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Friday, September 10, 2021 5Brooklin Town Crier About that EA and the Whitby Tax Bill We are downtown Brooklin Business owners writing in support of last month's Town Crier article "About that EA." Councillors Lee, Mulcahy and Roy rightly called for the EA study to be closed. You will read arguments that this $200M provincial highway, to be paid by Whitby taxpayers, is necessary to save downtown Brooklin. We are here to tell you that is not true. The issue and the hypocrisy In 2015, the Town and Province agreed that Whitby would pay for the EA study and all costs to construct a new Highway 7/12 alignment that would avoid downtown Brooklin. Whitby would hand over the new highway's ownership to the Province and in exchange the Town would get Baldwin St. The idea was to divert truck traffic from downtown Brooklin. By owning the road, the Town could address the needs of downtown Brooklin businesses, holding festivals and events on Baldwin without provincial permission. Now, from a Town that declared a climate crisis and adopted an Environment & Sustainability Plan, Whitby is considering highway options through the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt when other options exist. This area is afforded special protection because it serves a unique ecological function as the source of fresh drinking water for all of south Durham, about 250,000 people. It also has abundant wildlife. That's why it's protected by the Province. This hypocrisy is not lost on us. The reality today Truck traffic concerns date back to many years ago when the 407 and 412 toll roads were under construction. The roads are built now and the constant truck traffic days are over. Seven years and a pandemic later, Brooklin business owners face a reality like every other community: no one knows what the future of bricks and mortar retail will look like as many turn to online shopping. One thing we know for sure: Brooklin businesses WANT business traffic funneled through the downtown. To re-route traffic away is, to us, counter productive. We can tell you that when Baldwin closes for an event, we lose money, not make it. We believe the alternate route will hurt us rather than help. We asked the EA Study team (BTE Consulting) if Brooklin businesses were recently surveyed about this. The answer was no. As far as we know, it has been at least five years since Brooklin businesses were consulted about an alternative highway route to the west. And here is what is unbelievable to us. The Town's own Feasibility Study, carried out by AECOM in 2018, identified that a diversion at Lake Ridge Road won't work. It will only divert some summer and some truck traffic. Therefore, when considering the proposal, we ask all elected officials to answer this question: Are you threatening our drinking water source and wasting tax dollars by implementing a solution that will not work, based on a problem that nobody thinks exists anymore? The cost and who pays? We were advised at the July virtual meeting that not all, but "a major part of the highway cost" will be paid from the Town's Development Charge (DC) by-law, monies collected from development to pay for growth-related infrastructures such as arenas, parks, roads etc. The Town budgeted $87M toward this highway in the current DC by-law which collects revenue in ten-year increments. After compensation to property owners, we understand the actual cost will be in the $200M+ range. This is more than double what has been budgeted. The math is easy: $200M-$87M = a $113M shortfall. So, is there any other option other than to have Whitby taxpayers pay for the shortfall by increasing their tax bills? Or does Whitby divert even more of its DC revenues in the next ten-year DC by-law? Or does it use precious reserve funds? It does not matter where the Town finds the money to pay for this highway because, in the end, it's all taxpayer money. It's too expensive and makes no sense. The money could be put to better use. Even if this highway solved a problem, which, according to AECOM, it will not, the math doesn't add up, just one reason why taxpayers should care about this. What next? OBJECT! Write your municipal councillors and copy the Minister of Transportation. Tell them they need to re-examine this issue and determine what problem they're trying to solve. We feel the Town can work this out without spending $200M. It's money that could be much more beneficial for other uses. Don't be fooled by elected officials who tell you this is good for Brooklin or Whitby. It's an outdated notion, and a bad one at that. Better options that respect the environment exist. Don't let the politicians waste more of our money. Close down this Study now! Alex MacCulloch - Brooklin Rehabilitation and Sports Injury Centre Franca Calabro - The Blooming Crate Jeff Haynes - Brooklin Home Hardware Ken Regular - The UPS Store Corrado Tomarchio - Corrado's Restaurant & Bar Nhat Truong - Brooklin Paint Dr Carole Wilson - Meadowcrest Dental Centre