By Abnor. I was talking to a few of my friends who live downtown and heard something I found hard to believe. More than a few people are saying the reason for the fact our City fathers (and mother) may vote against the Abbotsford Community Services (ACS) Supportive Housing Project is that the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) may be moving downtown.
Mayor Banman said last week the ACS’s choice of location was flawed when he told the CBC the ACS proposal was a great idea just maybe not in the best spot.
Does anybody remember the brand new police station that was promised to the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) but then pulled out of plan A because it just seemed, well, you know a little over the top. It was the second time the cops had to give up on a new building so the City is probably under a fair amount of pressure to come up with a new one for them
With the need for a new courthouse it appears the shiny new police building is back on the agenda as well and it may be the reason Banman doesn’t want the ACS proposal to go ahead where the ACS wants to put it. He may be planning to move the homeless up to City Hall to live in John Smith’s Friendship Garden and shower at the public fountain outside City Hall.
(Banman has apparently made a very quiet promise to some of those the City attacked with chicken feces that, once they’ve washed it off, they can use the washrooms up on the 5th floor if they agree to move to the civic precinct.)
I’m told that some at the city have eyes on the old library, the lawn bowling site, the hotel/bar Knight & Day facility, Jubilee Park and the parking lot for the proposed new justice center and APD headquarters, all with underground parking.
What perfect optics. Sorry homeless people, you can’t have a home. The cops, who’ve been chasing you around town for the last decade, want the land we were gonna use to provide you shelter.
On the other hand: with the study underway for a new provincial courthouse not yet complete, who knows what deals have been made which someone might feel they must live up to and what kind of a convoluted deal all of the competing agendas may yet create.
The smart money for the new police station is still within the civic precinct and with the reported tension between MSA Museum and the lawn bowlers, all of those with designs on the properties near five corners may yet cancel each other out and allow the ACS Supportive Housing Project to slide up the middle.
Oh … I almost forgot … word is that two more senior swivel servants are getting pink slips. You didn’t hear it here.
Shhhhhhhh ….
—
Abnor:
Remember to Tell Abnor If you’ve got any news or stories you think he should look into.
If you have any thoughts or ideas for Abnor tell him.
Abnor
Editor’s Note:Abnor joins us from time to time with a question or two about what he sees around him. He has plenty of time on his hands and he spends a great deal of his time wandering the streets of Abbotsford wondering about what he sees and hears. He’s a modern day hobo with a Blackberry.
Abnor’s Story
Jim Says:
The city owns the properties to the north of the existing courthouse as well. I was under the impression that would likely be the site of future expansions?
From Submissions