On that point though:

1. It makes sense that there are potential efficiencies/synergies between the velodrome and the indoor recreation facilities.

2. Somewhat alarmingly, the recent ToM report CMS-050-011 is unclear just what is part of the overall $ 40 million capped cost and what part, if any of the recreation costs would be incremental to that. So if the town spends some incremental amount on making the space more flexible than what is covered under the current overall cost, etc. then that’s more money to be paid out on that portion than the notional $ 3.8 million.

The more I think of it, the more I suspect that ToM councillors as a whole have not given this a lot of thought.

Hospitals … NOT Circuses.

Just wanted to clarify two points :-
- Milton hospital expansion is underway. It’s in the planning phase right now.
- If we move forward with the velodrome, the development charges money we would use for the velodrome cannot legally go towards the hospital. That money *must* go to pay for an indoor recreational facilty.

I’ll raise other questions you raised at the Council. We dont have the operating cost estimates yet and I too would like to know who foots the bill if fundraising goal or MEV partner amount doesn’t materialize.

Zeeshan Hamid

I haven’t checked out Tony Lambert’s web presence yet but can report that most of the other ToM pols have a non-existent or pitiful web presence. You are the only one having a dialogue on this subject; Mike Cluett at least has some info on his web site and I saw one tweet from Rick DiLorenzo.

The first time I heard about this idea I had the same reaction. Having read your stuff, can’t say I’m feeling too different. This just seems like a “shiny object” that’s caught people’s attention/imagination. The ToM has much bigger fish to fry … maybe we could use a proper hospital. (I drove by MH recently and said to myself “I’ve had pimples on my butt bigger than that”.)

I see the potential ToM negatives as follows:

1. risk re: $ 2.5 M MEV partner amount not materializing
2. risk re: $ 3.5 M fundraising amount not materializing; it’s not like the TD dude is guaranteeing the amount will be raised
3. on-going operating and maintenance cost for a 113,000 ft2 facility, versus what it would cost for just the infield area
4. “displaced fundraising cost” (can’t think of a better term at this point) for #2 above as well as $ 7 M Mattamy donation and $ 2 Mattamy sponsorship; my thinking is that this or part of this money might be otherwise obtainable for a much more worthy initiative … maybe a hospital ?

I’m late to this game and formulating other general points but these are my main ToM issues for now.

At this point I say “Hospitals … NOT Circuses”.