A couple of pics of Scottish guys

The Highland games came to Town today and here are a couple of early pics of the parade. The first one is "The Scots are coming!"







The second would be titled, "The big guys are always at the back!"

Another look at the figures

Prompted by a comment to a recent post, signed by a person, who says he will never reveal his name, - "born and raised here" the financials for the new Community Centre were revisited. Interesting stuff to a CPA but tough slogging for the rest of us. With Disraeli's quote, "Damned statistics etc..." in mind a couple of charts were analysed. using the consultants figures the estimated first year operating costs for the complex show as $667.443. That is a complete and additional cost to the existing costs for the operation of the existing arenas. Revenues for ice time are shown as $525K but no figures for the loss of revenue from the loss of the Memorial Arena ice or the reduced ice time in Pad 2. So you need that figure for an overall impact. Where the report gets murky is on the Non-Arena estimates.
The chart on the right side is taken from the report and shows Programme Space revenue, but where is the revenue from the Soccer Club paying for its change rooms, where is the rental from the Bowling Club to pay for its clubroom and kitchen? Where is the revenue from the storage space needed by all the different groups? All of these questions would bring in extra revenue, if applied, but right now look like gifts to the clubs from the Town.

But more disturbing is the question of the YMCA's involvement. Cobourg has no recreation department and has paid the Y to assume an informal role in this. Consequently there is a deficiency in recreational opportunities because citizens have expressed displeasure at the rates charged by the Y (This was even mentioned by a questioner at the last public meeting) - so before all the Y fans jump all over the writer for mentioning this it is a common perception being repeated here. So the Y has offered to joint venture the operation. They would operate the 'non-ice' side of the complex, and thereby reduce the Town's operating cost . In table 8.5 of the report found on page 30 there is a chart illustrating how they intend to reduce the Town's cost. Showing a list of Y expenses totalling $504,961 to run the complex if they joint ventured. In the same column the Town's expenses were shown as $215,947.98. A lot lower than the Town's cost of $667K.
But the unknown here is how would the Y spend half a million dollars of its money to run the joint and still allow the residents of Cobourg to access the facility without paying the normal Y fees? Because the way it looks to the BR that if the Y comes in they get a new building for half a million per annum and still get to charge the same fees. Please correct me if we are wrong.
So the conclusion to us folks here is that a much more thorough analysis needs to be done asking why rental income is lower than possible, why the overall impact of the transfer of ice rental revenue is not explained and the impact of ticket prices to the complex if the Y comes in. We are sure that these questions and more will be answered before the vote on July 21, but only if people ask.

The backstory

In this story a developer who wants 600 units only obtained 284 and then was restricted to the type of units to be built -1\3 single family dwellings 2\3 higher density homes. The reason given by Council for not approving the 600 units was that there are sewage capacity concerns. Acknowledging that there is excess capacity in the system due to the Kraft closing Council wants to reserve it for use on the site.
But more interesting is the way the servicing will be accomplished. This application is in the Area "C" development area and the developer has two options for now, one for the future. If he hooks up to the Elgin St. sewer, on a temporary basis, he will have to pay for a sewer extension and development charges for area "C" and then when the Brook Rd. sewer is installed have to hook up to it at a later date. The ratio of houses to build is due to the higher standards for density in Provincial policy statement. With all these restrictions, the days of building in a "greenfield" are over - Praise the Lord! Either way this developer has a choice now, either build the houses or give it up. Just shows how much the environment has changed in a few years. I'll bet that when this guy started his application he thought, "I'll get a quick approval for 600 units, obtain the necessary zoning and then flip it to a big builder like Mattamy" It will be surprising to see this development go any further - at least until the "Places to Grow" policies are adopted - and there's a slim chance of that. Just goes to show that the days of traditional development practises are gone. Especially in a Town that has an historical build rate of 200 units a year.

