By Khalida Sarwari
Next year is an important one for Saratoga as the city will be celebrating its 60th anniversary since incorporating in 1956. And that’s not the only major event on the agenda. As community event organizers start preparing for 2016, there are a couple more dates to add to their busy calendars, such as deadlines to apply for a share of $35,000 in city grants to help them put on an event that will have people talking for the rest of the year.
Developed in 2012, the community event grant program is a formal funding allocation process that allows organizers to request grant funds for public events in Saratoga. Organizers can use the grant money to cover the cost of event materials, supplies, contract services, permits and city-related fees such as park rental or permit costs.
As per the timeline for the application process, Jan. 19 is when the program will be announced on the city’s website and past applicants will be notified; March 1 is the application deadline; and March 16 is when the council will make its decision.
While the council’s allocation for 2016 of $35,000 is a significant increase from this year’s $25,000 grant allotment, the recommendation to increase funding was made by the council finance committee because a need for the bump was evident—the city allocated nearly $10,000 to accommodate organizers who had requested money following the last application deadline.
In total, 15 organizers received grant funding in 2015, with the Blossom Festival and Saratoga Senior Center’s health and wellness fair getting the most funding.
The 60th anniversary commemoration was briefly discussed at the Saratoga City Council’s Dec. 16 meeting, with a few members of the council expressing confusion as to who would be organizing it or when it would be held. Acknowledging that those factors are up in the air at this point, Mayor Manny Cappello encouraged local volunteers to step forward and make it happen.
“There’s no timeline established for this,” Cappello said. “There’s no community group or individual who has stepped forward to champion it. This simply came about as a particular member of our community expressed interest in this type of thing occurring this year, and I tend to agree that it’d be a nice event for the city to have, both in terms of building community as well as to commemorate our 60th anniversary.”
In addition to the community event grant program, the council also approved the allocation of $30,000 in street closure grant funding. The money will be used to help local groups pay for the cost of closing down Big Basin Way for community events. The street closure grant follows the same noticing and timeline guide- lines as the community event grant program.
This year’s grant went to the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce’s Classic Car Show, which used the money to cover some of the public safety personnel costs associated with the event on July 19 along Big Basin Way. Car show organizers will likely receive $20,000 of the street closure grant for their 2016 event and the remainder of the grant is expected to be set aside for a partial-day closure of Big Basin Way in the event that organizers put on a parade for the city’s 60th anniversary.
“If this is going to happen in fall, we should know by March whether or not it’s going to happen,” said Vice Mayor Emily Lo. “And people need to know by March and need to start organizing the thing in March.”
