The last few weeks have shown that maybe the new school project should be abolished, or at least put on hold. Extra costs are already multiplying into the millions of dollars, and yet basic questions are still unanswered.
Oh, can't build it here, there is a reservoir. Cannot attach it to the multiplex, because of engineering and unknown costs to do it; can't attach the pool because we don't know where, how big, what cost and who is going to pay for the pool yet.
The library people are not happy about things, and now Athabasca University is having issues - how does this affect things?
What is this about a second ice surface now? A smaller gym now? Was the road up to the multiplex ever designated safe for student transportation (even though we haven't the money to fuel the buses now)? Was the infrastructure issue ever put to bed? Student security or not?
Now the town wants to push things ahead, with all these unanswered issues
Sometimes the best of intent, versus reality, is painful, but to add an extra $10, $20 or $30 million to a project as such is plain economic stupidity - and who is going to be responsible for this? Hello, taxpayer.
This whole project needs to be stopped, reevaluated, defined and costed so a true bottom-end price can be defined for whatever is going to be built, and so the people paying for it can say yes or no to how their tax dollars are going to be spent.
Howard Wilkie.
