Arboretum

The ravine land that stretches from St John's Road to the Town Hall site was a part of Lambert Willson's farm. I'm not sure if it came to us as parkland dedication or the Town purchased the parcel for the Town Hall site. It was in the works when I left Council in 1989 so I'm not familiar with details except that ravine lands are not typically capable of development. They are usually flood plain lands.

To the best of my knowledge the group now known as The Arboretum came into being when the Seniors Centre was built. They saw an opportunity to beautify the land around the Centre. Their vision was to plant an arboretum. They were doing that at their own pace. People were paying to plant trees in memory of loved ones.The group were making it happen with the help of our parks department.

The Vision enlarged. The parcel, one hundred acres would lend itself to a beautiful concept of specimen trees and meandering paths for the enjoyment and education of the community

The forecast was one million dollars.

Council agreed it could happen over a period of years.

I understood the money would come from the interest on the Hydro reserve fund.

I was persuaded. . The first year 's allocation was $50.k.

I was somewhat deflated at the end of the year ,to learn $47ks was used to purchase a prefabricated building for tools and such.

The second year, money was apparently spent in good part for a riding lawn mower, a watering tank, and a contract for grass-cutting and shrub bed weeding . Trees were planted. Funds were provided from other sources and the town parks department continued to assist.

They are a small group and not as limber as they once were but ambitions are high.and intentions good
.
The budget request for this year was $100ks.

I learned I had been mistaken. The money did not come from interest on the Hydro Reserve Fund.

I am not much in favour of having money stashed in a bank. People can't go out on a lovely spring day and meander on pretty paths and breathe in the scent and enjoy the lacy wonder of dollar bill buds bursting open in bank accounts.

The hydro reserve money deserves a better fate. It should not be used for paying the gas bills

It should be used on something spectacular in the here and now and forever and a day. A beautiful Arboretum along the lines of Edwards Gardens in North York would be something to show for the interest money on the Hydro Reserve. I gave the project my wholehearted support.

Again I was deflated by what we had to show for the $50ks provided in 2009

The Arboretum group came to Council during budget discussions to support this year's request for $100 ks. It was November. They still had $20ks left to pay for a tree-planting contract which hopefully would be completed within days.

It had taken therefore, even with their purchases other than trees, the whole year to spend the allocation.

I don't give up my dreams easily. I again expressed my support for $50ks for 2010. But there was some fancy footwork and the figure finally included is $100ks.

Couple that with hours of wrangling about providing sufficient funds to operate the town parks department; to cut grass when it needs to be cut, to service our fifteen thousand tree urban forest to fight weeds without using undesirable chemicals. Remember the argument about whether it is sensible to use staff to build park furniture to our own specifications in the winter months and during inclement weather , buy it from a hardware store or pay substantially more to buy it from a manufacturer.

My resolve hardened.

The Lambert Willson ravine is town land like any other open space. . It needs development. An arboretum is a perfect use for the property. Whatever funds can be allocated for the project should be under management of the town parks department and should be rated in competition with other parks needs.

I am no longer in favour of providing $100ks to a volunteer group to develop a hundred acre parcel and talk about signage and education while areas of park maintenance are starved for funds and our own staff are harried and harrassed for doing their jobs by putting forward a realistic budget for that purpose.

One other point; it's a terrible thing not to be able to trust. But it would not surprise me in the least to discover the Arboretum group were invited to ask for double the money.