After Hours

I left the council chamber at ten-minutes to eleven on Tuesday evening. Councillor Mac Eachern had spent the previous twenty minutes excoriating Director Al Downey for documentation he submitted in support of a recommendation to prepare specifications and call tenders for the construction of a baseball diamond. He did so in response to council direction.

The project is included in the capital budget. The funds are derived from development charge levies. They are not part of the tax levy. They cannot be used for any other purpose. If not used for the purpose taken, they may very well have to be returned from whence they came. To the developers.

The diamond has been in the Needs Forecast for five years.That's how it came to be included in the development charge levy. It is desperately needed. Two years ago, the Director recommended a purchase of a suitable site. Funds to pay for it were available in the Cash in Lieu of Parks Reserve Account. The account currently has a balance in excess of ten million dollars.

Council rejected the recommendation. Councillor MacEachern argued; "why should we buy land when we have land adjacent to the new rec centre"

Much of the estimate cost of building a diamond on that site is directly attributable to the nature of the land and servicing the site for multiple uses. Only the tender process will determine a precise cost for the project.

The rational for using development charge funds and the consequences of not using them for the purpose they were taken has been repeated to Council by staff many times. To no avail. Refusal to accept the professional advice is beyond comprehension.

Councillor MacEachern stated at Tuesday's meeting she had been reading the background documentation accompanying the director's report until 3a.m. Tuesday morning. She proceeded to critique the language of the documents and itemise her perception of errors ommissions and contradictions at length.

After twenty minutes of angry page flipping, no end of the harangue in sight, less sign of town business being accomplished and twenty minutes after the hour of adjournment, I took my leave.

To be a silent witness is to be a participant.To raise a point of order in this council is to be held responsible for the resulting mayhem.

I understand the Mayor took over when the Councillor left off . Much of the criticism was repeated a second time and a final decision was made to refer the matter to the Chief Administrative Officer for a further report.

Councillor Granger sublimely presided over the shameful display without intervention.









.