In a comment yesterday, “JH getting caught up on the GG” said:
I was suurprised to read:
Langford Seeks Sportsplex Funds in Wed., Nov. 4th GG p. A5
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/goldstreamgazette/news/67254962.html
I thought the deal with the Federal infrastructure stimulus spending money was “shovel-ready” projects, where the local government already had their 1/3 portion in place, would get funding. So why is Mayor Stew Young quoted as saying, “the City is trying to get future facility operator Xcalibur Bowling to pay $4.46 million to build the bowling centre.” And Councillor Lanny Seaton suggests, “If Xcalibur doesn’t come up with the funding, the City will need to go through a counter-petition or referendum process to get public permission to borrow the money.”
Since when does the City of Langford need new money, and possibly borrowed money, to complete a project that been on the books for at least 2 years?!
Once I figured out that the “GG” in “JH getting caught up on the GG” referred to “Goldstream Gazette” and not the “Governor General”, I was quite intriqued by the comment. I’ve converted it into a post because I suspect it may trigger other comments, and because “Reader News” doesn’t do it justice since the reader was making an (from what I can tell quite astute) comment. I too understood that all projects had to be shovel ready both in the sense of legislative and zoning approval in place, and the local portion of the funds already in hand and allocated, but I must admit I hadn’t made the connection when reading the Gazette article. Thank you for your comment, JH.
