Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Comments Keep On Coming




Here are some more reader thoughts:

1) [Re the Capitol Theatre] on and on and on and on and I thought it would over by now.

2) I can't wait till morning for this.

Drew Dilkens in the newspaper today stated "the winner with this is the trustee and the loser every community group waiting to put on their shows"

Oh please, can the dramatics and play the harp. These words are about 6 months too late and too little.

This seems to be standard procedure for council these days. If the city had done the right thing a long time ago, it would be no where near the trouble it is today.

The real loser is the taxpayer. The trustee is there for the settlement. If they don't like it they go to court. They KNEW THAT. Especially the Mayor. He is a lawyer, correct?

The fickle finger is trying to point blame again after lack of action by city council.

Give me a break. Is city council trying to replace the buskers with their own antics?

3) I just had an idea.

How do we designate the bridge as an Architecturally Historical Structure? It would have to be recognized by the Province and The Feds.

The city could arrange tour buses to view a significantly impressive piece of history. Well of course they would have to finish a road to access it.

Problem solved.


4) Ed:

You are fastidious so I am a little surprised at you overlooking a small point.

The last few times I crossed the bridge to the US it cost me about $7 CAD. Why? Because I paid the $3.25 USD fare, it is a choice offered to you at the bridge. Two of 3.25 is 6.50 which at the 7% premium the USD is at now is about $7 CAD give or take a few pennies.

5) Headline in my morning paper, "City's Border File Called 'Black Hole'"

Mr. Paranosic is only telling half the story. Remember when Sam Schwartz did his border study sales pitch in January 2005? The rail tunnel and transport hub at the airport were secondary to the big, big plan--the truck bypass. It wasn't just the "launching of an environmental assessment of the truck bypass" that created a stir, it was the concept of the bypass itself and where it would go.

Mayor Eddie Francis, the media, city council and opinion columnists gushed and wooed. A truck bypass! Go big or go home was the rallying cry.

Trouble was Mr Schwartz designed it to go in a horseshoe shape from Cabana and Huron Church (destroying much of the Ojibway Complex) and back again to Huron Church at the EC Row Expressway--an 8.5 kilometre road to nowhere. But the mayor wanted that bypass and Sam knowing the city had oodles of money to spend on him and his Toronto lawyer, gave Eddie exactly what he wanted. Anyone who criticized the idea at council was subjected to bitter harangues from the boy wonder mayor.

In 2005 it was a bypass. Now, two and a half years later, a tunnel. Little wonder Windsor is a laughing stock from Michigan to Toronto and Ottawa.

Go big or go home indeed. Well, the senior governments went home and took the money with them. Thanks to the city chasing up blind alleys like bypasses through forests and no hope tunnels, Windsor looks like a befuddled comic strip character that doesn't know its backside from its earlobe.

6) [Re An Eddie Insider speaks to Outsiders] One of your better Blog's Ed .... very well said.

7) I read about the trash bylaw, and in case you may write something about it, thought you might be interested to know, here in [an Ontario City] the trash collection will pick up absolutely anything you put curbside. I have seen on Mondays (garbage day in my neighbourhood) people put out fridges, stoves and mattresses which are all picked up by noon. Guess what? No dumping anywhere - I have yet to see a single piece of garbage in a ditch or vacant lot. Why the difference?

8) It would seem to me that the Environmental assessment for new access road must lay out the mitigation measures that adress the significant adverse environmental affects that the new highway will bring. This could include natural plantings, pederstrian cross-overs, ventilation (if needed), noise barriers etc.

I am not sure how a tennis court and other ammenities can be considered a mitgation measure. It sounds like more decoration than anything to address issues of pollution.

Perhaps DRIC would be well-advised to call the Francis/Schwartz bluff and accept the 'new' Schwartz plan with all the green spaces and land bridges - but then remind the city that what is put on top is a municipal responsibility.

I am not sure where else in Canada you would find a provincially or federally funded municipal park, biking trail, ball court etc. To me this reeks of nothing more than finding a convenient way for the City of Windsor to extort money for services that should correctly be the responsibility of the municipality, and then take all the credit.

No comments: