Dear Editor:
West Vancouver’s mayor and council are really missing the opportunity to do what has to be done regarding the construction of the new public safety building.
At a suggested cost of $36 million, which most likely will elevate to $50 million or more, this is an investment that must be well thought out.
As proposed right now, the building is not what is needed to function efficiently nor its architecture the best we can do for that neighbourhood.
I would agree with the mayor on the urgency of the building but I disagree that council has to “fast track” it, as he suggested, so it gets built right now, regardless of it is what we need, can afford or want.
Ridiculous as it sounds to our representatives, I am sure that staff can keep working in a “living room” if that is what it takes to do things right. In my opinion, Smith fails to understand that we in West Vancouver are not in competition with other municipalities to see which one has the fanciest public building of all.
We don’t need fancy, we need efficient, safe and cost effective.
We can’t sacrifice the neighbourhood’s character and tranquility just to satisfy an urge that was borne from a bad real-estate deal. If we didn’t have an appropriate plan, we shouldn’t have sold the land where the police station is now.
And, to make things more irrational, council debates whether our police officers should have free parking on site or if they should overcrowd the streets around the new building.
I don’t see why taxpayers have to pay for staff parking. In other public buildings, such as Vancouver General Hospital, all staff must pay for the privilege of a reserved parking spot.
They do get a reduced rate (30 per cent off) but all must pay.
When our police chief claims to be concerned about the safety of police officers’ and staff’s cars if they park in the surrounding streets outside our public safety building, then something is really wrong. If a car is not safe there, then we all should be concerned when parking our cars anywhere in West Vancouver.
The last issue is the debate about our police having their own private taxpayer-funded gym. I guarantee you that our state-of-the-art recreation centre can accommodate their needs, again, at a reduced rate thereby avoiding using public money that could be invested in other more important things that right now we can’t afford.
It has taken more than four years to get to this point. I am sure that our municipal representatives and staff can get an agreement with Grosvenor that would allow the district to take the necessary time to make the right decisions, rather than rushed ones.
We are talking about a very large amount of taxpayers’ money and about a very important building for the district.
Elias Merkins, West Vancouver
