From what I’ve heard, the furious emails about council’s decision Monday night have been arriving fast and, uh, furious…
At this point the whole thing seems moot; you can jump up and down about how the process went all you want, but it’s ain’t gonna change the price of oil. Financially, on the face of it, and as long as the public says it wants to spend the Collus lucre to cover the costs of the, uh, ‘bubble’ (for some reason, I haven’t been able to work ‘architectural membrane structure’ into the local lexicon), it is the best deal for .
And, more importantly, it fulfills a couple of very desperate needs — that being the need for a year-round competitive pool, and a second (third) ice surface. Time to move on… and if you’re that keen two years from now, this whole episode can form the basis of your municipal election campaign.
As tempted as I am to poke fun at Councillor Ian Chadwick over the issue (concerned about covering the Y’s operating costs for four years to the tune of $100,000, tho’ the town will be spending an extra $800,000 over four years, just on the aquatics component; stating two weeks ago that “I’m a little nervous about sole-sourcing anything”), I’m willing to let it pass. So, as Forrest Gump would say, “That’s all I have to say about that…”
But in moving on, there may be opportunity. For instance, here’s an idea: have the Y operate Centennial Pool. That’s where its expertise lies, in running aquatics – and, quite frankly, they may be able to do it less expensively than the town (thanks to that expertise). And while were at it, maybe we could consider filling in the deep end of the pool at the Y, turning that into a warm water therapeutic pool – thereby satisfying a user group that’s been, uh, out in the cold since the town shut down the municipal operation at the Contact Centre.
The only way we can consider that option, tho’, is by stopping the sniping. If we can move past the divisiveness (at least until July, 2014), maybe some really good relationships can be forged…
