Beachfront Development Charges?

It’s hard to focus on just one thing after today’s Council meeting. It sounds like Brian Smith thinks he deserves a 40% increase in pay because the previous Council didn’t put irrigation systems into the Twin pad Arrna/ Library. People, I just can’t make this stuff up. I will share these things in the next few discussion’s.

I said we would talk infrastructure today, so here we go. At the 1:04:22 point in the Beachfront Development presentation, CAO McNeill clearly said- No, your taxes will not go up to facilitate this re-development”.

Come on Andrew… do you think the taxpayer is that gullible? I don’t believe it and neither should any of you. This disastrous Beach one development will cost tax payers MILLIONS. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that some future costs will be due to a developer negotiating refund clauses if a new Council sends them packing.

To fully grasp what was said and what was not said in the comments about this “plan”, it is important to understand the past potential developments and explore some of the roadblocks encountered.

To build all of the fun buildings and condominiums this Council wants they will need to greatly improve the water and sewer hook-ups. To simply put blocks of wooden condos, there may be enough hydro and water/sewer capacity. But if you start adding hotels, major increases in population and commercial load, the need will expand.

But this Council is planning on a truly minimalist approach, in phase one. Or are they? According to the artist renderings , it looks like they are adding and taking away actual streets. Along those streets will be hydro and under them will be water a sewer. It looks like we will be eliminating part of a street to make way for even more townhouses. We will also be te-opening what Brian Smith calls “historic Main Street.

But wait…. That’s not all. They are going to raise the road 5’. That translates into demolition of existing street level structures. So, new roads, new sidewalks, demolition and we are to believe that these projects are not going to affect local taxes?

Once these buildings they call “phase one” are up, three years later, will they tear into the new roads to improve the drains for phase two? No… because it will be too expensive then.

It was asked who would pay for all of this. The answer… “Beach Drive will be paid for using development charges. “

Private development will be paid for through FRAM and Sunray? Oh sure… all of it.

But who will pay for the sewer and water and hydro improvements under our roads? Although it SHOULD be FRAM, I doubt it will.

Mail in a few questions if it’s important. They have said at a previous Town Hall that Mosley Street West improvements may wait 10 years or more until this is done. If it’s not our taxes paying for this, why delay Mosley West.

They don’t even realize when they don’t make sense. I encourage our Council to keep talking. That’s when they hurt themselves, so keep talking, especially Brian and Joe.