LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- November 18, 2008
Dear Editor;
I hope the newly elected Mayor and their new Council knows:
You can NOT walk up and down the main street, other roads and along the dykes thinking, 'It's time to do this and this and that' to improve the town
- you may not be what we need!
The business park idea has been around since before I moved here in 2003 so no one can say that 'we are working on it' because so far we are not! Did someone realize that the new business park sign is facing the entrance to the high school access road? No one from out of town can read it driving by
- just us driving our kids to school! That is a joke...
The Town Square and 'Bridge of Dreams' are a good start but worth a penny unless it gets pushed forward through the whole town and fast...and it is necessary to pave and landscape all the walkways along the river that you can walk, run, skateboard or push a stroller along. The expensive new bridge won't cut it unless everything else is nice as well.
A few other things that bugged me this year include:
Realtors have signs up now BIGGER than highway signs! We don't need animal control - we need 'realtor control.'
We shouldn't talk so much about low income housing (that phrase already sounds bad) but just start building nice and reasonably priced homes to rent and/or sell in a few different areas of town. On top of getting nicer homes for everyone it will force a few landlords as well to make their place nicer.
The mine is opening in two months or maybe a year from now and where are the properties for people to build? They probably will end up building a 100 portable home subdivision somewhere between town and the mine...so the town is losing out again - because all decisions have been made too slow or not at all, so far.
I say it again, the post plant beside the river past the wrecker is sitting on nice, prime - even waterfront - property...move them to the business park including the wrecker and you'll end up with space for hundreds of people to live.
I drove to the dump the other day and I saw that Weyerheauser seems to own that huge hole below the dump...what about that place for either the post plant or wrecker? Just an idea - maybe possible, maybe not?
Our heritage town and surrounding area is our ONLY long-term asset! Weyerheauser and the mine are great bonuses but you can't build a town on that alone.
There will be no nurse or doctor shortage if this town - as a town - works together and gets things done. A nice, friendly and attractive heritage town with lots to offer and lots to do for young and old will always attract new people including doctors and nurses year 'round. It's time to stop begging the government for a few bucks here and there - of course some improvements and projects have to be financially supported - but most of them can be done by us locally. We have to stop sitting back and waiting for cheques to come in once every blue moon...that is not moving forward - that is moving backwards!
Weekly farmers market - Yes! Of course, would there be a place for it in town! One of the best ideas I've heard recently.
By the way, I am one of the guys who parks on the yellow line once in a while but I have heavy parcels sometimes and I am not willing to drive more than twice around the block to look for something the town should supply...a parking spot. I wrote before that Jim Pattison and the town should work on just at least nicely graveling the empty old hotel lot until the new building goes up in a year or two...no action there...it literally looks crappy. It is embarrassing, plus no parking for a lot of travellers with RVs and for the rest of us. But, hey - the old Mayor ad said 'we are moving forward.' Really? The deer question came up...my answer to that is simply that they don't invade us - we are in deer and bear territory here in the middle of nowhere and it is a pleasure seeing them almost daily.
Trailers parks - Now, this can be a tricky and tough one if not understood correctly. I am asking you to read this a second time before you attack me. I do not agree with (that was basically most at the PSS councillor all-candidate forum) who said 'we have to protect all trailers' in three or more trailer parks in town under any circumstances. I have friends and people I know who live or have lived in trailer parks in town. I personally think that trailer parks originate from finding a practical home for people who found a temporary job or for people who would move from job to job...I would like to see lower cost homes which still look nice, as I said - first in the tunnel area or where the old Argo building is - homes that are slightly bigger than the trailers and last a long time with the newest technology in insulation, heating, electric, etc.
A lot of trailers in this town are literally almost falling apart because of age, etc. and to just say we want trailers another 50 or 100 years (to get elected, maybe) does not make sense. There must be a way to build a nicer home on solid ground and keep the cost down and, yes, get some government funding to support all this.
Power lines - As you may know, I come from Germany and I have not seen a power line there since the late 70s...except the big ones going from town to town. Power lines belong wherever possible underground where no storm, wind, snow, etc. can cause a problem. And not having them makes any town much better looking, too!
The Weyerheauser Roundhouse is the best example of how NOT to do it...very nice building - surrounded by ugly power poles and even uglier advertising signs. If you could sit the last three years in a mayor/councillor seat thinking that this is a masterpiece you certainly sat in the wrong chair...but again the ad said 'we are moving forward.'
Public transit - Again, in Germany everyone uses public transport to get to school - adults pay and kids get a free pass to use the public bus or train system...here at -20 there are 200 parents using their 200 SUVs or whatever to drive the kids to school and then pick them up again. What a waste of lost wages, energy, time and gas.
And on top of that there is no bus all week going on regular routes for people who need it even though the busses and drivers are there driving half empty busses around!
Ok, now you are saying: Why the heck didn't I stay there if it's so great? Well, just imagine 80-million just like me! Even I couldn't stand it...ha-ha-ha.
Vision - I learned in the past few weeks, months and years that there are thousands of people who know things are not right here, there are hundreds of people who want to help and offer their help but only a few have the vision of what this town can and should look like. Somehow we have to find a way to get the town, Chamber, all non-profit groups and all people living here together to make this great little town vibrant for the first time in a hundred years!
Stefan Dietz, Princeton
PS: I just wish the Ad would have listed the endless great things the Mayor and Council did the past 3 to 12 years instead of writing that 19 candidates want to work with him or take his job...
