Lansdowne Park… spinning down, down down…

On Fri, 6/18/10, Doucet, Clive <Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca> wrote:

Subject: One third of Lansdowne Park to be declared as SURPLUS land - this is not a done deal - Council votes on June 28

Dear Ottawa residents,

It’s always good advice to read the fineprint before signing a contract. Well, we have read the fineprint in the Lansdowne Partnership Plan (LPP) legal agreement and it contains several disturbing clauses that should be of concern to any reasonable and prudent person.

Here is a list of what’s in the legal agreement that Council will be voting on on Monday, June 28:

1) The LPP Legal Agreement includes a clause to declare 12 acres of Lansdowne Park as SURPLUS which means it is SALEABLE.

2) In addition, the retail tenant (the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group: Greenberg, Shenkman, Ruddy and Hunt) will have the right of first opportunity to buy the land, which means that competitive bidding for the surplus land will not be permitted. 

3) Pursuant to the Urban Park Project Management Agreement, OSEG will act as project manager for the construction of the urban park, which includes the front lawn and Sylvia Holden Community Park. 

4) Pursuant to the Urban Park Property Management Agreement, OSEG will manage the urban park, Aberdeen Pavilion and Horticultural Building. 

5) Although taxpayers are footing the bill for the stadium construction to the tune of $129 million, base rent for the stadium during the first thirty years of the term is $1.00 per year. 

6) And if you think any of this is bad, wait until an arm’s length Muncipal Services Corporation takes over control of the park.  This is a very real possibility.

7) Here is the link to the LPP Project Agreement Framework legal document #18:

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/lansdowne_partnership/project_agreement_framework.pdf

Contrary to what many are claiming - this is not a “done deal”. 

What can you do? 

1. Write to members of Council:
Georges.Bedard@ottawa.ca; Michel.Bellemare@ottawa.ca; Rainer.Bloess@ottawa.ca;
Glenn.Brooks@ottawa.ca; Rick.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca; Alex.Cullen@ottawa.ca;
Diane.Deans@ottawa.ca; Steve.Desroches@ottawa.ca; Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca;
Eli.El-Chantiry@ottawa.ca; Peggy.Feltmate@ottawa.ca; Jan.Harder@ottawa.ca;
Diane.Holmes@ottawa.ca; Peter.Hume@ottawa.ca; Gord.Hunter@ottawa.ca;
Rob.Jellett@ottawa.ca; Kitchissippi@ottawa.ca; Jacques.Legendre@ottawa.ca;
Maria.Mcrae@ottawa.ca; Bob.Monette@ottawa.ca; Doug.Thompson@ottawa.ca;
Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca; Marianne.Wilkinson@ottawa.ca; Larry.OBrien@ottawa.ca

2. Contact your local Community Association:  http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/parks_recreation/partners/community_orgs/east/comm_assoc_en.html

3. Talk to your work colleagues and neighbours.

4. Support the future of the Ottawa Farmers’ Market at Lansdowne: http://www.ottawafarmersmarket.ca/

5. If you’re on Facebook, join the “Save the Horticulture Building” group:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=131809170165702&ref=mf

and “Design Lansdowne Together”:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=40034316730

6. Donate to the Friends of Lansdowne Park legal fund: http://www.letsgetitright.ca/

For a quick one minute summary of the Lansdowne financial scheme, check out a YouTube video featuring retired economist, Michael Tiger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tsA1StX7PM or http://www.clivedoucet.com/

Sincerely,

Clive Doucet
Councillor, Capital Ward
www.clivedoucet.com

This entry was posted on 22. June 2010 at 20:43 and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.