After a lengthy discussion Monday, members of city council appear no closer to establishing a definitive policy for distributing grant money to community groups and organizations.
There was consensus on the need to determine how much in the way of taxpayer dollars should be invested in community grants and what is the process for doling out those dollars. It’s a debate that has come up several times in the past few years.
City manager Wendell Graves says, in his opinion, reaching common ground on a community grants process is not easily achieved.
St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston says he is forming a committee to quickly bring back a policy council can agree on, including how much money should be allotted each year to grants.
Preston says he is bothered by the current process and the fact future councils have the ability to revisit any policy adopted by this council.
