Raise the Hammer

Posted on the Tiger-Cat message board:


email response from Terrry Whitehead;

The facts are

The Tiger Cats signed on to the West Harbour site for two commonwealth bids (did they do their own assessment)

Tiger Cats signed on for West Harbour for Pan Am Bid (did they indicate it would not work)

Bob young is quoted in the Hamilton spectator as stating he would work with any site the City came up with.

The only reason the council added additional sites was to have a plan B if West Harbour costs became prohibitive.( Again as far as the council was concerned we had no idea that the Tiger Cats where not on side for the West Harbour)

When confederation park came up council looked at alternatives just in case west harbour was to costly. Confederation Park just went through a Master Plan public process where the public indicated they did not want to see any more development on the those lands. Since at this stage of the process Tiger Cats where on side for West Harbour as far as we knew it was a know brainer to take an alternative site that has conflict of the list. ( The decision may of been different if we knew that the Tiger Cats where not on board for the West Harbour)

The Tiger Cats in the early stages suggested Aldershot. The spec indicates they have been in discussions for a year. The reality is the Burlington site is a good site and that has been their real focus

The Tiger Cats pulled from the West Harbour three months after the site was confirmed. City consultants stated the site would work.

The Tiger Cats withdrew from the east mountain site before. Council could consider it.

The taxpayers are on the hook for 120 million dollars the Tiger Cats 10 million for the building of a new stadium in Hamilton.

The City of Winnipeg commitment for a new stadium is 12.5 million while the community non profit organization that own the Blue Bombers are on the hook for 88 million dollars.

The proposal in Burlington has the city paying five to ten million.

Hamilton taxpayers are on the hook for almost seventy million Dollars.

It is clear from staff that Confederation park would be a very difficult sit to develop and costly because of the proximity to lake ontario and the abundance of environmental sensitive areas that are protected. Servicing this magnitude of development would also be very expensive.

So you see some of the facts we are dealing with you should now understand That the Tiger Cats either fumbled the ball early by not informing the city council early in the process that they where not interested in the West Harbour or their intentions all along has been to develop in Burlington this might be another reason why it has been so difficult to satisfy the Tiger Cats.

So you see the city council are the ones that have acted responsibly

Respectfully


Terry