Does anybody think that maybe we should have looked back over the last 18 months before we handed $50,000 over to Vachon group to bring in the big fancy hotel at the Crowsnest Centre site. Two years from now I hope this hotel is a little more visible than the "Naturally Rewarding" on our new banners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQygIHfnH9E
Note: Cost of administration $4325 per day
18 comments:
Dean if you squint really hard the banners disappear.HA ha
Brilliant. Perhaps we can hold policy writing competitions once the center opens for the second time.
Remember when the Mayor made the comment in his newsletter about having to be careful what you say because it's on the Internet forever.
Seems like it's caught up to him.
Good thing he's spent the last four years grooming mini-Bruce. Pass the torch please
Still no answer to my July 24 question to Saindon:
"It is not clear what we are paying $50,000 for. Does the “two years” mean a hotel has to be built and opened by then? Did councillors have this information when they voted?"
According to the minutes:
"Hotel Development
Myron Thompson, Chief Administrative Officer presented a report on the Hotel Development proposed at the Crowsnest Centre. The Best Western Franchise was secured for the Crowsnest Pass by the Vachon Group and the application will remain active until July 26, 2013. As previously reported to Council during the July 16, 2013 Governance and Priorities Meeting, the deal with Medican has fallen through. If the application to Best Western were to remain in effect, the Vachon Group would require reimbursement of the $50,000.00 application fee that was previously paid. This fee could be recaptured once an investor group is established. Ms. Sherry Poole, Economic Development Officer presented a Hotel Conference Centre Development Opportunity Report. Ms. Poole identified that the go forward plan, should the Municipality proceed with Best Western, will be to develop an aggressive 3 month marketing strategy. Mr. Thompson identified that the $ 50,000.00 would be sourced from land reserves and then replenished.
M#6944-13: Councillor Lonsbury moved that the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass proceed with
the action and disbursement of funds to keep the Best Western Franchise.
CARRIED
A recorded vote was requested
In Favor: Mayor Decoux, Councillors Gail, Gallant, Lonsbury and Mitchell
Opposed: Councillors Saje and Saindon"
This does not even mention the "two years".
Since Group Vachon, not CNP owns these rights, and the owner Chris Vachon is now an employee (Vice President) of Penrose which is in the hotel development/management business, does that mean that our EDO will be soliciting investors for a BW to be built and managed by Penrose?
No answers from Saindon. Even though I told him I agree with his dissenting vote, he is afraid to break Magnificent 7 solidarity.
This is a farce. Now the municipality is offering to send our EDO to find investors for the consulting group which is holding the rights to Best Western.
And to put some icing on this bizarre arrangement, Best Western will require another hotel study before they allow any deal to proceed.
Our council is just wasting taxpayers money.
There wa a company that had two factories. The new President decided that the Head Office staff needed to be expanded. He hired new managers and office staff, and held meeting after meeting. They reorganized HQ. They became self centered and decided that they needed new vehicles and a new logo. Wow, weren't they doing well.
In the meantime the two factories were all but forgotten with the endless HQ meetings required. It wasn't long before the factories were in trouble and production fell. By the time the loss of income was recognized, the company was in trouble. It became necessary to reduce costs and staff.
After many meetings, HQ had a solution. One of the factories was closed and the other was downsized. No one in HQ was laid off or fired. Production kept falling at the factory. Guess what happened in a short while?
Welcome to the Crwosnest Pass local government. They know not what they do or did.
So does this kind of make the "$10,000we spent on the feasibility study for the hotel" a complete waste of money?
I was thinking that when BW did their first feasibility study only to have those thoughts confirmed now.
Jerry
I was offered stock options on a local start-up coal venture. My position expires on Aug 15th. Council must make the proper decision and buy me out, thus procuring another major industry for the area. Unfortunately there is also the definite possibility of a study on this one also, in the near future.
Mr. Vachon made a poor/uninformed decision and now wants his money out.(Knowing, as he does now, that Sparwood's BW application would be the 'fly in the ointment' when it comes to an upcoming study.) Also, does he still have his meat hooks deep enough into this (with no apparent commitment) to possibly milk us for a bit more?
