Win win

First let us applaud the decision to change course. Too often, when public projects get bogged down in planning, process and escalating costs, governments tend to stubbornly push onward. It is how we get airports in the middle of nowhere, the most expensive Pan American games in history and sewage plants on a hillside overlooking the community whose waste it treats.

Yet in the case of Lane Creek, County officials went off script. When the cost and complexity of rerouting the creek that runs through the centre of Wellington doubled and then trebled, municipal engineers wisely backed up. They reconsidered. Came up with a new plan. Sold it to council. They get full marks for the courage to tear up a plan four years in the making and recognizing the hazards that lie under the intersection of Main and Wharf Streets.

In doing so, they likely saved hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. A very good thing.

Rather than moving the creek, they will remove the buildings threatening to collapse into it. To do this, the County last week purchased two buildings that sit atop the creek. The structure underneath each has deteriorated over the decades. Permanent humidity does that. In time, both would have been claimed by the creek. (Two other buildings sit, in whole or part, over the creek. One building has been restored recently, with structural reinforcements added to the portion over the creek. In another, a solid concrete culvert acts a barrier between the creek and the building above.)

What happens next is where opinions diverge. County officials are keen to hang onto the property now that they have eliminated the liability exposure of private property perched over a public waterway. They recommend either parking, a small park or public space.

Certainly, Wellington could use more parking, and green space is always welcome but neither belongs on the corner of the village’s commercial core. For a decade or more, residents, businesses and visitors have complained that there isn’t enough retail space in Wellington. Erasing two buildings at the main corner, and failing to replace them, is a step backward.

The southwest corner is already a blank due to municipal heavyhandedness. Creating two more blanks makes a massive hole where the village’s commercial hub should be.

Glass storefronts along Wharf and Main ought to replace these buildings. A flower shop. Perhaps a smaller convenience store. A coffee shop. Residential apartments above. The village desperately needs more retail and affordable residential options.

But let’s leave the issue of what goes there aside for a moment. Instead, let’s look at the choices from a fiscal viewpoint. The municipality will have spent in the neighbourhood of $600,000 for these properties. In contrast to rerouting the creek—this is likely a bargain.

But remember too, the primary obstacle facing County engineers when contemplating fixing a creek under a private building is that it didn’t have an easement—a legal right to enable staff, contractors, and regulatory bodies unencumbered access to the watercourse.

That has all changed now. The municipality can now make necessary repairs to shore up the creek and then recover it, secure in the knowledge that it has an easement allowing it access at any time. It is in control. Once this is done, the County no longer needs to own the property above.

That means there is an opportunity to recoup some or all of the purchase price. It is not chump change.

Nor should we simply back into these arrangements. If not for the creek, I suspect few taxpayers would support the notion of investing $600,000 for a handful of parking spots or a parkette. Taxpayers need this money back. Roads, bridges and waterworks are crying out for reinvestment. A parkette we can do without.

I understand the concerns of County engineers. They are trained to avoid risk and liability. Those are good instincts for bridge builders. But the issue here is the future of Wellington’s commercial vitality. It does not need two more blanks.

Instead, it requires vision—an idea about what is possible. Politicians love to look for win-win solutions. Here they can fix the creek, save money, ensure future access to the waterway, enhance the vitality of the village’s core and see the return of a significant portion of its invested capital. How many wins is that?

rick@wellingtontimes.ca