Washburn: Oh Boy, Here We Go Again

My favorite political cartoon is captioned with the following:

“When you’re up to your arse in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your intention was to drain the swamp.”

The geniuses of the Green Street puzzle palace have come up with new options for the Beaver Meadow Clubhouse.

What started out by ignoring the annual maintenance of the 4,400 sq ft clubhouse for decades resulted in the need for total replacement. If the current facility were privately owned, the city health inspector would require its immediate closing for numerous failings. What started out was to create a new community center which, if approved by the state, would have qualified for state aid. The state saw through this ruse and rejected it. The architect firm hired by the city last night presented three options. Plan A, B and C.

Plan A would tear down the existing building and replace it with a 4,400 sq ft building which included the current inadequacies. Plan B would add on to the existing building on the same site and expand the footprint. It would still require the building to be torn down.

And then there was the grandiose Plan C.

Bare in mind that Plan C is a total creation of the puzzle palace and there was no input from the committees established to suggest the design nor on purpose was there any public input in the process. While I am not trying to suggest a conspiracy existed, my cable connection ended as soon as the Part C discussion began and didn’t resume until the presenters got to the point of announcing the new plan would include a 180-seat restaurant and supporting kitchen. This would put the city in direct competition with Concord businesses. After reviewing the options, I noted that included was a $320,000 Geothermal System-Alternative with Geotechnical Services hidden in the A&E Design Fee. I missed the presentation as to why this was an attractive substitute to a $20 to$30,000 natural gas heating/AC unit? The cost of building demolition was hidden in the building construction costs as was Site Work in the A&E fee. Is it too much to ask what is in the $610,000 A&E fee? Do we really need a XC Ski Training Room-Alternative? The council has already approved a bond issue to repave the Beaver Meadow parking lot but included there is a $200,000 Parking Addition-Alternative.

The puzzle palace clearly owns this creation as there was no committee or public input considered. The mayor was quick to give cover for the manager on this as he suggested that you have to start somewhere with something. Right? The problem is the starting point was last December when the public and the council soundly rejected what was proposed and all that Plan C is a repackaged rejected plan minus the parking lot repaving.

Also included in the Monitor article was the expected cost for the new police station of $41 M. If only it was just a new and much needed and long overdue replacement of our current outdated police station. Instead, what is being suggested is a new multi-department building. The biggest unanswered question is when will the constant assault on Concord taxpayers by the city council and rogue school board end hastening the departure of seniors who can no longer afford to live in the city and preventing young families from moving into the city for the same reason.

The obvious conclusion is that the alligators are winning and the swamp remains at flood stage.