It looks like the proposed splash pad will wind up next to the North Bay Discovery Museum.
Member of the Waterfront Development Committee, Jay Aspin told BayToday this afternoon that the group decided not to build it on the beach side of Memorial Drive near existing facilities.
See: Splash pad may be multi-million dollar white elephant: Aspin
Aspin is an advocate of the beachfront location and is clearly disappointed that it's not going there and that city staff refused to provide cost estimates for both locations so members could make an informed decision.
"Bottom line is the administration won't give the numbers. I've never been on a committee considering a project where we don't have hard numbers in front of us. They said we have to pick the location before we can consider the cost. That's unusual. We have two options here and we need to know the financial implications. I guess they have the councillors in their hip pockets.
"I want to make the right decision for the public and for that I need transparency."
Aspin says he's going to file a dissenting report, and may even speak before council.
"There is no transparency at City Hall. This is a decision that is going to impact the community and this committee has been denied the numbers. The bureaucracy is going to write up a nice little report, that's how it works. I don't know if they'll have numbers or if they even care about it. They better have numbers because in my dissenting report I'll say I can't vote on something when I'm not given the numbers."
Aspin says he's tried his best to keep things open and transparent about the project.
"Obviously they don't want to be transparent and are willing to do what the bureaucracy wants, not what the citizens want."
The recommendation will likely go before council at its March 6 meeting.