OK here's the deal, I am posting this for discussion purposes. Martin has laid out his opinion - that the operating costs are going to kill us and I know from talking to him he has a genuine fear of Cobourg's budget ballooning for any reason.

Now here is my opinion about this. We should be snatching this money from the upper tiers as soon as it is offered - last week. But we should only build the facility if no money comes from the existing budget base. Now you ask how can we do that - simple we take Steve Robinson up on his statement that this can be done with little or no tax dollars and this is how:
#1 We use the "playmoney" that Council has been using to fund its pet projects like the hospital and the CT scanner. This money - dividends from HOLDCO and Northam Industrial Park amounts to about $1.75 million dollars per year. We use this to fund a debenture for $6.5 million and the other $2.5 million has to be raised by the users and public.
#2 If we cannot raise 10% of the project we don't deserve to have a facility.
#3 The operating costs have to mitigated by realistic user contracts. For instance why should the Lawn Bowling, Soccer Club , Hockey Leagues and potentially the Y not have to pay user and affiliation fees.
#4 The "playmoney" should be endowed to provide an income to offset operating costs.

So folks if you want to hash this out with Council I suggest that a delegation be formed to appear in front of Council on the 20th of July. If you wish to ask councillors just what is the plan for the funding and will the plan be released to the public before the public meeting, it should be done immediately, or else it will be like every other decision in this saga - read the agenda and vote on the same night.

Today the long journey starts for a local biker

George spent this morning saying farewell and receiving loads of good wishes from his friends for his lonely trek. "I grew up in the North and am used to the conditions and I can live alone very easily." he explained when talking about the prospect of isolation. "Besides there will be settlements along the way that I will visiting to get more supplies - it's not entirely a solitary experience!"
Unfortunately we will not be able to share his experiences until his return as he is a 35mm Kodachrome sort of guy but he will be emailing from time to time.
This just in a CBC guy has seen the post and wants to meet George when he gets into Goose Bay - how about that for the power of the internet?

Does this bike look ready for a 3,000km ride?

George Parker, a resident of William St., Cobourg, thinks so, and he is preparing for a trip across the most Northerly roads in Canada to prove it. Tonight he boards a train from Nakina to start his ride to Cape Spear, and all in three months. After planning this trip for many months he is now in the position to do it."I've put my family affairs in order and am now able to go biking", he said in a recent interview.

As he cannot do all the Trans-Canada route, in the time he has allotted he will start at the midway point - Nakina, in Northern Ontario and cycle eastward. The train will deposit George there, on the way to the road to Cochrane. The Polar Bear Express, the second train ride, from Cochrane to Moosonee will put George on the first of a couple of Air trips. "Flying crosscountry is the only way to connect roads, especially when the road ends in a settlement." George explains.

Flying from Moosonee, across James bay to Wasganish is the next leg and then a bike ride (a long one) to Caniapaskau along the Tiger Trail. Another plane to Schefferville and the trek is half done. The second train ride is on the cards and it will take him South to the intersection of the railway and the Trans Labrador Highway.

Still riding East, with the wind at his back he will head for Happy Valley , Goose Bay. The first ferry ride is here, he needs to get to Cartwright, on the South side of the headland and the South road to Blanc Sabion on the coast of Labrador. The second ferry takes him the Island of Newfoundland and the final leg of his trip across the Island.

Dipping his toes in the water at Cape Spear is the only thing for him to do before he flies home. We look forward to having him back in Cobourg in September.

Two sleeps to go before the Pols get a break.

In the second last meeting before the summer break (a whole three weeks) the Cobourg Council is not courting any controversy. A few normal heritage requests two planning applications to approve, a project manager to hire and a fire engine to dispose of. I hope that the powers that are took notice of the hooh-hah that ocurred in Trent Hills when they decided to dispose of their old truck a few months ago. They refused the results of a tender and then had to go back to the tenderer when subsequent marketing efforts failed. Cobourg has turned down a guaranteed $10,000 and will attempt to sell it on its own.

