Dear Editor:
RE: Continuum of Care cost pegged at $88 million, March 21.
After the October 2018 election, I have been reticent to be critical of decisions made by Wellington County council. However, after reading this article, I find myself unable to keep silent.
I couldn’t help but think 300 units, 16,000 people – who is going to win the lottery? Later in the article it became more sinister with the fact that only 206 units are potentially proposed. With an $88-million budget, the proposed cost per unit will be a little under $430,000. Given the county’s propensity to run over budget (we need only look at the county sheds for a blatant example of cost overruns) the $430,000 figure will not be the final figure.
If we take the 300 proposed residents and divide them by the 16,000 seniors potentially needing the housing, that gives one less than a 2% chance of getting such housing. The county talks about a housing shortage, and with those numbers it is very obvious why we are having such a shortage. The skeptical side of my brain is asking: Who is going to have the power to decide who gets to live in the accommodations? And what kind of hoops will one have to jump through just to be considered for the “opportunity” to partake in that particular “community” of seniors?
This proposal has scam written all over it. We elect our county council to endeavour to protect the tax paying public from such scams, yet here they are, not only considering this, but voted to give $1 million to do some “exploratory work” on the project. My question to county council is: can’t you think of some better way to spend that million dollars that will positively affect a greater portion of the county population than 300 individuals who might eventually benefit?
I would like to ask county council to stop wasting our money and start being creative with allowing marginal lands to be developed into retirement villages such as Conestoga Estates, Spring Valley Estates, and the retirement community between Belwood and Fergus.
These are beautiful communities that anyone would not only be happy, but very proud to be a part of. The county should do what it is good at, and becoming a developer should not be one of its mandates.
I think the saying goes that “government is notoriously bad at picking winners in the marketplace”
Wayne Baker,
Wellington North