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 Frustrating!
That is the word that comes to mind when I think of the city's activities on the border file. I find myself constantly hounding the mayor and City Administration for information and external costs so that I can inform curious and concerned ratepayers. On Monday, we received the latest "monthly" update report, much delayed as usual, on the city's legal and consulting fees. As at Oct. 13th, City Solicitor George Wilkki reported, a total of $1.690,380 had been spent on the border file, and another $1,067,946.13 on the Ontario Municipal Board hearing to successfully fend off challenges from the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership to a city bylaw that prohibits, without city permission, non-rail uses (read truck routes) on the DRTP and other rail corridors.
The total for these files is $2,758.326.24, representing an additional $98,961.49 spent on the border file since the last report and $173,665.70 for the OMB hearing. What was not reported in writing on Monday was the in camera authorization by City Council a month earlier, on Oct. 10th, of a further upset limit of $400,000 to external border lawyer David Estrin ($275,000) and independent engineering consulting firms ($125,00O). Our administrators say they have been having a hard time getting the information required out of Estrin to prepare a "non-compromising" public report on the nature of these expenditures. I have repeatedly been told that we have to be very careful what we report publicly so as not to compromise the city's legal and strategic positions. I certainly have no desire to do that, nor to go offside on Council on these critical matters. But I also believe it is incumbent upon me as an elected official to be transparent about what we are spending -- on what -- especially on the eve of an election. During question period Monday, I was able to coax from the mayor the admission that declaring the amount of money authorized by Council in camera on Oct. 10th would not compromise the city. Da! I therefore felt comfortable releasing the $400,000 figure to the media after the meeting. Since a written report from adminsitration and Estrin will not be forthcoming until after Monday's election, I also feel compelled to share with ratepayers some overview information on what this money is intended to be spent on. Independent consultants, we are told, could be required to provide advice and review and evaluate various reports respecting the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) study and the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project. DRIC, as we know, is moving forward on a plan to construct a six-lane expressway and a four-lane service road along Huron Church Road to accommodate international trucks. Consultants are also required to monitor DRIC's drilling program in west Windsor, designed to determine the best location for a new bridge. Consultants would analyse borehole reports, prepare reports and counter proposals to shape the DRIC study and protect the city's interests, research and prepare proposals for other DRIC initatives such as tunnel ventilation options, and research, review and prepare reports as necessary to assist in the city's review of the Ambassaddor Bridge twinning submission. The city, of course, is on record as opposing the Huron Church truck access route and Ambassador Bridge twinning proposals. DRIC has shown no inclination to consider the bridge twinning option, nor the city's Schwartz Plan bypass through far west Windsor. The Ambassador Bridge, in a bizarre move, has applied to the United States Coast Guard for a permit to build a second span and the city feels a need to become involved in blocking that process. Estrin is still working on a public report to Council, complete with recommended resolutions and legal remedies, he believes the city should take to protect its interests against the enemies. It will be up to the new Council to say yeah or nay. While our growing fees represent a huge chunk of change, I have argued that it is peanuts when compared to the billions the senior governments will spend in determinng and carrying out the ultimate border solution, whenever that occurs. Opponents of the city's border positions love to pounce on new information on external legal fees, looking for any opening to descredit Council. One critic, a defender of the natural area endangered by the Schwartz bypass proposal, sent me the following email: "When Estrin went to Hamilton he said he could win the Red Creek Hill battle for $150,000. Thus far they have spent $6 million. You guys are halfway there with nothing to show for it." Absorbing such rhetoric has created a bit of a bunker mentality within City Hall. But it is no excuse for withholding and delaying legitimate information. Certainly, the city's hard ball position on the proposed border solutions has met with some success in taking at grade truck route solutions off the table and getting DRIC to embrace tunneling. Going forward, however, I suspect I will be increasingly reluctant to shovel more money Estrin's way. At some point we need to stop acting like a petulant child. We need to end our adversarial relationship with the senior levels of government if at all possible and come to the table to discuss technical strategies that will work for all. Huron Church Road was recently ranked the "granddaddy of all time" in the ranking of Ontario's worst roads by the Municipal Roads Coalition. There will be no solution, the judges said, until "half a dozen government agencies in two countries get their act together and decide how they will manage the border crossing." I couldn't agree more. It is time for the City of Windsor to take a more conciliatory stance and discuss pros and cons face-to-face with the other agencies, rather than communicate at arms length through expensive legal letters. No one has commented on this article. 
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