Monday, August 3, 2009

The People's Plan...what?

Our city needs a new police station and a library. Over the past several months various options have been looked into. Building a new library, remodeling the old Rite-Aide building into a police station to name a few. Yet after looking at the various options the price tags were all too high.

Then the proposal to convert the old Boy's and Girl's club at Pioneer Park into a library and the library into a police station took root and started to grow. The more it was looked into the better it looked. Was it the perfect solution, not completely but it was better than any of the previous options. Also the price tag was reasonable.

With all the information researched and the dollars looked at the majority of the council voted to proceeded with this plan earlier this year. Were all those involved 100% happy no, but it's the direction council voted to go.

At tonight's council meeting we learned that there is a "People's Plan" out there and being supported by at least one council member, Zimmerman. At first this plan sounds interesting until you really start to look at it. The more you look the more it seems to fall apart. Yet, council member Zimmerman stood up in front of the council and said this plan could save the city over 2 million dollars. When asked where his numbers were to justify this, there were none. When asked what architect has looked at this plan, there was none. All we had was Zimmerman's estimate based on the costs Lynden has spent on one of their projects and that there were several people that also support this idea, yet none in attendance.

I support the plan the council has approved. I think it is the best solution for our city. I think it makes sense and it is affordable. We need a police station and a library that meets our community's needs. We need to continue to move forward. The "People's Plan" presented tonight by council member Zimmerman has so many holes in it, it was amazing that it was even brought up.

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