In Port Hope the agenda is packed. More discussion about the dreaded "flail mower" - you know the one that murders little trees and leaves a scarred landscape behind in its wake. But there is also a meatier item. The murder of prime farming land. A company called Sunbay has optioned the land for a "plasma-gasification" plant to incinerate recycling residue. This should be a controversial topic but it won't be because one man - Carroll Nichols, has made it his life's ambition to locate such a plant in this area. A long-time Wesleyville resident he has evangelically lobbied all governments for years for an incineration plant. He has finally made it, it's coming. However this field in this picture, one that many of us see fully planted year after year, is coming out of agricultural production to accommodate it.
There is a presentation from a group of landowners pleading with the Council to be allowed to exceed the growth levels outlined in the County Growth Study and build more homes in the greenfield, their presentation will be forwarded to the County consultants. And finally of mention is a report from Heritage Port Hope Advisory Committee about the centre pier (probably the building demolition idea) and it's being punted off to the Harbour Commission. With that body being mired in an open/shut meetings policy I guess the ideas that Heritage Port Hope have about the demolition of the buildings on the centre pier may never even see the light of day.

The only way to get rid of the robbers' roost is to burn the f***er down. A good story from a middle-class survivor on how the middle class will survive - unionise!

Have you ever read such rubbish as this?

In this story the Government of Canada is refusing to tell the taxpayers how much the war in Afghanistan is costing, because of national Security Issues. Now we have heard everything, it's a pity that the Rick Mercer show is on summer break this move would be satirized for weeks if it was on.

In this story we have Iggy backtracking some more, anymore and he will be off the edge of where he started. EI reform - last week definitely or I will defeat the government, this week when it's too late to do anything because everybody is sucking back pop and chewing 'burgers, EI reform is not guaranteed. What's on next week?

The things politicians do! - a bit of Sunday fun

Last week a public unveiling pf the latest piece of art placed in a public space was unveiled and our intrepid art observer, in this case a severe critic also, was there to cover all things artistic. His review is here, not a very flattering one though but all opinions must be heard. Anybody else who wishes to provide a rebuttal - email here. But on the site was a pic just begging to be altered. I guess DM-GB was standing in for the wandering Mayor - who's been away all week doing other important mayoring stuff!

Whilst we are on a cultural kick let me introduce another facet of the BurdReport the cultural page. Contributions by our cultural critic - Wally Keeler will be presented in a very observant and fair way. Click here to see.

A bit of a fizzle

Last night's public meeting, to discuss the proposed Community Centre didn't have much of a spark. A droning performance by a consultant, a Chair who wanted to keep the meeting moving, a couple of people who asked good questions and a very good performance by Stephen Peacock, Director of Works who demonstrated why he is on the "sunshine list".

