An interesting line item on tonights council agenda is Item 17 from the desk of the General Manager of Corporate Services.It seems that the province is doling out some highly anticipated cash to the municipalities through its $300 million Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative (MIII) program.. The catch to claiming this one-time funding is that each municipality is only allowed to fund one construction-ready (completed all required studies and approval processes), municipally owned infrastructure project that would contribute to a "strong and resilient economy and higher quality of life."
Some examples of what other municipalities are going to use the money for are:
- Water,
Wastewater,
Roads,
Bridges,
Solid waste management,
Long-term care facilities,
Social housing,
Culture (including libraries)
Tourism
Recreation
Community energy
This is a pretty exciting opportunity for this community to knock a few high-profile projects off our "Honey-Do" list. Just think of all our options. Well, administration did think of our options and do you know what they came up with to spend all this cash on?
Yeah - roads!
From the Top-Ten list they compiled for council to choose from tonight, roads and bridges leading out to the suburbs occupied the top 7 spots! The final three were storm and sanitary sewers and downtown streetscaping.
Can you tell the priorities of this administration?
Well, like they said in "Field Of Dreams", build it and they will come. They're building a bigger, better suburban road network and guess what's going to come? Yup, you guessed it - a "strong and resilient economy and higher quality of life" for those out in the surrounding bedroom communities and the county.
P.S. Councillors? Just in case you were wondering what SD would do tonight if the choice was ours - choose the City Centre Streetscape Improvements (#10) or the Prince Road storm sewer relief (#8).
Also on tonights agenda...
...is the issue of the Nighttime Truck Ban on Wyandotte. Even though every BIA impacted by the trucks on Wyandotte (including the Walkerville Distillery District?!?) supported the night time ban and even went so far as supporting a day time ban as well, administration is recommending "that noaction be taken with respect to restricting night time trucks on Wyandotte Street"!
Sort of makes you wonder who, exactly, this administration is working for, doesn't it?
All in all, from disposing of neighbourhood rec centres to further road extensions, tonights council meeting is filled with items hostle to rejuvenating the core in favour of strengthening the suburbs. A sad night, indeed.
4 comments:
I see no culture, no parks, no long-term care just roads, roads, roads. This area is so depressing an dout of touch with the rest of the planet.
Surely you are not suggesting that the EC ROW be allowed to deteriorate or that international trade not be facilitated?
Our primary infrastructure requires massive attention from years of neglect.
'Our primary infrustructure' is so great and is spread so vast that not all of it can possibly be maintained optimally. Which do we prioritize? Water, then energy then roads? Roads before water? Stop the building and begin the fixin'!
In my neighbourhood - one of the oldest in the city, that has been paying for municipal infrastructure for around 100 years - we have raw sewage backing up into our basements and potholes that would swallow a Dodge Neon. Our city has just seen an 86% increase in our utility bills due to the replacement costs of our much-neglected water systems. Those people inhabiting the oldest areas of the city are subsidizing suburban development while their own infrastructure crumbles beneath their feet.
It is my argument that there are certain projects (water and sewer replacement) that should take precedence over further subsidization of the accomodation of the suburban bedroom communities commuters.
It is only a matter of time before the province uploads responsibility of the EC Row expressway and the matter of its upkeep. This takes into account the transport traffic as well.
How long is this city going to be held accountable for the damage done by people from outside our border? When is it going to stand up and declare that their job is to ensure that Windsorites basic needs are filled before it gives our hard-earned tax dollars to make the commutes and transport of residents of other municipalities easier and safer?
It is time to refocus our municipal priorities to the remaining residents health and well-being instead of to those people that have up-and-left the city along with their tax dollars that used to fund infrastructure improvements such as the ones of which you speak.
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