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Monday, August 20, 2012
Mr. Mayor, don't sell us short
For several months now our mayor and council are supposedly in negotiations with a major hotel chain to develop the property at the Crowsnest Learning Centre (CLC). These negotiations seem to be dragging on with no end in site?
At the same time it is fast approaching 9 months (the time it takes a woman to have a baby) and reconstruction of the Best Canadian Motor Inn (BCMI) in Blairmore, since the fire that destroyed a good chunk of it last December, has not even begun? BCMI, by the way, is a small chain having 7 hotel properties.
I have a sneaky suspicion that a large part of the CLC site is going to be sold off to this small hotel chain. If that is so, then we will have sold ourselves short. They are far from being a 'major' hotel chain with the pull such chains have. They will never be a tourist draw, or a major employer. In fact, in all likelihood they probably won't be any better than what they were in Blairmore at their existing location. It will be a net benefit to them having a far better location, but will benefit our municipality no more than what we already have with them in their existing location. In other words, we will have derived a ZERO benefit.
Hopefully, mayor and council are not so desperate because of their dismal performance to-date on the economic front, that in order to court public favour that they are actually doing something, they go this route. Sell us short, and thereby hurt this community for years to come due to their inability to have a vision and plan for this site that is both bold and daring, giving us the best bang for our buck, so to speak.
My proposal, from year's back, to develop this property as a Hotel/Casino Convention Centre is such a bold and daring plan. It only requires hard work, tenacity, and the will and desire to make it happen. Mayor and council need to roll up their sleeves, lobby government officials and departments, and respective politicians (including our own MLA to work on our behalf), and make the case that because of location, location, location, a depressed economy, a severe and on-going population decline, and economic and unemployment figures bordering on depression, we need and want a Casino, which will then be incorporated within a Hotel/Convention Centre.
They say, "Where there is a will, there is a way." So far, it seems this is the first obstacle we need to overcome. That is to get mayor and council to develop a will and find the way to make this vision into a living reality. A Hotel/Casino Convention Centre will be a magnet capable by itself of drawing tens of thousands of people to this community annually, while creating major employment for our people, a huge tax base, and untold spin off effects in both the private business sector and tourism industry. It's a win, win situation, requiring only a vision and the will to make it happen.
The question is, is mayor and council up to the task? Or will they sell us short again, settling instead for mediocrity... and the ongoing "tyranny of the status quo"?
Dream today; make it real tomorrow.
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20 comments:
More blogospeculation. Why not just ask them:
FOIP FAQ
"63. Can a municipality disclose bidders lists/lists of plan holders for municipal projects to contractors, construction companies, agencies or other persons on request?
• Yes. A list of bidders for a municipal project should be routinely available on request as part of an open tendering process. A FOIP request for this information is not required.
64. If a municipality receives a FOIP request for copies of contracts with consultants, engineers or other contractors, would the municipality release the records?
• Not entirely. Copies of contracts can be disclosed after they have been awarded, on the premise that the public has the right to know who has been engaged to do work for the municipality and how much is being paid for the work.
• However, some information in the contract, or in supplementary documentation, must be withheld if it meets the three-part test in section 16 of the FOIP Act for harm to business interests of the contractor.
• Information may also be withheld if the local government body can show that its disclosure could reasonably harm its economic interests, result in financial loss or interfere with negotiations (section 25 of the FOIP Act).
• Examples of information that might be withheld include unit pricing, actual wages paid to employees of the contractor or proprietary information (e.g. trade secrets)."
While you're at it get the info for the "Branding" RFP, the $19000 contract for Abiocon Strategies and the fence by the swinging bridge in Blairmore.
Anon @10:49
As a former councillor I am well aware about FOIP and what can be obtained by going down that road for a fee... and the methods used to avoid divulging information. Thanks for that information though and if any of my readers want to go down that road they can do so, but that was not MY intent.
My intentions were to let the mayor and council know that some of us are watching, and not to sell us short. While at the same time suggesting a possible lucrative business opportunity and vision, that in my opinion should be followed up on.
Those other issues you mention sound like they could and should be investigated? Maybe the Ratepayers will do so?
