Put Peel Plaza on hold

I often find the columns of Herb Duncan pessimistic and too negative toward the City of Saint John. Still, he does sometimes offer some good criticism and ideas regarding how the city should operate.

Today's column offers an idea that should be considered by those who control city spending. Herb suggests that while the city is doing well economically, the world market is soft and it might be imprudent to spend millions of dollars on public buildings, such as the cop shop and parking garage at Peel Plaza.

I support this idea in some regards, though I do understand the counterpoint as well.

Peel Plaza will cost the city a lot: the cost to develop is very high and will be a big part of the city budget. The public buildings currently proposed do not seem like they will encourage private development, meaning the costs will not do much to increase tax revenue. If energy projects don't generate as much money as the city is hoping, this capital spending could be a bad plan.

On the other hand, the city has very low office vacancy, so if the city moves our police station from rented premises they will open up more office space for entrepreneurs and new business. Also, construction costs are down due to world economic problems, and while credit is harder to obtain interest rates are lower, so developing now might be cheaper than it will be a few years from now.

I also recognize that the current police station location is not ideal. However, I don't think the need to move the city's police is any more urgent today than it was last year, or over the last decades.

I think the pros and cons of developing Peel Plaza now should be analyzed in greater detail and more public debate is needed.