This project is still not clear to the public
The YMCA is reported to be still waiting for a reply to its application, story here for funding for a 9.9 million dollar project that would see an aquatic centre places side by side to the new Community Centre. The linkage between the Y and the Town's project is not clear, the finances and cost benefits and the future operating costs are murky.
If the Y gets a successful answer then presumably they will have to fund raise for their $3.3 million contribution. Put that on top of the $2.7 million that the Town is looking for and Cobourgers will be asked to raise $6.0 million dollars in eighteen months or risk raising more to cover bridge financing costs. Add to that the loss of revenue that the Town could face if the land that the Y wants to build on is handed over for nothing not to mention the money that is now given to the Y to sustain the present building, which may become surplus.
In these pages there has been a history of non-support for the Y, especially about the aquatic centre and we believe that is reflective of some public opinion. The Y has a long way to go to persuade some people that the fees to use the present facilities are not expensive and also the subsidy programme doesn't work as well as it should for lower income people. Thereby creating the impression that the Y is a private club. One of the reasons that the Community Centre will work is that it is not a private club that will be expensive to use, or so people believe.
Council should come clean with this linkage and explain just how much it is costing Cobourg to link with the Y and the reason for doing so. And if there is any hint of public money or assets being handed over at less than market cost we should know about it as taxpayers.
Incidentally in the story from the Northumberland News the headline is matched to a picture of the Mayor and Chair of the Community Centre project committee looking at the land to be used by the Town - nothing to do with the Y story! The implication here is that the Y has Town support. If this is the case the writer should have have explored the connection or dismissed it as speculative. Either way the picture lends weight to the suggestion that the Town is up to something.
amendment to the pic situation My friend D Irwin (editor of the Northumberland News) has made the comment that this pic was taken from the library to illustrate the story. Problem is, and I understand why that pic was used, that inferences can be drawn from the fact that it's a pic of the Town in a story about the Y.
If the Y gets a successful answer then presumably they will have to fund raise for their $3.3 million contribution. Put that on top of the $2.7 million that the Town is looking for and Cobourgers will be asked to raise $6.0 million dollars in eighteen months or risk raising more to cover bridge financing costs. Add to that the loss of revenue that the Town could face if the land that the Y wants to build on is handed over for nothing not to mention the money that is now given to the Y to sustain the present building, which may become surplus.
In these pages there has been a history of non-support for the Y, especially about the aquatic centre and we believe that is reflective of some public opinion. The Y has a long way to go to persuade some people that the fees to use the present facilities are not expensive and also the subsidy programme doesn't work as well as it should for lower income people. Thereby creating the impression that the Y is a private club. One of the reasons that the Community Centre will work is that it is not a private club that will be expensive to use, or so people believe.
Council should come clean with this linkage and explain just how much it is costing Cobourg to link with the Y and the reason for doing so. And if there is any hint of public money or assets being handed over at less than market cost we should know about it as taxpayers.
Incidentally in the story from the Northumberland News the headline is matched to a picture of the Mayor and Chair of the Community Centre project committee looking at the land to be used by the Town - nothing to do with the Y story! The implication here is that the Y has Town support. If this is the case the writer should have have explored the connection or dismissed it as speculative. Either way the picture lends weight to the suggestion that the Town is up to something.
amendment to the pic situation My friend D Irwin (editor of the Northumberland News) has made the comment that this pic was taken from the library to illustrate the story. Problem is, and I understand why that pic was used, that inferences can be drawn from the fact that it's a pic of the Town in a story about the Y.
3 comments:
No, that's simply the stock picture of the community centre site that I have available for online usage.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Hi again Ben, I just realized I had a stock photo of Kyle Barber in the bank, so I've replaced it.
Dwight Irwin is to be commended for explaining where the picture came from and for changing it. However the text of the original Northumberland News article is also quite explicit that the YMCA is in contact with the town and the community centre’s architect presumably regarding some form of collaboration.
At the council meeting that approved the Community Centre one of the councillors explained at length how the former representative of the lawn bowling club had been repudiated by the club who were not sure that they want to move, but the town still had not decided not to include the lawn bowlers as part of the community centre. This threw an interesting beam of light on the political jockeying going on, but at the council meeting there was no elaboration on whether it is in fact a good operational idea for the lawn bowlers to move, or what the financial implications are.
Similarly, in the case of the YMCA we now know there are discussions going on, but we do not know why. There are so many examples in the world where mergers of existing entities have caused considerably more problems than they have solved. For instance the merger of the City of Toronto with former boroughs into a new megacity has not led to any costs savings, nor led to better government. The merger of Daimler Benz with Chrysler was total disaster and ended up by damaging both of the merging partners.
In the case of the Cobourg it has never been clarified how much the town is already involved with the Y. It is reported the town has put money into the Y building, and provides a subsidy to the Y for providing recreation programs. A year or so ago the town rezoned some bungalows that the Y uses as offices and it was revealed the town offers tax breaks to the Y.
We know that several commercial operators supply high quality fitness centres in Cobourg, including all sorts of fitness programs and personal trainers at prices competitive or lower than the Y, despite not receiving and tax breaks or subsidies. From this it would be reasonable to draw the conclusion that the private operators may be more efficient managers than the Y. Given this background the merits of further operational or financial cooperation or integration between the town and the Y are questionable, and have certainly never been articulated to the public by the Y or the Town.
All this might be considered to be none of our business if it was not that the costs of operating the centre will be paid for by town taxpayers, and that any costs overruns will have to be born entirely by town taxpayers. Unfortunately there is no provision for local governments to declare bankruptcy if overly ambitious projects cause major financial problems, and all that happens is that local taxpayers are forced to pay more and taxes.
Some of these ideas have been well expressed already by other local concerned citizens, but since there is obviously a below the surface movement to spend more on the community centre it is not surprising that citizens remain concerned.
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