The Engineering Complex: Our Next Canderel

Canderel here we go again! Don't we ever remember anything in this City or has the amnesia disease spread to the University Board Room already.

The students at the University should be out there protesting. However, I must admit that U of W students seem to be a fairly passive bunch-- remember the "weekend" destruction of the 80-year old Grad House--not like the good old days when I was going to school. There has been hardly a peep out of them.

What connection is there between the Canderel building and University of Windsor students? Much more than you think. You see it will be the Students who will be stuck with the costs if the University makes the decision to go downtown. It will be their tuition fees that will have to increase to cover a foolish move to curry favour with the Mayor. Or else Windsor taxpayers might get stuck with footing the bill.

In reading Monica Wolfson's story I couldn't help but laugh. Here's what ought to concern the University students and/or Windsor taxpayers:

• 1) "The University owns all the property it needs to build the facility on campus"
  
  2) "it would be contingent on whether city officials could deliver on pledges of cash and buying additional land from private owners, board members said.
  
  Coun. Drew Dilkens said no detailed financial proposal has been given to city council"

Monica was gracious in not using the word "expropriation." If she had, people would remember the fiasco at the Canderel building where the costs of expropriation skyrocketed. Have all of the files been closed yet? And how many millions above what was thought to be the expropriation amount was the final figure?

What would happen if the cost of buying the property downtown would increase dramatically as well? Who picks up that tab or does it mean that the Engineering Complex facilities are reduced by the increased expropriation costs.

I wonder which additional properties would be needed and who the land owners are. I understand that Board members have been told which are the preferred properties already. I for one would like to know which properties they are.

I have not looked into it but there may be a question as to whether the City is in a position to deliver lands that were expropriated for the Western Super Anchor to the University. Has anybody obtained a legal opinion saying that it is possible? I have heard about one former land owner who may dispute what is going on. If this person is successful, then what happens? If worst came to worst, the City could re-expropriate but at what higher amount now and at what additional time-frame?

It is all well and good for the Mayor to make promises about what he will do if the University goes downtown. However, I'm rather shocked that the Councillor would state that Council has not seen any detailed financial proposal. What assurance is there for the University that the Mayor will deliver? How much more time will the delay be while the University negotiates with the City?

I hope that University Board Members don't have short memories with respect to Mayor Francis and money for the University. Remember what I wrote some time ago about money that former Mayor Hurst supposedly was going to contribute to the University and to the College. Why doesn't Eddie meet the previous request for money first to show his "good faith" in dealing with the schools :

• "The issue arose over the $8 million that the two educational institutions thought they were to receive from the City. As the Star reported about 2 years ago:
  
  "St. Clair College president John Strasser said a signed letter from Hurst saying he would recommend to council a $3-million contribution to the college was instrumental in securing $12 million in provincial Super Build funding for the college's Ford Centre of Excellence but has now placed St. Clair in a costly and embarrassing predicament.
  
  According to Strasser, the college had to borrow the $3 million that it was counting on getting from the city and is now paying six- per-cent interest of more than $180,000 annually on that debt.
  
  In a similar letter to the university, Hurst stated he would recommend the city contribute $5 million to support the institution's application for $10.7 million in Super Build funding.
  
  The university contributed $5 million, private industry and alumni donated $8 million and the County of Essex gave $1 million. The money was used to build the new health education centre, a drama school and a centre for automotive research at a total cost of almost $30 million.
  
  "It wasn't an outright promise, but it was a clear statement the city would be on board," University of Windsor president Ross Paul said. "We're $5 million short and it's the city's pledge."
  
  According to the ex-Mayor, Hurst said
  
  "that he carefully worded the letter in support of the projects and purposely made no promises to the institutions.
  
  "The message was a very clear one and all it said was the mayor was prepared to recommend to council."
  
  Hurst said the matter was never brought to city council for a decision because "other circumstances overtook" it.
  
  "I didn't have an occasion before I retired to bring the matter through to Windsor city council."
  
  What was the reaction of Eddie and Council:
  
  "Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said he's been approached by Strasser and Paul about the written commitments made by Hurst but rejected their suggestion he should take the lead in approaching council about the $8 million.
  
  The mayor said the city still has a debt approaching $200 million, one of the highest debt ratios in Ontario, and is committed, as a condition of this year's budget, to paying down another $10 million in 2005 on top of regular debt payments.
  
  "Everybody's in a bind here," he said.
  
  The two presidents have been meeting privately with members of council, but their reluctance so far to make a formal presentation to council stems from the frosty receptions they've received. Said Paul: "Nobody wants to go to council just to get shot down."

What makes anybody think that dealing with the City of Windsor makes any sense or will be any different? Just look at what the Minister of Finance had to say about dealing with our Mayor. We're getting the same stalling with the Engineering Complex that we have with the border. It is all designed for a political purpose to improve the position of the Mayor rather than to help out the University.

The University did a magnificent job of reorganizing their finances just over a year ago. Now they're prepared to take the risk in moving downtown rather than staying where they are. It makes sense from a financial point of view and also an educational point of view for the students to remain at the campus.

Who cares must be the answer when you have a legacy to build. It's only the next generation's money. Who cares how much debt the City is in. It's only taxpayer and student money.

I expect that the University Board and the public will expect the University President to prove that moving downtown will NOT be a waste of money especially since the University will depend on contributions from members of the public--about $20M worth-- to help pay for the building:

• "We have a responsibility to ourselves as educators and administrators, to our students and to the community and our supporters to examine all options, to test every strategy and to measure the value of each public dollar spent to ensure that what we are creating are monuments to unexcelled excellence in our region.
  
  Within the City of Windsor, where we build is less important to all concerned than how we build."

Dr. Paul will have to demonstrate conclusively that:

• "The project will stay within budget"

Remember what was said when the first words came out about a possible deal:

• "Paul said he has always been a huge downtown supporter. "If we could pull something off it would be wonderful. But we're not going to move downtown for the sake of moving downtown. Where it makes sense, we would absolutely like to do that."
  
  Paul, who will retire in 15 months, said he has no intention of leaving the university with a big deficit as part of his legacy."

I know, I know, I am fixated on the border. But this reminds me so much of the mess that we have with respect to the border issue.

The Ambassador Bridge has all the property that it needs to build their Enhancement Project without wiping out Sandwich and Delray. However, our Governments on both sides of the river have this strange desire to spend billions of dollars to duplicate facilities that are already in existence and probably to force hundreds of residents and businesses out of Delray in the process. It is a Megaproject run wild since no one really knows what the cost will be although we do know that the traffic is not there to justify the cost from a financial perspective.

Please tell me how the Engineering Complex going downtown differs. The University has all the land it needs for the Complex and need not concern itself about property values downtown that may devastate their budget. They have already wasted a year looking at something that probably makes no sense whatsoever and which has resulted in the cost of the project increasing just by the delay. And we know what delays in Windsor cost that City in some other projects: 30 to 40% over budget.

There must be some logic to all of this but I don't see it. If was a University of Windsor student, I would be pretty upset about what my tuition costs are going to be in the future to pay for this bad mistake. Let the Students learn at an early age what taxpayers are feeling must be the driving force behind the move to downtown. Just as taxpayers have had to pay increased taxes to pay for the Canderel fiasco, the students can pay for the Engineering Complex disaster- to-be.