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Bad luck

Posted: October 10, 2024 at 9:34 am   /   Comment

It reads like a cry for help. It may look like a proposal to rebuild waterworks infrastructure in the Wellington/Bloomfield/Picton corridor, but it comes across more as the rantings of a struggling friend with a gambling addiction— desperate to change their luck. “Please, please lend me $300 million, just this one last time. I promise […]

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Less is more

Posted: October 3, 2024 at 9:29 am   /   Comment

Is it possible, and please hear me out on this one, that we ask Shire Hall to do too much? We complain about capacity. We complain about competency. We grumble about the bits that go wrong. We gripe about poor communication. We harp on about management. About trucks. Then, we criticize rapidly escalating costs. And […]

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Shameless

Posted: September 26, 2024 at 10:00 am   /   Comment

Well, that was quick. It seems just a month ago that Todd Smith represented us at Queen’s Park. Indeed, it was 36 days ago (as of my writing these words). Then he quit. Five days later, the writ was issued, and we were thrust into an election. Twenty-nine days after that, voting day came and […]

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A chorus and a shovel

Posted: September 19, 2024 at 9:24 am   /   Comment

Council has found itself in a deep, dark hole. It should stop digging. I imagine one day it will figure out the only way out is up, but not yet. Sadly, when that day arrives, and Council finally emerges into the sunlight, there will be no celebration, no exultant crowds, and no parade. Council may […]

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Bravery

Posted: September 12, 2024 at 9:43 am   /   Comment

From an imagined conversation between Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Steve Ferguson this past Monday. “Thanks for the money, Doug Ford. Every little bit helps. And I really can’t imagine anything littler. This cheque is so puny that it won’t even cover the sales tax we’ll eventually have to pay on the infrastructure we have […]

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Turning point?

Posted: September 5, 2024 at 10:06 am   /   Comment

A commitment has been made. A commitment to rigour and discipline. A commitment that County residents won’t pay another dime toward the developers’ infrastructure—not without a guarantee of payback in an acceptable time frame. It is a good outcome. We are in a better place. The County’s manager, Marcia Wallace, stood up for residents and […]

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Imminent

Posted: August 29, 2024 at 8:59 am   /   Comment

The vote will be done by the time this column is printed. The next chapter of the waterworks saga will have begun. So, let’s tidy up a couple of things. First, let us all be clear about what was on the table: We—waterworks customers—are lending millions of dollars to developers from our own pockets. We […]

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Four things

Posted: August 22, 2024 at 8:52 am   /   Comment

ONE A warm thank you to everyone who left their homes last Monday night to join your neighbours in voicing their worries and concerns about the quarter-billion-dollar waterworks plans in Wellington. More than 500 of you! Your presence sent a loud and clear message to decision-makers that you want them to stop and re-evaluate their […]

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Not adding up

Posted: August 15, 2024 at 9:12 am   /   Comment

It doesn’t work. It will be over a century and a half before existing water users are paid back for the biggest infrastructure spending ever undertaken in this community. The project size and costs are grossly oversized for the rate of population growth expected by Shire Hall’s experts. It bears repeating: existing water customers in […]

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Who will pay?

Posted: August 8, 2024 at 9:10 am   /   Comment

Who do you think will pay? When thousands of new homes don’t emerge from the fields surrounding Wellington and Picton over the next 20 years? When the County’s population fails to double in size? Who will pay the $300 million needed to fund the waterworks expansion? Shire Hall is building waterworks as fast as it […]

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