$25 M For Just A Handful Of Businesses – Brilliant

By Walter Neufeld. Abbotsford taxpayers have been hopefully awaiting City Council’s rejection of the 70+- million dollar tax giveaway to YMCA. They’ve also been anticipating that better fiscal decisions would follow.

Unfortunately, there’s more bad news on the way. A few days ago Abbotsford News announced the $25 million dollar expansion of the Nexus border crossing line, a two lane rail overpass at Vye Road and a new rail crossing at McConnel Road (see Kevin Mills, “Abbotsford News” story).

The expenditure is being promoted as a project whose total costs will be equally shared between the Federal, Provincial and, yes you guessed it, our City. Once again taxpayers are being told that they’re saving money by spending it via cost sharing. Get it?

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The Art Of Negotiation

Editor’s Note: As revealed by Lily Kaetler’s research (Abbotsford Today) the original plan was for the costs to breakdown as follows:

2005
Abbotsford taxpayers – $600,000 OR 6.2 %
Provincial taxpayers – $2 Million OR 21 %
Federal taxpayers – $7 Million OR 73 %
TOTAL – $9.6 Million

Thanks to Ed Fast, Mike de Jong and Bruce Banman the deal changed to:

2013
Abbotsford taxpayers – $8.33 Million OR 33.3%
Provincial taxpayers – $8.33 Million OR 33.3%
Federal taxpayers – $8.33 Million OR 33.3%
TOTAL – $25 Million

No matter how you want do the math … it would be better for Abbotsford
taxpayers if you guys stop helping!

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Let’s do a quick non-scientific comparison between our city and a bigger, much wealthier one to see how it manages similar challenges, but on a much larger scale.

The City of Calgary is oil rich. But like the rest of Alberta, it too has run into fiscal trouble because of infrastructure overspending. Even though it overspent for years, it has a large industrial area (Foothills Industrial) which is approximately 19 kilometres in circumference, with possibly thousands of businesses, with about 6-7 major non-elevated rail/road crossings. Virtually all of that industrial traffic is hemmed in and successfully transits level rail crossings to in order to get to the main Deerfoot Highway artery (please see below).

City of Calgary, Birds-eye view: Foothills Industrial purple, area purple hatched
Green Line: Denotes Railway line
Blue Line: Denotes Railway line
Pink Line: Denotes Railway line
Red Line: Denotes Railway line

City of Calgary, Enlarged Birds-eye view: “Foothills Industrial”, area purple hatched
Green Line: Denotes Railway line
Blue Line: Denotes Railway line
Pink Line: Denotes Railway line
Red Line: Denotes Railway line
“X”: Denotes major rail/road level crossings

Abbotsford’s “Sumas Way” industrial area, on the other hand, is approximately 7.5 kilometres in circumference, but only about half that land mass has businesses (landlocked on the west side of the rail way tracks) that need to cross the tracks to get to Sumas Way and from there directly to Highway #1 artery.

City of Abbotsford Birds-eye view: Sumas Way Industrial, area purple hatched
Green Line: Denotes Railway line running North/South

City of Abbotsford, Enlarged Birds-eye view: Sumas Way Industrial, area purple hatched
Green Line: Denotes Railway line running North/South
“X”: Denotes major rail/road level crossings

Why in the world is the City of Abbotsford considering this fiscally irresponsible overpass expenditure to service a handful of business that may, from time to time, have to wait a few minutes for trains to pass while the City of Calgary’s “Foothills Industrial” area accomplishes the same thing but on a massive scale with level crossings?

Abbotsford taxpayers may be overwhelmed by a sense of deja vu at this point.

The rational for a two lane rail overpass at this location is a profoundly nonsensical, unnecessary waste of money. Given their applied logic, Fast, de Jong and Banmann should also provide elevated rail overpasses at the more critical rail crossing at Marshall Road, Essendene Ave, George Ferguson Way, McClure Road, Clayburn Rd, Townshipline Rd, Harris Rd etc. at which thousands of Abbotsford’s residents actually cross daily. Safety? Our esteemed federal, provincial and local politicians need to take time-out for a reality check before they demand another taxpayer cheque for yet another bushel of bullshit.

Please write City Council to ask them to stop this frivolous expenditure & to stop its fiscal mismanagement ( Abbotsford City Council councilmembers@abbotsford.ca).

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Walter Neufeld

*Walter Neufeld was born and raised in Abbotsford. He manages a development company operating in BC and in Alberta. Walter has been a critic of the provincial government’s dysfunctional Mines Act for about 12 years. Neufeld is the president of the Fraser Valley Regional District Citizens Association (FVRDCA). Most recently, he’s critiqued both Honourable Randy Hawes and the gravel industries Aggregate Pilot Project which he believes to be a harmful private production document .