Thanks for your comment!
JP
I just pointed that out so they can't whine about uninformed speculation. This is all information they are legally required to give us.
HELLO COUNCILLORS - you complain about speculation in these blogs, do you actually read them, and if so how about some answers?
Anon @12:52
I gottcha. That pretty much was the central theme "uninformed speculation" behind the Mayor's Town Hall meeting last June, wasn't it?
Oh, the councillors come here alright, as they do on Dean's blog, and quite often they post here too... but always anonymously. That's kinda chicken-shit, now isn't it? But it does allow them to comment without taking personal responsibility for their position on all the issues both Dean and I raise, now doesn't it?
JP
John
Just to point out further to your readers if you go to the following address http://www.abiocon.com/the-company/about-janet-hyde-mba/
You will find out that Abiocon Strategies and Janet Hyde have a very close connection.
Who is Janet Hyde? she was one of the members of the Mayors Task Force.
Dean,
So, it looks like the mayor had to pay for a 'volunteer' Mayor's Task Force?
As you know Dean, I tried warning people during the election, through my blog here, with numerous posts telling them that it would be a terrible mistake putting someone like him into the mayor's chair.
Because of their backgrounds, these type of people need their hands held by expensive consultants, and believe the public purse is a bottomless well to dip into for every hair-brained idea they come up with. Knowing as they do that there is never any repercussions working for the civil service, as they do.
So instead of voting for the devil they knew they chose instead to vote for a name (because he was born here) not knowing the man.
Now they have to pay the piper for their mistake, just as they will be paying for years to come for the mistakes of his predecessor. Sad!
JP
Further to my last comment if you go back and look at my blog post:
http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.ca/2012/07/consultantscontractors-in-crowsnest.html
You will notice that Ms Hyde also received the sum of $5303 under Planning and Development
Dean Ward
"vote for a name (because he was born here) not knowing the man."
How true that statement is. :(
So, and on and on it goes. When does corruption ever end, NEVER. I don't think it matters who gets in myself.
Here are casino maps of Alberta and BC:
http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/alberta/map
http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/british-columbia/map
The smallest population locations:
http://www.billybarkercasino.com/Casino.aspx (Quesnel)
http://www.camroseresortcasino.com/casino
http://www.lakecitycasinos.com/kamloops/casino.html
Here is a list of Alberta conference centres:
http://www.uniquevenues.ca/venue_search/Canada/Alberta
What do you envisage in terms of size and facilities compared to these?
Anon @8:42
Which do you suggest? You’re the one who has done some homework here… you tell us?
JP
John,
What did the mayor mean in his newsletter by this?
"Our Bylaw officer is off for several weeks due to an incident that occurred in Coleman." Did he get shot at? LOL
Also, what is the Green Mountain development?
A few minutes with Google.
When you say "Hotel/Casino Convention Centre" are you thinking of:
•Las Vegas on the Crowsnest.
•a Super-8 motel with a few VLTs and a meeting room.
•something in-between.
Just wondering, how big are your dreams?
The Crowsnest Pass doesn't have the commerce or population base for any kind of hotel/casino/convention scheme. No serious legit developer would invest in something like that here. Even with all the traffic that passes by. To fund something like this with municipal coffer dollars would be another example of throwing good money after bad.
Horrible idea. Our existing mayor is pretty bad, but if this is the best idea that his potential successor proposes.....we're in a lot of trouble as a community for the next decade to come.
Rather, any mayoral candidate that gets my vote is going to be one that proposes real ideas to get real industry and thus real jobs here.
Anon @2:31
Again, I got to deal with Mr. Negativity here who can’t resist getting in a ‘personal’ jab or two every opportunity he gets.
Ok, I’ll bite. But let me say, I don’t normally allow someone to use MY blog to attack me personally, especially when they don’t have the guts to stand up using their own name, and especially those who are no more than shit disturbers who contribute nothing to the conversation. But in this case you have actually included some valid arguments that I will now address.
