After reading the article about the new proposed reflecting pool at Skelton Park across from City Hall I feel compelled to write this. (Park across from city hall to get reflecting pool, Progress, Aug. 7.)
As a taxpayer and home owner I am peeved to say the least, I have been having on going issues with the city about the sad state of our street, living here for the last 21 years as well as many other home owners of the houses here on Edward Street. We have been asking and begging to have it repaired for over 10 years.
As many of you might know, it is the street with access through the tunnel to which children, bike riders, the elderly on foot and many on scooters use on a daily basis, the road to which the city admits is in sad state of disrepair.
To give you some background the street has NO drainage what so ever, it is split down the middle, grass grows through it , every time it rains it floods, the sides of the road are gone and falling apart. I even broke my foot out front on the street because of the difference in pavement. When I made the city aware of the broken foot I suffered they showed up and added some gravel to the side of the broken pavement( which is all gone now). I have made numerous phone calls to the city only to be told it is not in the budget and is slated to be done in the next three to five years, well that was 10 years ago and last month after another lengthy call I was told the exact same thing not for three to five years and was told they would “get back to me.” I still haven’t had a return call.
Yet when I opened my local paper a year or so ago I see that all council members were getting iPads. I wonder how much of the taxpayers’ money went to pay for those? And yet again I see that now a “park” if you can call it that is slated to be redone, of course it is across from the city. I wonder how much that is going to cost taxpayers? And yet there is not enough in the budget to fix and repave a street with 10 houses? Within the last 35 years? And yes, it has been 35 years according to other long-time owners, Just where are our tax dollars and property tax hikes going? I am personally sick and tired of the ever increasing taxes I pay going to such frivolous things.
I guess the next step for us home owners on Edward Street is to get a petition and show up with all the pictures in hand and demand they spend some of our money accordingly so that we can all use our street and the tunnel safely.
Laura Keeley
Chilliwack