Reader shares a few thoughts
After the 1986 Ontario Summer Games we had a surplus of about $40,000, which the organizing committee donated to the city to develop four ball diamonds in Morrow Park.
Now, two of those diamonds are gone with the new twin-pad arena development. With this new pickleball development, two more local diamonds are disappearing at Bonnerworth.
Armour Park has undergone some major “drainage” work and I can’t see it being ready for play any time soon, especially with the pipes sticking up out of the outfield. So five playing fields (the latter two being the sites of local pickup games) have been removed from service, and I am just wondering where do we pick up the slack?
Over the years soccer, rugby, hockey and slo-pitch, to my knowledge, have all contributed to the capital cost of the facilities they use. Just wondering what pickleball is contributing here?
Lois Tuffin’s recent column on council decorum was spot on from my perspective. There are talkers and there are doers. It is much better to be in the second group. Respect is earned. It is like a bank account, you can’t make a withdrawal unless you have first made a deposit.
I have also not ever been a supporter of minimum barrier homeless shelters. In my opinion, there needs to be some rules. The city and numerous not-forprofit groups are committed to putting up the funds for these services, but there needs to be some commitment from the users as well.
I read that the Trinity Centre is providing a “safe” place to allow clients to consume their illegal drugs and will have folks there trained to provide an antidote as required (if it turns out not to be safe). But that is not in the part of the building that our tax dollars are paying for, so I guess we should take some consolation from that.
As a city corporation we are members of AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) and FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities), and I don’t believe it should be just a token membership.
If councillors Lachica and Duguay want to be more involved in those associations, more power to them. Having served on the board of AMO and attended many of their conferences over the years as well as FCM, I know they are in for some long days ahead, but I believe it is a valuable opportunity to learn first hand the issues facing municipalities and learn from your peers how they have dealt with certain issues in their communities.
Paul Ayotte, Peterborough