First of all, don’t expect me to develop a feasibility study or marketing plan on-line here for you personally as that’s not my job, its council’s… if they follow up on my proposal? However, you are probably right that at present we don’t have the population base and therefore selling this vision would make it difficult if not impossible, even with our extremely high traffic volume on the highway, especially for those people who think of us as being nothing but dumb hillbillies (like you?) deserving of no better fate than to slowly die out as a community, as we have been doing for some years now, as a result of suffering from the “tyranny of the status quo”. But there are some of us who know that there are more millionaires in our neck of the woods (southern Alberta) than anywhere else in Canada. That talk has been going on for sometime on creating (extending) a national park with us as the proposed gateway to it (similar to Canmore?). That there are thousands of well-paid miners just next door, and well known and popular tourist destinations on both sides of the border, as well. That there are presently no casinos between Lethbridge and Cranbrook. That there is a real need in this community and region for a major hotel and convention centre, having, hopefully, an indoor swimming pool. The eventual twinning of Hwy 3 will have profound ramifications for us too, as will our close proximity to major centres with their huge population bases, such as Calgary and Lethbridge. I could go on and on, but I think if you were honest with yourself you too would see the huge beneficial potential possibilities of this proposal for our community and its people.
There were many people, investors and others, who were taken in by Bridgecreek with their grandiose plans for their proposed development at the lakes. It turned out to be all smoke and mirrors that landed up blowing away like a puff of smoke. I propose a grandiose vision and plan too for the Pass, but this one is based on concrete evidence of things to come. People bought into Bridgecreek based on a dream and a promise. I’m asking mayor and council to buy into my proposal of building a Hotel/Casino Convention Centre based on the facts and known reality. Just like in the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ “build it and they will come”. Is that not how Wal-Mart operates? They buy a piece of land in the middle of nowhere and eventually businesses and others move into the area and build up all around them. Maybe that could happen here, in that once built some of these other things I’ve spoken about will be speeded up and we will have been proven to have been ahead of our time, having had the vision and foresight to see the future, and in doing so, made our dream a reality.
Stand alone, as it is right now, no I agree. I think it would be a hard sell. But with vision and foresight of things to come, it’s a natural. Plant it and it will grow.
JP
Anon 2:31
You have to face the facts that there is no more real jobs in this country. What creates real jobs is natural resources. Our government sells all the raw materials to other countries to create jobs there, who in turn sell the products made from those raw materials back to us, who have no jobs and money to buy their stuff?
A Hotel/Casino Convention Centre is much better that nothing at all, at this time.
You should come and see what they built here at the airport with all the grants you can get these days with a good lie!!! Our kids will suffer later to pay for all this.
Fred Poirier
I have a sneaky suspicion that a large part of the CLC site is going to be sold off to this small hotel chain. If that is so, then we will have sold ourselves short. They are far from being a 'major' hotel chain with the pull such chains have. They will never be a tourist draw, or a major employer. In fact, in all likelihood they probably won't be any better than what they were in Blairmore at their existing location. It will be a net benefit to them having a far better location, but will benefit the municipality no more than what we already have with them in their existing location. In other words, we will have derived a ZERO benefit.
Totally agree with you John on this point. ZERO benefit!!
Anon @11:21
From what I understand, the the Bylaw officer was physically assaulted by two young fellows who claim that one of them at least was assaulted first?
Here is some info on the proposed Green Mountain development...
http://www.crowsnestpasspromoter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=3587387
Anon @11:49
see my comment below for how big my dreams are vs where I think this mayor and council are planning on taking us with respect to the CLC land.
Anon @9:29
ZERO benefit to the community is not much of a plan, now is it? But I think that is what we will eventually land up with with this council, due to their not having any vision or imagination, resulting I'm afraid in a mediocre development at best.
I hope I'm proven wrong, but I don't think so!
JP
John, I might not be ready to buy into your dream but at least you know how to dream. If council does sell our valuable prime hwy commercial real estate at the CLC site to BCMI who then bulldoze their site where the fire took place, well, that's not dreaming big, that's just a nightmare. Council will have sold out cheap and derived zero benefit, as you say.
Do others have better ideas for the development of the CLC site? Lets hear them... maybe there is a winner out there somewhere better than the nightmare and dreamer one's we've had so far.
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