To the editor:
The corridor. I am against it because the costs are prohibitive. No one talks about the the development costs, the upkeep, infrastructure like parking, safety access, water, add in the liability insurance, and the native community involvement—how much is that going to raise taxes in the future?
Where are the treaty negotiations on this subject? If [Lake Country district] hall wants it so much why don't they pay for it with their own salaries (paid by us of course)? Salaries at city hall are over $4 million per year, total supplies and services are over $20 million (2013 financial statement) and I have not even started on what LC needs as far as road safety, water, sewer, the food bank that needs more funding etc.
Add the Pelmewash corridor, it is not even close to an agreement. To me it has way more potential as far as access and development is concerned, it already has infrastructure and trail connections. And how much is that project going to cost the taxpayer in all of those same associated costs in the future besides the railroad corridor? More taxes?
And the list goes on. And this just to satisfy a small vocal group that is now willing to spend $25,000 to promote this, with less than 10 per cent of the population as potential users and a lot of those are from outside our community.
What if only one per cent shows up when the other 99 per cent are paying for it?
With all the unpaid and impossible to cover liabilities we already have (municipal employees' pensions, for instance, in B.C. alone have over $1.3 billion in uncovered debt), I find it offensive. Nobody that makes a $100,000/year (like city hall) will feel the pinch but others will, but the costs now and in the future will get passed along to every single person that lives in Lake Country.
Tobias J Smit, Lake Country