With a payout of $28 million from Fortis coming just over the horizon, one needs to start planning how to best spend this money.
With truth and reconciliation finally coming to fruition, we could honor Indigenous people by building a much-needed expansion to Exploration Place. This way we would have the extra space to showcase their deep history here dating back thousands of years.
With the blessings from our local First Nations people on this expansion to Exploration Place, we then should earmark $15 million for this build. We should be asking our provincial NDP government and our federal Liberal government to match or better our contribution to our museum expansion. Let's be the first in line to receive money that will showcase our Indigenous people's rich history throughout the interior of B.C. I believe they will each contribute $7.5 million minimum to this project.
Exploration Place badly needs more controlled temperature storage space and even more display area is needed. Exploration Place had to refuse a huge collection recently of taxidermy animals due to no storage space. Just one of many examples.
This expansion will be all green having thermal ground heating & enough solar panels to substantially lower or eliminate their electricity consumption. Within this area a long house should be built that could house First Nations cultural events and social gatherings. Also our treasured “Little Prince” steam engine needs a proper shop built to service and be stored out of the elements.
My second most important build would see $3 million to construct a tenting campground at Moccasin Flats, enabling us to keep people from camping out in the many areas of our downtown. They will all gravitate to the flats instead of a night or two in police lock-up.
My third project would spend a million taking care of freshly paved roads with a procedure developed to accomplish this work. At present they come around only once in the following spring to squirt tar over the length of the cold cracks. Most of the tar does not penetrate down far enough to do any good as it mainly just spreads out over the cracked area forming bumps that we all have to drive over. The following spring most areas have opened up again but now without sealing the cracks they allow water to seep down under the asphalt and weaken the compaction of the ground that was only recently completed. I believe the tar being used needs to be more fluid with plastic added to the tar mixture to make it more elastic. Preheating the crack as well will be added to the procedure. Spend a nickel on maintenance and save a ton of money by not having to redo our roads many years prematurely.
My fourth investment for good health would be a million added to the development of more sidewalks leading to the downtown core. Also sidewalks that are developed or redone need to have the curbing in most cases removed and replaced. The curbside is first noticed and its crater surface is unacceptable. Spend a lot of money for a picture but you can't afford a frame for it!
We need this bean counting to stop immediately.
Another million would be to improve existing trails for hikers and bikers.
With $7 million left to spend, I propose that the city spend $3 million to complete the Duchess Park field renovations with a band shell theatre and a covered doomed soccer/football field that can be utilized year round.
In order to continue with our downtown improvements, a 9 to 9 downtown grocery store could be located at the vacant Northern Hardware store. I propose that the city purchase the land and building, then offer ten years of substantial tax savings for a grocery store to open up and be successful at this location. Three million should cover the purchase and renovation to make the building appeal to this type of business.
The last million the city could use would be to eliminate more streetlights that are not directional LED. The directional down LED are allowing more stars to be visible in the night sky.
Miles Thomas
Prince George
