There will be more camps after MacIsland
Editorial appeared in Fort McMurray Today
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Was it the correct decision? Was a colossal mistake made?
We'll likely never know.
But regional council's resolve to go ahead with the terribly overpriced expansion at MacDonald Island is the only call they could have made.
In Fort McMurray's out-of-control economy, $100 million seems like peanuts. Local residents will be paying for this project for decades to come, but that's not really important right now.
What's important is keeping up with the expressed needs of the community. That includes a recreation complex.
The big mistake, some would say, is in communication.
Wood Buffalo officials must not have anticipated any concern over an idea to help lower the cost of the recreation complex by OK'ing urban work camps. If they had, it's likely McMurrayites would have debated this issue last November or December, not February and March.
Even the term they use -- "project accommodation" -- while technically accurate, is misleading.
Hindsight is 20/20.
We're in the here and now.
To most of those at the council meeting Tuesday night, the OK for work camps is a bigger story than the MacDonald Island project that is promised to be the envy of Albertans in every corner of Wild Rose Country.
That's because it's not just one camp; they will sprout up next to numerous developments across town. Any developer who doesn't take advantage of this ability to shave costs off the bottom line is insane or a spendthrift.
While there remain concerns about the conduct of camp workers, it's up to those who are concerned and see anything untoward to report it.
The bigger impact on all of us is the tens of millions of dollars in spending that won't come in the form of a government grant, or through fundraising. The money will come out of local property taxes.
If, as promised, changes to tax calculations result in oilsands plants paying a bigger share of the bill, Joe and Jane McMurrayite might be OK.
If not, the huge tax bills that will land on local doorsteps will crush those homeowners already overextended because of the high cost of their houses in the first place.
Another important question has been entirely overlooked in this whole process: what will the new rec centre's annual revenues add up to?
Will it make enough through fees to pay for the electric and natural gas bills and the staff inside?
Or will there be an annual subsidy, and how much?
A few years ago, MacIsland spent almost $1 million more than it took in. Will we see this again?
Quality of life is the goal. Huge property tax bills will take it away.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Was it the correct decision? Was a colossal mistake made?
We'll likely never know.
But regional council's resolve to go ahead with the terribly overpriced expansion at MacDonald Island is the only call they could have made.
In Fort McMurray's out-of-control economy, $100 million seems like peanuts. Local residents will be paying for this project for decades to come, but that's not really important right now.
What's important is keeping up with the expressed needs of the community. That includes a recreation complex.
The big mistake, some would say, is in communication.
Wood Buffalo officials must not have anticipated any concern over an idea to help lower the cost of the recreation complex by OK'ing urban work camps. If they had, it's likely McMurrayites would have debated this issue last November or December, not February and March.
Even the term they use -- "project accommodation" -- while technically accurate, is misleading.
Hindsight is 20/20.
We're in the here and now.
To most of those at the council meeting Tuesday night, the OK for work camps is a bigger story than the MacDonald Island project that is promised to be the envy of Albertans in every corner of Wild Rose Country.
That's because it's not just one camp; they will sprout up next to numerous developments across town. Any developer who doesn't take advantage of this ability to shave costs off the bottom line is insane or a spendthrift.
While there remain concerns about the conduct of camp workers, it's up to those who are concerned and see anything untoward to report it.
The bigger impact on all of us is the tens of millions of dollars in spending that won't come in the form of a government grant, or through fundraising. The money will come out of local property taxes.
If, as promised, changes to tax calculations result in oilsands plants paying a bigger share of the bill, Joe and Jane McMurrayite might be OK.
If not, the huge tax bills that will land on local doorsteps will crush those homeowners already overextended because of the high cost of their houses in the first place.
Another important question has been entirely overlooked in this whole process: what will the new rec centre's annual revenues add up to?
Will it make enough through fees to pay for the electric and natural gas bills and the staff inside?
Or will there be an annual subsidy, and how much?
A few years ago, MacIsland spent almost $1 million more than it took in. Will we see this again?
Quality of life is the goal. Huge property tax bills will take it away.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home