Evergreen Park / Facebook

By Emily Keller

county council

County of Grande Prairie to continue to support payroll at Evergreen Park

Apr 28, 2020 | 5:30 AM

The County of Grande Prairie’s Council has voted to continue to support the financial needs of the Grande Prairie and District Regional Agriculture Society, specifically at Evergreen Park, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leanne Beaupre, Reeve of the County of Grande Prairie, says that Evergreen Park had previously sent a letter to council detailing how they would see a significant reduction in revenue due to the pandemic, especially since the park is an events-driven centre.

The original request, that was sent on April 6, 2020, included Evergreen Park’s financial plan and the immediate steps taken for the proceeding five months, including laying off 55 employees.

“So, they had made a request from Council to be able to provide them relief with helping with their payroll portion, that the County of Grande Prairie already does for them. We presently do their payroll and they pay us back, so we keep it as a receivable on our accounting process.”

At the County Council meeting on Monday, representatives from Evergreen Park presented a funding request, asking for the County to fund them $575,000 to cover payroll expenses until the end of August 2020. Evergreen Park would then apply for the Canada Emergency Wages Subsidy (CEWS) in the amount of $187,000, and then would request a $300,000 Agricultural Society grant from the province, leaving the County to cover $87,000.

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County Council voted to continue to support the payroll needs of the remaining staff at the Park until August 31, 2020, and administration requested that by then, the Grande Prairie and District Regional Agriculture Society let the County know of successes finding funding sources. Administration will also let County Council know of potential funding sources for them.

Evergreen Park also highlighted their plans moving forward, mentioning that they were discussing plans to potentially move the recent drive-in movies to Evergreen Park, and whether horse racing will continue in the summer, with bets potentially being made over phones and computers instead of in-person.