Box Springs Site chosen
by council - Aug 19/2008
The Box Springs Business Park (BSBP) came out the winner
Monday night when city
council –by a 7-2 vote-
chose it as the
preferred site for the
proposed Regional Event
Centre over Lansdowne
Equity Ventures Ltd.
Now it’s up to council to cost out exactly what that
means to local taxpayers
and to decipher what
federal, provincial, and
other possible funding
might be available for
the project.
“We’re not going to build it on the backs of the
taxpayers,” stated Ald.
Julie Friesen. “First
we have to find out
whether we can afford
it. This is not a done
deal. We’re not there
yet.”
Ald. Robert Dumanowski lamented the fact that with having
chosen BSBP, council
members will not now
have the ability to
assess what the real and
or hidden costs would be
for both sites that were
considered.
Local businessman Bill Yuill, who chaired the city’s
previous Regional Major
Events Centre Committee,
which recommended the
Lansdowne site over Box
Springs said he thought
city council’s process
was flawed.
“It makes no sense to select a site and not know what
costs are associated
with either one,” he
told the News following
the meeting.
Ald. Ty Schneider echoed Yuill’s concerns and added that
the whole process hadn’t
been transparent and
open.
“We’ve done this thing backwards,” he said referring to
council wanting to
choose a location before
knowing what the actual
economics of the
proposed event centre
actually were.
“I’m not prepared to put my family and my son’s family in
jeopardy for the next 40
years,” he added.
Ald. Jamie White, chair of the city’s site selection
committee that was
initiated after Yuill’s
committee had completed
its work, defended his
committee’s decision.
He cited the better visibility of the Box Springs’
location, the tremendous
amount of commercial
development that would
accompany building the
proposed centre there,
and the easily
accessible traffic
corridors to the
non-residential business
park.
He also noted that residents close to the proposed
Lansdowne site had
raised major concerns
about what impact the
projected traffic
increase would have on
the local area.
In addition he pointed out that the Box Springs site had
very few complications
and was ready to be
developed almost
immediately, whereas the
Lansdowne site would
entail a major revision
to its area structure
plan.
Citing a letter of support for Box Springs from Redcliff
Mayor Rob Hazelaar,
White stressed how this
along with possible
support from Cypress
County could increase
the chances of getting
provincial/federal
funding for the project.
Ald. Graham Kelly supported White in asserting that he
believed the whole
process had been very
transparent and that
committee reports had
been made available to
the public and through
public consultations.
“If we can make a decision on the site, we can work on
the other details,” he
said. “I do not support
a blank cheque on this
project.”
BSBP spokesman John Hashem said his group was pleased
with the site selection,
but acknowledged that no
decision had been
presented for either
proposal, especially the
actual costs involved.
“We have to recognize that council has acted, and if this
is the democratic
process, than this is
the democratic
process,” he added.
