[Winona Online Democracy]
Alright , I've read your "justifications" for this idiotic project and I still remain unconvinced, however, the macro-economic explanation was "interesting" and original to say the least.
Regarding gaining the trust and goodwill of WSU ? who the heck are you kidding? this town and its citizens have bent over backwards accommodating the university for decades, to imply that we need to cow-tow to them in the better interest of our relationship with them is preposterous and downright insulting to the intelligence of the Winona tax payer.
Regarding the tracks being dangerous and attributing deaths to train back-ups, well sir, that is an old argument that can can be eliminated real quick, show me ONE example of a patient dying in an ambulance while waiting for a train to pass? Do you have one? You dont. That is a baseless argument and certainly does not justify a $10,000 expenditure. Furthermore, I am not interested in getting
behind
"moving the tracks" that's a nice pipedream but lets stay on topic and deal with what we can affect now.
Regarding the use of federal funds and the thinking that if we don't use it it will "just go up to Alaska". Hmmm, that's interesting...so what exactly are we teaching this "community of learners" about civic ethics and responsible use of taxpayers money on a local, state and federal level (since they are all represented here)? This would be a great case study for the the students of WSU, they can watch how their University tries to strong-arm a community into a financial black hole( remember people, this project is going to have future maintenance costs that we can't begin to even estimate because it is going to have water table issues, and that is guaranteed) and at the same time they get to witness pork-barrel politics and how their parents tax dollars get thrown out the window on a pet project. That money that would "just go to Alask
a"?
hmmm, probably better spent in Alaska, down here it is only going to cause the city of Winona financial burden for generation to come, but, on the bright side, if you are on Huff st, you wont have to wait for a train!
Like I said, this project is going to be a case study for the students it's supposed to be serving. This lesson could be titled " Civic Fiduciary Irresponsiblity " or " Trickle Down Porkbarrel Politics". This project is a blatant waste of todays taxpayer dollars, and even worse, future taxpayer dollars. Nobody has presented any justification for this money pit other than convenience.....$10,000,000 of taxpayer money....how anybody can stand behind this project and believe this is the best use of those dollars is beyond me, now take into consideration future maintenance costs of this...
And last and finally, Eminant Domain and property values..so how much do you think you are going to be buying
up all
the property associated with this ? $10,000,000 is just scratching the surface of the final costs, the tax payers of Winona are about to be introduced to the term "Blue Sky". Go try to move a franchised business like BP, We are going to be referred to their corporate counsel who will, just as they did in the Best Buy fiasco in Richfield, extort a large amount of $$ over the fair market value of the land, we are after all going to be removing/moving several well established businesses, they arent (and very justifiably so) moving for the heck of it, they are going to want substantial compensation for the hassle. Hang on poor taxpayer, the proverbail elevator is going up on the final costs of this pet project.
So who still thinks this is the best use of the taxpayer dollar?
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