intern to manage food‑waste activities), and projects linked to Will Demmer Community Gardens.
Ellie Spire of Garden Quest, who joined the meeting remotely, summarized the proposal: “We applied for funding for 50 buckets,” and said the organization would convert some non‑spigoted buckets the district previously funded into spigoted buckets for a try‑it program. Spire said the spigot allows users to siphon excess liquid and capture fertilizer for garden use and that the program provides training and a year of ongoing support for participants.
On Wonder Lab’s application, committee members questioned whether grant funds could cover an internship. Staff said grant rules generally limit funds for disposal, hauling, installation and administrative expenses but allowed reimbursement for materials and supplies; staff asked Wonder Lab to provide a job description, proposed hours and a legal opinion on whether a stipend or wage reimbursement would be allowable under the grant terms.
Committee members noted conflicts of interest: Matthew Austin of RCAC disclosed his affiliation with Garden Quest and recused himself from consideration of those applications. Staff said all applicants would be invited to attend the full board meeting when their grants are considered.
The committee instructed staff to obtain additional information: a job description and hours for the proposed Wonder Lab intern, a legal assessment of grant‑eligible personnel costs, and corrected packet figures where minor PDF comment anomalies appeared. The committee agreed to forward all four applications to the board.
