New Name for the Living Life Project

May 17 St Marys Ontario Council decided that the new name for the Living Life Mission Project would be the Pyramid Recreation Centre.

It was not exactly a bold move as the proponents of the Living Life Project have been trying to get people to call it that for the last 18 months. They even came up with this logo.

Reading Gordon van Rassel's letter in this weeks Journal Argus a more appropriate name might be the Pyramid Financing Scheme Centre.

Perth South Outsmarts St Marys

Yesterday's Stratford Beacon Herald has a feature article on rezoning of land just south of St Marys Arena.

When St Marys Council gave the go ahead for the Arena Expansion they made the land south of it, which happens to be in Perth South, a lot more valuable. Last October, Perth South Council anticipated St Marys actions and did the rational thing and rezoned the land to promote development. Now, St Marys is crying foul and appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board.

What St Marys should have done is either 1) annex the 120 acres being rezoned before committing to the Arena Expansion project or 2) get Perth South to contribute to the project. As it stands now, not only will St Marys taxpayers be subsidizing Perth South residents who use the new facility but also St Marys will be losing tax revenue to Perth South that new development will generate.

The preliminary Ontario Municipal Board hearing to see if St Marys even has a case is June 2.

Separate Contracts for Pool and Ice Rink

Andrea Macko in the St Marys Journal Argus reports that an ad ran in the Daily Commercial News, a construction trade paper inviting pre-qualification bids from general and sub-contractors to build the recreation centre.

The ad calls for specific jobs such as mechanical, electrical, refrigeration, swimming pool system, ice rink slabs and landscaping. By way of explanation project manager Bob Prince said.

"You want people who have done ice rinks before ... with a definite expertise in the field"

He went on to say the town will make the final decision on who wins the contracts out of pools of eight for each job.

Dawson City Bankrupt

A comment on Herb and Dolores Richmond's letter to the editor points out a CBC North article on Dawson City's bankruptcy.

The article says:

"Andre Carrel, Dawson's former financial administrator, says Dawson's problems go back to the late 1990s when the city took on too many expensive projects, including a new swimming pool, cable television system and refurbished recreation centre."

Sound familiar?

Ron Bidulka's Incompetent Analysis

When St Marys Ontario Council hired Ron Bidulka of Deloitte and Touche they finally found a consultant who would give them costs they liked. Of course, the figures make no sense.

Take Ron Bidulka's Net Cost Analysis. Here's the table he presented

Estimated 'All-In' Facility Cost	$16.0 million
Less:	Retrofit of Cadzow	New Outdoor Pool	New Indoor Pool
Capital expenditures required at existing facilities	$3.35 million	$5.1 million	$7.1 million
Capital fundraising	$5.0 million	$5.0 million	$5.0 million
Net Project Cost	$7.65 million	$5.9 million	$3.9 million

That's right Ron Bidulka is saying its more expensive to retrofit Cadzow Park pool for $3.35 million than to build a $7.1 million indoor pool. Why would he subtract the figures from $16-million? That's just incompetent analysis.

First Official Arena Tax Increase

The Stratford Beacon Herald reports that last night St Marys Council voted for a 2006 tax increase of 4.9 percent. The increase will primarily go increased salaries, benefits and of course the first of the tax increases officially designated for the St Marys Arena Expansion. One example of an unofficial Arena Expansion tax in previous budgets is the Facility Maintenance Fund, 62% will go to the arena.

Mayor Tony Winter made no apology for three years of increased rates repeating the claim that town services needed to be improved. Winter did not provide examples of where services actually have improved which is hardly surprising since the extra money was spent on pay raises, staff offices and the arena expansion process.

Most of the town improvements that people will see will come from the provincial government. Ontario has given $534,000 for upgrading St Marys roads and bridges. Surrounding municipalities also received similar grants and in fact for Perth County the provincial money allowed them to decrease their tax rate.

Current Facilities Not Being Maintained

This week's Journal Argus has a letter from Debora A. Morrison about St Marys Community Centre. She wrote,

"... it does not look good when we are asking guests coming to St Marys to park in a parking lot not only full of crater sized pot holes but covered in broken glass. Once you get through the parking lot you must trudge through 'sand dunes' and garbage on the sidewalks to get to the entrance."

This council has said previous councils did not maintain facilities. The Community Centre opened just 2 years ago so previous administrations cannot be blamed this time.

With council committing $16 million to the Arena Expansion, the question council needs to ask itself is "If you can't look after one facility why build another?"

Say No To Living Life Project Fundraisers

In this week's St Marys Journal Argus, Herb and Dolores Richmond argue that if enough people say no to Living Life Project fundraisers then somebody at town hall will have to listen.

Unfortunately, St Marys council has already decided to proceed with this project in spite of the lack of donations. A Fundraising Motion Moved By Gerry Teahen was passed back in October 24, 2004 and the community has sat on their hands.