Dear Editor
In retrospect I did not say anything - but should have - when the Cache Creek town council decided to build the Great White Elephant by the swimming pool, thus removing our tennis courts, our basketball courts and skating rink that were used by the people of Cache Creek. I have seen it used once a year, except when our park is under water, for Graffiti Days. A cheap portable one could have done the job and saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars.
I feel sorry for the individuals whose view was destroyed and property value was decreased. Could it have been built at the other end of the park with a hill behind not in front of houses if it really needed to be built in the first place?
Maybe move it there and use the cement pad for those tennis courts, basketball courts and a winter skating rink. There surely must be a matching grant out there for that, maybe it is a Fixing Mistakes Grant.
It seems that if there is a matching grant for it our council feels they must apply for it and spend the other 50 per cent of the taxpayers money making it happen even if it is something has not been properly researched or is something that is not needed. Were there not trails built along the river that had not been approved by fisheries that had to be relocated again at the expense of the taxpayers of Cache Creek because of lack of proper research?
Our new water system is another case in point. Who in their right minds pays out all the engineers and builders of a water treatment facility before it is working properly without a holdback? Well, ours did! That information came to me directly from a town official. Then after a year or more of finger pointing, who ate the cost of a new pump and repairs? I do believe it was the Taxpayers of Cache Creek again that paid the price, but I could be wrong.
In the July 24 edition of The Journal I couldn’t help but shaking my head again at the “Woodchip Woes at the Playground” article. Again, obviously no research had been done by whomever awarded the playground project. Like, maybe, phone the school district to see what they have at all their playgrounds (it is pea gravel?).
Wood chips decay and compact making them dangerous on top of the slivers they give. However a dump truck full of chips is much cheaper than pea gravel and increases the profit margin significantly. Again, why was this not properly researched and put into the bid? The contractor saying that is what they do for the majority of their instillations and us swallowing it shows me we were duped. I have never in 40 years around playgrounds seen one that was wood chips. Maybe someone could have even phoned parks in Kamloops to see what they used before tendering the contract.
As usual it appears there was no holdback again. The mayor feels that a long investigation would be a waste of time. A little investigation in preparation of the playground renovation and the bid would have saved the Taxpayers $10,000, but no big deal - just take it out of surplus because investigation would be a waste of time and might embarrass whomever dropped the ball big time again.
All I can say is unbelievable!!!
Bernt Fuglestveit
Cache Creek