All the secret "administrative meetings" and council retreats and a total business flop. And they have the nerve to discuss "in secret" the business merits of selling the taxpayers owned electric transmission lines. For your information Mr. Mayor, transmission lines are not land or personnel or legal, so discussion about selling what is a major asset of the municipality should not be in secret.
There is no business sense or common sense at the council table. All we have is the nonsense which resulted in the latest $50 000 payment. How much more they spent on lawyers and consultants?
Let's cut Mr. Vachon loose, and by doing so cut him another new lower orifice, (possibly saving us from adding to a certain 'laughing stock' label that we have garnered over the past few years) and eat this, as just another loss, which is no worse than us buying another red PU truck.
I can only hope that there is no further damage done during the last few days of this council's current mandate, in their narcissistic attempts to establish some form of CV legacy.
5:49 :
Nothing against Mr. Vachon, he was just a hotel manager between jobs trying to hustle up some contract work. His one-man company did not meet the RFP requirement of "financial resources to complete the project" so he should have been eliminated at the outset, and that should have been the end of the RFP process.
Then CNP could have tried something else, perhaps another RFP without that unrealistic requirement (developers don't have financial resources, they leverage Other Peoples Money) or perhaps listing with realtors.
But that would be too much like the Magnificent 7 admitting they screwed up, so they got into the continuing Gong Show with Group Vachon, Medican, Penrose, BW, etc.
8:12,
What you say may be true.
"It may be that he was just 'between jobs trying to hustle up some contract work" (is that known as easy money?). Maybe the B Boys were also between jobs.
This mess has become extremely convoluted due to multiple name changes and bankruptcy discharge conditions. I don't think it was a wise idea to stick with this guy.
If he really is a charity case then let's get him a job. (He really might have a few qualities there) His pitches were bought by council and it stinks all around.
I don't really care if his stated position was as the head Day Janitor at some Holiday Inn. He should still be hung out to dry due to his greed and his well orchestrated success in hanging us with his loses and using very good finesse so that us taxpayers will now be paying for the demolition, promotion, another new RFP, future marketing and the securing of another developer. All the while handcuffing the entire issue by retaining rights and with nothing personally involved.
This is no backcountry neophyte.
I don't want anyone to get the impression that maybe there was some fault on Council's part.
So much for the projected revenues of $200K. We would be very lucky to be able to give it away now. (Predatory entities take notice of this type of poor planning and possibly perceive the desperation.}
Everything that relates to this issue should be 'tabled'. Let everyone take a breath. It doesn't matter what their position. Nothing is going to happen in the few short days before Oct 21st.
When you set out to prove to be so much smarter than everyone who came before you, this kind of thing is bound to happen. Not understanding the mandate in the first place ended in a disaster all around. The fault is entirely with all and everyone of the councilors for not doing their job,
This maniac mayor has been a major detriment to this community. If these 6 councillors had Any love for this Pass, they would all stick together and not let this tyrant do anymore harm here. What are these 6 afraid of??? STOP him from making things worse, he is not capable of making any rational decisions.
Thank goodness they focused on policy for the first two years imagine the damage that could have been done. (Not making light of what they have done)
Off topic maybe, another Bruce prediction (from Sasha's report on the October 9th, 2012 MDM meeting):
"Bill addressed the River Run issue.
Bruce replied. He said that currently there are 285 lots coming back to the municipality and will be put out for public auction. However, the Municipality wants to sell the lots as a package and needs permission from the courts in order to do so. He said that we are waiting for an answer back and should have one by March of 2013. They want to attract another developer, that is why they want to sell the lots as a package, however they want to make sure it is done properly this time."
Also, the Bridgegate Boyz are back in business in Okotoks:
www.okotoks.ca/data/1/rec_docs/3167_May_6_Appeal_Hearing_-_Summary(final).pdf
Item B.2, page 3
How dare council close the CLG without a plan! Arrogant Bozos!
Decoux Gallant business acumen is amazing. Medican, the builder, brought Vouchon on board in order to secure investors so they can build a hotel.
Medican is now out of the picture, but Vouchon got left behind. He also works with the guy who is restructuring Medican, the builder.
The municipality is now looking for investors for the hotel. The CAO told council that Vouchon will be useful, once the investors are found, because he will be able to provide a builder, who just happens to be the newly restructured Medican.
And we put these people to be in charge of our purse.
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