7 Million Could Be Better Spent Than On Trails

By Ben Meisner

It really doesn’t matter how the 7 million dollars is obtained for trails in the city, the bottom line is that it will cost an additional $200,000 dollars to maintain them and that should be reason to hold off on any development.

The City is tossing around the idea of going to referendum to see if the voters like the idea of borrowing the 7 mill, which would be spent over a period of several years.

They also would like to see some other sources tapped for some of the money. There also was a suggestion at the Council meeting this week that they could go the way of the reverse petition, in other words if not enough people sign a petition to stop the money being borrowed it goes ahead. It is a neat way of getting what you want without seeking permission from the taxpayers.  The only down side to that idea is that this is an election year and if the citizens got word of how the city might do the deal, a few heads would roll on the Council table.

The Council should be taking a look around before spending yet more money developing more trails. Our approaches into the city are terrible at best. We have wide spaces entering the city from all directions that look very drab and certainly not inviting and if the plan is to build trails and the tourists will flock here to use them, the people that came up with that idea need a reality check.

Our welcome to Prince George signs and maintenance  of them are awful. If we are going to spend some money, then let’s start by making the city appear to be a nice neat little city instead of pressing ahead with yet more trails that will cost more money to maintain while we continue to allow the basics to fall by the wayside.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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