Guest Post

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Dick Whittington ,Dick Whittington...Where have yo...":

Evelyn:

There are two matters that I wish to address.

The Joint Operations Centre according to the information I located on the town website at a cost of $19,800,000 is to be financed by debt gradually reducing by monies from development charges and the sale of the 9 Scanlon Court property. Will the proceeds of sale of any other town properties by available to reduce this debt?

When companies agree to merge or when one buys out another, the first thing that is publicized is the degree of saving that the new larger entity will be able to accomplish, reducing duplication of staff and physical facilities, etc. In other words the combined company wii be more profitable because its overheads will be reduced.

I have not managed to see anywhere a similar statement on the overheads saved as a result of the Joint Operations Centre. I appreciate that staffs are not interchangeable but the larger, purpose-built structure must surely create savings. Has such a study been done and how does one access it?

The second matter must unfortunately once again address Mr. Bill Albino. He was described by another blogger as totally dedicated to the restoration, if not the resurrection, of Hillary House. His presence now on the Aurora Historical Society Board and as an officer of AHS provides him with a platform to meddle into areas where he is neither welcome nor is it appropriate for him to do so. Fifty members hardly represent the community

A recent blogger said that the asking prices for the two properties that would be required are apparently public knowledge. I have not seen any numbers and if they are public how do I find out what they are?

Hopefully the Hillary Heritage Park will fade from sight sooner rather than later and with it the COA's pretentious memorandum relating to a strategy to conduct purchase negotiations. 

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Public works and parks are two  departments within the organization. 

Only facilities are to be joined. The departments  currently work together to ensure  all necessary areas of services are covered. 

More space is required. The project has gone forward . A new site  was purchased.

A budget of  $14 million  was projected.

A  status report was due in  October. It  never appeared.

Word was the  price had zoomed $10 million  higher.

November was the new date . It failed to emerge.

Finally it came forward with an increased budget of  $19 million plus land

Clearly the Mayor and several Councillors had been part of an effort to reduce the cost.

When the status report was finally presented , their support was  organized .

I  was never persuaded the facility needed to be re-located.

I was convinced the Hydro building  and  five acre secure yard should have been retained  by the town and become permanent location for the parks department.

Space vacated  by Parks on Scanlon Court  would have provided  adequately for expansion of  Public Works.

The  new joint facility site , on a  dangerous curve on  heavily travelled Industrial Parkway, in a ravine  was never suitable for a mainly truck operation .

 $3 million   additional cost to  remediate the site ,simply confirmed my conviction  several  wrong  decision had been made.

The Hydro property owned by the Town , perfect for our purpose,  needed for our use but leased to the National Defense Department, sits quietly idle  throughout the week.

The  Armories ,previous home of DND ,on the corner of the Town Park is  also vacant and abandoned.

I believe the town should put the interest of taxpayers first and take back the Hydro property

I believe the Department of National Defense Program, being accommodated in a property we need for our own purposes , may very well be on the Federal chopping block.

I believe Council should  seriously entertain the option of recovering our property at  this time.

There has never been a financial advantage.

What's at stake is $15 million of  needless debt to homeowners and business in our town.

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Scuttlebutt has it , the town's two mechanics have jointly submitted resignations.

I cannot ask without being accused of micro-managing.

So I thought I would share.