Deputy Mayor John Fallis was right in not supporting the motion to proceed with the Community Center at this time.
My personal preference for future public infrastructure spending is to complete the new fire hall first. The fire hall will help to maintain lower residential insurance rates. In addition, a fire hall’s purpose is to help ensure our safety especially when we are reminded of the recent tragedy at a cottage north of Peterborough where an entire family was lost in a fire.
Secondly, we should provide the financial incentive for someone to build affordable housing for seniors. We have all heard of the wait lists at The Manor and Centennial place. Our residents want to live close to their families, not in distant strange residences. The former jail lands would provide the ideal location for such a residence.
Thirdly we should construct a community center that we can afford to build and one we can afford to operate. Our reserves from the slots may come to a sudden halt if the City of Peterborough is successful in their bid to create a casino in their city. If that happens, we will need our reserves to replace trucks, plows, graders and buildings. It has been suggested that some of the reserve funds could be borrowed and paid back in the future with dollars from our property taxes. The only way this could be successful is for the Council to increase our property taxes. Such an increase would of course compound the pressures on households from increases in our hydro rates.
Andy Harjula, Cavan
