was hard to choose.
I have edited and re-edited and I apologize for that. I remind myself of unlikely impact whether I
tell the story or not. A handful may be better informed but to what advantage ?
Sometimes I think people may be better off not knowing what's going on.
But I can't live with that. My time is my own to do as I will . I learned only yesterday about a capital budget of $1million a year for the next five years for this pie -in-the-sky impracticality.
To be fair to Mr,Tomlinson, I believe the initial expenditures were never his intention. On the other hand, twenty years is long enough to discover how Topsy grows and changes.
A wild life reserve, if it was ever practical, has become an impossible dream.
It appears Mr. Tomlinson has decided to turn to the public to rally support for the idea that was always his and his alone.
Telling his story, he avoided mentioning public access to the area would be prohibited.
He failed to mention the forecast capital cost of $5 million over five years.
He earmarked $2 million from the Hydro Reserve without as much as a by-your-leave.
He said it would be necessary to transfer two acres of development land from private to public
ownership without considering the bread and butter issue of lost earnings to relieve the burden of
taxation.
He strongly opposes a walking trail already designated within the area.
Building houses on the 2 acres will be "catastrophic" to the plan, he says.
Still he persists on the project's feasibility.
Mr Tomlinson has never been a candidate nor held status as an elected official. He speaks
for himself .
And yet... on his admission ,Council has already spent $400 thousand on consultants to achieve
his objective but accomplishing nought.
Plans are to spend $200 thousand more next Tuesday for an engineering consultant to pressure the Conservation Authority to change the rules to accommodate a multi-million dollar tax-funded scheme that prohibits public access to a small area of flood plain enclosed by urban density.
At the last Council meeting before summer recess .
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8 comments:
I commend Mr Tomlinson for thinking big. Critics are a dime a dozen.
I suppose we should be grateful that there aren't half a dozen Mr. Tomlinsons running around Aurora provoking council into supporting heaven knows what plan or scheme, funded at public expense to the tune of several millions of dollars and access to which is prohibited.
There seems to be no sense of accountability, no sense of responsibility on the part of council members to the people who elected them.
Possibly politics is all about getting elected and then shafting the people who cast their ballots.
THIS IS WRONG.
Public acess to a public park would be prohibited? How do these ideas even become thoughts let alone paying for them?
What became of the 80 plus acres of land that Frank Stronach was prepared to give to the town?
Is this history, while we get dragged through a couple of acres of wildlife reserve that will cost millions?
If I appear confused it's because I am.
Why are we so willing to accept Mr Tomlinson's antics and commend them but when other individuals come to the council table wanting tennis courts, or parks, they get vilified?
Is it the individual and their circle of associates?
21:13 - That apparently got tanked long ago. Only the privileged would know why.
20:24 - There's more than half a dozen! Culture is one of the new economic industry in government. Culture and Environment, both are to improve the quality of our lives don't you know!
Yup!
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