Wendy's Way

Just when we were wondering how things will be with a new Council. What will we all  blog about now?

Councillor  Wendy Gaertner reveals writing  skills  and logic  no-one had  guessed before.

The announcement of the wing-ding deal the town  made with the Department of National Defense was made virtually on the eve of  the  election.  When whoever would  be saddled with  it was  not yet clear.

Four years after the building was vacated , after a space needs study was carried out but  no report had been made to Council.

In the 2006   election , when Power stream vacated the building, Candidate Nigel Kean proposed it be used as a youth centre without pausing to consider any relevant factors..

Four years later ,In the 2010  election, Candidate Phyllis Morris  declared the lease with the DND  to be a triumph and the rent of $131ks  a substantial asset to the town.

Councillor Gaertner  currently describes the  "empty building" as  a liability and informs us the DND will contribute $25ks to the town towards its maintenance and upkeep.

I have  previously described the property. It   accommodated twenty seven employees. These  were jobs the town lost when Powerstream vacated.

Are there twenty-seven people in Aurora who currently, desperately, need  jobs? I think so.

It is a modern  architect designed building. Landscaped. Lighted driveway and parking lot.Storage yard of several acres, secured by high chain link fence. topped with barbed wire and electrified access. No expense spared when it was built not that long ago.

Entrance to shop facilities and garage at the rear of the building  are within the secure yard.

No professional  estimate of value, I am aware , has been provided .

Since the previous Council, adequacy of the town works yard has been in question. Transferring the parks department to a new location to expand the works yard  is seriously contemplated. A space needs study, I believe,  was  undertaken.

Despite the passage of an entire term, four years,  none  of these issues have been  brought to the Council table.

Instead, we get this cockamamie lease with the National Defense Department to provide space for"the kiddies" as our outgoing Mayor refers to them.

Councillor Gaertner was ecstatic when she heard the lease had been signed by the Minister of National Defense  A congratulatory e-mail  in large letters was  circulated to all  to signify great  joy and  satisfaction.

I am unable to share  the exhilaration.