Here's A Thought

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The decision is pending":


According to YorkU's Executive Summary in the document dealing with Vision and Principles referred to earlier it states: "The location of the new campus will contribute to shaping growth in York Region and supporting a healthy community, environment and economy. Within 5 years of opening, York University aims to have 5,000 students in York Region. Within 20 years the campus can be expected to grow to 10,000-20,000 students.

This is not a plan to purchase the Hallmark building, currently listed for sale at $17,000,000. Nor is it a plan to develop the Petch House. For some reason council has sloughed this off onto the public with the Communications Department's invitation to the public to come up with some suggestions. There are no utilities presently serving the building and to the best of my knowledge there have been no estimates of costs to provide these. If we can't agree on the use for a building of approximately 1,200 square feet, what on earth are we doing with a proposal for a major university, with a possible maturity within the next half century?

Mr. Garbe's comments in the article by Brock Weir this week are full of generalities. He speaks of benefits to the community that are "well documented", citing studies that have shown a multiplier effect of 1.75 for every 1.

"We'll definitely have to identify a location as part of the bid process...If we have a location, then we have a bid. If we don't have a location, we don't have a bid. This is a statement of shear genius.

If one assumes a significant campus even only half of York's original one, we are looking at 225 acres. The only land area of that significance is on both sides of St. John's Sideroad east of Bayview and running to the town's eastern border at Highway 404. Who owns this land? What is it worth?

If a successful bidder for the campus is expected to donate the land that is worth into the many millions of dollars, how will that be dealt with?

It appears that there is a great rush into oblivion by staff and councillors who are simply not qualified to deal with situations of this magnitude.

Frankly, I don't see the Ontario government being in a position by September to assist in the selection of the winning municipality, even without an election.




Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 10 April 2014 21:57j