Grimsby council, less twiddling please

Dear Editor,

Two takeaways from Monday night’s Grimsby Town Council meeting:

First, the director and the program manager of GO implementation for the Niagara Region made a presentation in favour of “On Demand Transit.”

Fortunately, we can give the proposed seven passenger van service a try, using our own cars, before spending the $250, 000 requested by the Region. Here’s how:

Do a shop at the Real Canadian SuperStore. When finished pretend to make a phone call. Twiddle your thumbs while you wait an hour. Then load your bags into your car. Instead of heading directly home, drive randomly throughout Grimsby making four unnecessary stops. Head home, but stop at the nearest street corner. Park your car. Unload your bags and carry them as you walk home. Pay yourself approximately $3. Repeat as necessary, but if you do it too often, extend your thumb twiddling time, after your phone call, to “maybe an hour and a half” to ensure the Town’s contribution is no more than $250 thousand.

The second brilliant idea is found under the innocuous report headed “FIN 19-26 Revenue Generation Options.” Council has now decided to ask the Town CAO and the Finance Director to evaluate “Every” Town Property Asset for possible sale.

Apparently, after the biodigester sale, as a community, we do not need to hold a fire sale.

But, evidently, we do have urgent needs and wants, including our contribution to the hospital rebuild, and a new gymnasium with a walking track. One Councillor, with a Rec and Parks connection, even suggested selling the Livingston Activity Centre so developers could build “more stores.”

Not every piece of property owned by the Town is a legacy asset; but let’s consider we could not easily replace any of them in a market value competition with Developers. Once sold, each will never be replaced, and once spent, the money will truly be gone.

While reasonably priced public transit options are needed in our community, this “On Demand Transit” proposal is clearly not the answer. Not for cost in personal data to be collected by the Region and by a Private Contractor; and certainly, not for an investment of $250,000.

Our Council, like Nero, seems to prefer fiddling while citizens are left twiddling. In each case, someone gets burned.

Stacy McNeill, Grimsby