After starting late the consultant Mary, "don't forget the Catherine", Mehak ran through a PowerPoint presentation and explained the essential items like: a 2 pad arena one with 2000 seats, a mezzanine running track, rooms for seniors and youth, a double gym and a lawn bowling room all inside a 116,040 square foot building at a cost of $27.4 million.
Most people were there to hear the bits about the funding costs, a slide was presented but it didn't make too much sense to most of the older audience (the younger ones didn't figure it out either). But essentially the committee will have to do more work on explaining how the $689,700 (or was it $889,700) will compare to the existing costs. Later in the evening, in answer to a question it was revealed that the existing Jack Heenan arena will stay as ice and the Memorial arena will be converted to an indoor recreation facility that will recover all of its operating costs through user fees. However as the report is now to be sent off to the staff and reappear at Council in July there should be plenty of time to sort that stuff out.
One of the big concerns raised and was quickly put down was the early perception that there would be allocated space for specific groups inside the facility. One person, John Gear, presumably a leader of an older peoples organisation asked, "Where is the seniors space, we need more than just a small room?" Then the Koombayahs came out. Peacock stated that everybody has to learn to share and expands on the "nature of sharing", "everybody owns this place it is not a collection of group spaces." The consultant stated, "Everybody gets something!"
Bill Henry (a lawn bowler I believe) was the first up and he dominated the question period with the volume of questions. Basically he wanted to know two things: when would the public get to hear about the funding arrangements and why was the "Y" heavily involved, "In fact if you read this report it is obvious by reading it, that the Y is an integral part of the proposal - why?. Council must know that they are separate!" he asked.
The question of the lack of a swimming pool came up and the answer was "Nobody indicated a need and the "Y" didn't say that their pool was up to capacity." - oops did the swimmers not understand the process, I guess not. Someone following on also pointed out that that some people couldn't afford to go to the "Y" and stated that a municipal pool should be cheaper and therefore should be included.
Finally the last set of questions, asked by Bill Henry, "How accurate are the population projections that this proposal is based on?" That question finally stirred the lumbering elephantine personage of Councillor MacDonald who blustered his way into a rambling explanation of the housing developments (not that many) on the books and in that area of Town. concluding with, "Even the province's consultant admits that the low numbers in the County Growth Study will go up, so we will have a population to support it in 2031"
All in all an exercise in democracy for the one hundred or so people who bothered to come out, stay tuned for the next step - a Council meeting July 20th. A bit disappointing for those who wanted to hear about the funding arrangements though!

A bit of a tempest has turned up inside these pages as a result of the report of the recent raise given to the firefighters. Essentially a retired firefighter, who had the nerve to sign off with his name, made a comment about the raise being excessive and some other opinions about the workings of the present department. Predictably that elicited a response from one of the serving firefighters who questioned both the accuracy of the report of the raise and the RF's opinions. All I can say is the original report about the raise was just that, no opinion or comments about the merits of the deal or criticism of the Fire Department and those who work there, and the accuracy stands.

County Council at its most expedicious

County Council was always known in my day for leisurely sessions and long lunches. Boy have things changed. If today's meeting is any indication of how government works in the new age I'm not sure I like it. And I know Bill Finlay, Mayor Alnwick-Haldimand doesn't. First off the agenda is trimmed to the scalp, only the barest of reports of monthly or quarterly action get the eyes of the councillors, for example I never did hear how many people are on the Social Assistance rolls this month and that's a stat all councillors use to wait for. This month had no correspondence worth talking about on the agenda, there was a letter proudly passed around as it contained news of substantial funding to Social Housing. Nope the agenda was full of delegations and the bare minimum of governance bylaws. The Growth Study item was just a report on bureaucratic process and Bill Finlay stated bluntly that his municipality will not be supporting it. The presenter then retorted with the biggest news of the day, "Because the County has no planning function it cannot legally accept this report, it must receive it" Then why the heck are we spending money on it if it has no legal status at the end of the day? Especially if the members of Council have unanimously condemned the premise set out by the province as unrealistic.
In the Broadband report Bob Davey of BarrettXplornet had a PP and stated that the potential customer base was 7,279. He then went on to explain that as of yet, halfway through the build he has 193 prospective customers, and 215 people have contacted dealers and an existing customer base of 250. A far cry from the potential. But in his defense he says that it is policy not to market the program until the towers are in place. I hope so for all of the whiners about the lack of broadband this investment is looking like the GM fiasco.
The Canada Assistance Fund application was the subject of a question, "In the light of the fact that this program is designed to alleviate unemployment how many unemployed people will be put to work on this project?" The question was received by people who resembled deer caught in the headlights of a Mack truck. Mr Pyatt knew the answer - sort of, "The proposal states 13 full time people for 4 months, how many of those will be unemployed we don't know because we will be using consultants and contractors" So there you have it folks another kick in the arse for the unemployed.
In another report congratulations to Hamilton Twp residents, they picked up 153 kg per volunteer in the latest garbage pickup challenge. Either they worked really hard or the Township was full of trash!