Comments on The Burd Report: An industrial strategy

I hope that you are confusing storm water manageme...

2007-12-09T19:42:00.000-05:00

I hope that you are confusing storm water management with sewage capacity. Sewage is the stuff we flush and then have to process, Storm water is the rainwater that hits the streets and can be put in a big pipe. Sometimes with disastrous results, just look at the problems of the discharge at Lookout Point in the East end.
The main problem of handing over sewage capacity to offsite house builders is that it would denude the 53 acres of its potential to accommodate housing if necessary on that site. Doing that would mean that we would still have build a new treatment plant, let's use the 53 acres up first!

Great Ideas Ben .... but maybe that "extra" capaci...

2007-12-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

Great Ideas Ben .... but maybe that "extra" capacity would be better allocated to the new homes already approved by the mall. That way the town wouldn't need to run the "Big Pipe" out into the lake and we could maintain the higher standards of discharging into the creek. (cleaner product, less pollution)

I understand that by running the pipe out into the lake we can significantly reduce the level of treatment ~ which will allow us to treat a much greater volume.

So ..... in order to make it cheaper for developers to build new homes for people who don't live here yet .. we want to intentionally increase the pollution of Lake Ontario (sounds very wrong to me) .... but we even want to do it upstream from our beach (sounds very dumb to me).

The Foods capacity could allow us to protect our greatest asset.

Basically I agree with Ben, especially as his idea...

2007-12-06T10:36:00.000-05:00

Basically I agree with Ben, especially as his ideas are based on a detailed knowledge of zoning and the town’s sewage system.

I also feel it may be possible to utilize parts of the Kraft site and industrial building to meet the town’s needs for recreation facilities. There are groups in town drumming up support for a seniors centre and for a new arena. Additionally there is the $1.3 million that the town holds from the province , originally designated for the Frink, but which according the province can be used for purposes that would improve the health of citizens of the town. The proponents of all these projects ( including the Mayor for the Frink) are all relying on an expectation that the Town of Cobourg will be putting in additional amounts of taxpayers money to fund the projects. Unfortunately it is unrealistic to believe the town can find or borrow sufficient funds for three separate projects with out greatly increasing taxes. It is also rather futile to be pursuing three separate but related projects. The Kraft site provides a well located space near the centre of town that has good municipal services, sturdy buildings, good road access and lots of parking space. It is unlikely that the town is going to find a major employer for all this space, so to use it for the benefit of citizens makes sense.

In addition to the use of parts of the site for housing, some of the buildings might be adaptable for use as seniors centres, recreation centres for young as well as old, and for new arenas. This might upset those who want new buildings, but increasingly round the world communities are taking their existing major buildings and reusing them . Examples include Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto being turned into a giant retail centre, the Bankside power station on the Thames in London just south of St. Paul’s becoming a vast art gallery, and Paris turning a disused railway station on the banks of the Seine into the Musée d’Orsay which is the world’s greatest museum of French art. I know that Cobourg isn’t Paris or London but for many years we have had sweat shirts with Paris, London, New York and Cobourg inscribed on them, so maybe this is the chance to actually do it.

In summary I am suggesting that all the groups who want new facilities in Cobourg should start working together, and they should explore where some of the building at Kraft could be adapted at a reasonable cost to create Northumberland’s best integrated recreational and cultural centre. The site is probably large enough this to be in addition to some new housing . All this would still provide jobs for the building adaptation and for running the centres.