It was a calm and civil meeting sponsored by Councillor Gallo on Wedneday evening.
The Councillor had done a great deal of work to bring it to-gether. He hand-delivered the letters. He booked the Council chaamber to give residents an opportunity to express concerns and have questions answered .
It took energy and commitment. The Councillor went further and committed to the gathering he believed the site should be acquired by the town and become a park. The residents were no doubt assured .
I told them I had seen residents, not as many , express opposition to a park abutting their properties
I suggested they needed to know more about the impacat of a park before taking a position.
They were not impressed .
I re-call the nightmare scenario presented to Council. on that occasion' Foul language, fighting ,drug deals. late night lights . noise and screeching cars.
That park was planned for the neighborhood. Site selected. Design approved. .
I risked the wrath of angry residents and voted to proceed. With the work, study and resources already exppended, I was satisfied .
Parks are not planned on a hit or miss basis.
Professional expertise and pride go into the final product .
Every park has a different element to provide children with a variety of experience
People may not know that about the town's parks . I'm not sure we tell them.
The Consultant study on service levels made the point.
Aurora parks and recreation programs are a higher level of service than any comparator municipality.
The budget is larger. As is incoming revenue which covers the cost Programs and events are popular and well used.
Parades, Easter Egg Hunt, Halloween HauntedHouse Summer Concerts in the park , Rib Fest,
Winter Festivals are all truly community events . Supported with financial contributions from local business and hundreds of volunteer hours contributed generously to make it all happen .
The departmnt has a skeleton staff who regularly go above and beyond expectations because of the leadership of their director .
Council and the community are well served.
It's how it should be.
At Wednesday's meeting ,a resident asked Council members present how they were going to vote on the question of acquisition of an uneeded school site as an afterhought for a park. Councillor Gallo had already indicated his decision is to add the site as another park. His answer was open and shut Black and white. A fait accompli . A done deal. Amen my friend.
I was not and am not prepared to make a decision without facts.
The parks plan for the neighborhood was prepared and approved years ago when the area was a blank page. and an entire neighborhood was planned.
There were no prohibitions.
I need to know that change now will serve a better purpose and additional cost can be justified.
I will not pander .
I will not toady .
Whatever I do will have to make sense.
You're in the hot seat. We're just observers all with our own opinions. The only thing I have learned about this council is that I understand nothing of how they think.
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ReplyDeleteBy what process will it ultimately be decided - park or no park?
Will this require a consultant? Surely not. The Town's staff under an able Director should be able to pull together all the little bits and pieces, including the ongoing cost to the town and the lost revenue if the land were to be developed and accompanying charges paid.
Let's hope that the process and the final decision will be based on fact, and will make sense. Let's also hope that emotions are held in check.
The Republican Party in the United States appears embarked on a civil war. Let them fight each other on their own battlefields.
It will be fun to watch them destroy each other. That used to be the case in Aurora politics. But, having fought a war and seen the bloody outcome, we can hold ourselves above the fray.
Although a couple of exorcists might still come in handy.