DETAILS REQUESTED

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "ODDS AND SODS": 

You are omitting the original $420,000 price tag estimated on Petch.
Also the facts on how Peter entered the equation.

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 May 2016 at 15:22

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The Petch House was mouldering at the side of LesIie Street when I was re-elected to Council in 2003. 

How long,  I don't know. Parked by the developer of the farm of which it was once the family home. The agreement was the developer would transport the building to a site of the town's choosing. 

Mr Van Nostrand had purchased a twin of the building, restored it already, re-sold it and re-located it to a site in cottage country. A photograph was presented. 

The Van Nostrand's  are a farm family in the Village  of Vandorf. His work is well-known

I understand, a proposal was submitted to the town complete with photos of similar 

projects completed successfully and with a price.

 At the time , the house was in much better condition.It had been moved In one piece and could have been again. It was still a home before being lifted off its foundation. 

Though a budget for $100,000 was set, Council never got around to making a decision. 

They had no site. No purpose suggested. 

The $450,000 price tag came from a second engineering consultant report. The first, not Van Nostrand's ,was not to Councillor MacEachern's satisfaction so a second was commissioned 

both were funded from the Petch House budget. 

No additional funds were requested from Council to complete the project, We  conclude the 

cost stayed within budget and additional $50,000 provided by the developer. 

No price was received for power because no decision was made about purpose and needs could  not be determined. 

A new park toilet unit system  has been on the market for five or six years .It's a simple process. The price may be in the range of $70,000. 

Neither the Arboretum or the trail system has toilet facilities currently. They would not be amiss in that location. 

Nothing, absolutely nothing of any practical concern, prevents the building from being in use.

The  smallest, simplest, thoughtful convenience can be most appreciated by people in their daily lives.

A coffee, a table in the shade, a place to rest  on a summer day would have far more appeal 

at the end of a trail than many of the high-flying projects under endles re-hash  by Council. 

Just make the easy decisions why don't they!