Remembrance Day was great again, thank you Royal Canadian Legion Br. 157

Remembrance Day was great again, a thought on a different topic as well

I was quite impressed by the crowd, the parade and the ceremony on Remembrance Day.

Royal Canadian Legion Br. 157 did another tremendous job honouring our veterans but that is no surprise. The Amherstburg Legion always does a great job on Remembrance Day and on any other special occasion. They are regularly standing up and serving our veterans and its membership.

There were several things that were mentioned during the ceremony Monday morning but I would like to repeat them here. While it was great to see everyone turn out for Remembrance Day, it is important to remember those who served our country all year long. Nov. 11 is a very special day but they need to be remembered and honoured every day of the year. 

Thank you veterans for all you have done for not just me, but for all of us. It is a debt that can’t be repaid.

The message of getting youth out to understand what is going on and why it is important is also vital. 

One local school (Stella Maris) was acknowledged at the Remembrance Day ceremony and to them and to all youth that attended a ceremony either here or elsewhere, your presence was appreciated. The reason for Remembrance Day is one that can’t be forgotten and has to extend into every generation to come.

Overall, it was a beautiful way to honour our veterans so we at the RTT thank the Legion and everyone else who played a role in making Remembrance Day the appropriate and fitting event that it was.

George St. resolution

There was at least a partial resolution to the issues that are facing residents on George St., Seymour St. and part of Murray St.

That resolution is that porches and steps will be kept at no cost to the homeowners on those streets as those areas will receive sewer, road and sidewalk replacement. Fences and landscaping will still be impacted, but the permanent items will not be.

While I’m sure there are sighs of relief from at least some of the residents (though others with shrubs and fences may feel differently), I was left wondering if there was not a better way. Yes, it is great the town listened and gave relief to those residents but there was angst and concern between the time they received initial letters and the Oct. 28 town council meeting.

I confess that I don’t have the answers, but I wondered if there could have been some sort of meeting or correspondence set out to better update residents. The mayor said he told residents to be patient, but there was still concern and frustration heading into the meeting and I can understand that. I know I would have had concerns too if I received one of those letters, ones that I realize had to be sent out.

Again, providing some relief to residents is a good thing but I question whether the process could be tweaked so that there isn’t as much concern if a similar situation ever arises again.

Town hall issues

I’m still intrigued with the proposal to possibly move town hall into the former General Amherst High School building. I await the report that will be coming back to town council in the coming weeks, but kicking the tires on this issue was a no-brainer for the municipalities. 

The current town hall is not a long-term solution, in my view, and I think there are those who share that opinion. Town council meetings regularly have council chambers overflowing and people sitting and standing in the lobby.

While there is an accessible entrance in the back, there are a couple of steps in the front people have to use for access to that door. There are even more steps inside the building as administration is both upstairs and downstairs.

At least the unintended water feature in the lobby, also known as the leaky roof, was fixed a while back.

I’m not an architect or a contractor, but I would guess repairs and upgrades at town hall would be well into the six figures, if not seven figures. I could be wrong, but I do know there are costs to upgrade the current building.

The Valente proposal has to be considered in conjunction with the space needs study, which made its own recommendation with regards to a new town hall.

The study recommended Bill Wigle Park which coincidentally is right next door to the former high school. Which proposal works best, if any at all?

I do like the portion in the Valente proposal about a multi-use council chambers. Not only would it serve to accommodate more people during a council meeting, the proposal calls for it to be used for concerts, live theatre and other such events. If it is possible to get more use out of the space and avoid it sitting dormant when meetings are not in session, why not take a look at such a proposal?