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8 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017 WATERLOO CHRONICLE 630 Riverbend Drive, Unit 104 Kitchener, Ontario N2K 3S2 519-579-7166 Fax: 519-579-2029 www.waterloochronicle.ca Donna LUELO PUBLISHER EDITORIAL Bob VRBANAC EDITOR ext. 2305 editorial@waterloochronicle.ca bvrbanac@waterloochronicle.ca Adam JACKSON REPORTER ext. 2308 ajackson@waterloochronicle.ca Samantha BEATTIE REPORTER ext. 2229 sambeattie@waterloochronicle.ca ADVERTISING 519-579-7166 Ted ANDERSON, 579-7166 REGIONAL AD MANAGER tanderson@waterloochronicle.ca SALES LEAD Michelle STEVENS, ext. 2232 mstevens@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Cassandra DELLOW, ext. 2306 cdellow@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Aaron MURRAY, ext. 2304 amurray@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Mary Alice Martin, ext. 2303 mamartin@waterloochronicle.ca CLASSIFIED 519-895-5230 CIRCULATION 519-895-5690 Canadian Publications Mail Sales Publication Agreement Number 40050478 International Standard Serial Number ASSN 0832-3410 Audited Circulation: 31,292 The Waterloo Chronicle is published each Thursday by Metroland Media Group Ltd. ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL The Waterloo Chronicle is a member of The Ontario Press Council, which considers complaints against mem- ber newspapers. Any complaint about news, opinions advertising or conduct should first be taken to the newspaper. Unresolved complaints can be brought to: Ontario Press Council, 2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706, Toronto, ON., M5B 1J3. COPYRIGHT The contents of this newspaper are protected by copyright and may be used only for personal non-com- mercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is pro- hibited. To make any use of this mate- rial you must first obtain the permis- sion of the owner of the copyright. For further information contact Bob Vrbanac, Managing Editor, Waterloo Chronicle, 630 Riverbend Drive, Suite 104, Kitchener, Ontario N2J 3H8. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor must contain the writer's full name, address and tele- phone number. Addresses and tele- phone numbers are used only for veri- fication purposes. Names will not be withheld. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution for brevity or legal purposes. Letters may be submitted by email to editorial@water- loochronicle.ca. Suburban Newspapers of America VIEWPOINT WATERLOO CHRONICLE CHRONICLE EDITORIAL Nothing seems to wake up the community faster than spending $800,000 on glowing rocks. That was their words, not mine, as I was deluged with calls and letters about city council's plan to build a glow- ing pathway in Waterloo Park. Th e number one complaint was that the city had better things to spend its money on. With road and sewer work always in arrears and more than enough basic city services in need of repair, some of these people said council needs to give their collective heads a shake. They have taken their eye of the goal of addressing the city's pressing infrastruc- ture needs with a shiny bauble. All we need to do know is find the salesman who sold the idea to them. Some of the respondents are sure they've got something else they could sell this council. Someone else said the city was recently struggling to scrape together enough money to replace their rusting out fi re trucks. If they couldn't fi nd the funding for fire services and improving fire coverage for the city, where are they getting money for this path of good intentions. If the city is really feel- ing generous with its money, I've fielded a few calls about giving it to the local charity sector that seems to be strug- gling. Th e United Way recently announced job cuts after it couldn't make its annual cam- paign goal. Or how about HopeSpring, which has provided cancer support in the community for more than 21 years but had to go to the community for a financial lifeline to keep the doors open past March. Surely those are priorities the city could get behind. Then there are those con- cerned about the monuments that most politicians want to build while they're in office. What legacy will they leave behind? The suggested that Water- loo Park is full of those disused legacies, including the centen- nial bandshell. The Seagram family donated the bandshell to the city in 1967 as a way to mark Canada's birthday. With the nation's 150th coming up it sits forlorn in the fi eld of Waterloo Park West. The ball diamonds on that side of the park are also a lega- cy of that centennial year. But the city seems determined to remove them for a proposed festival space. Here's a novel idea: How about using the bandshell area for the proposed festival space and leaving the ball diamonds alone. Th at bandshell was once home to the Sounds of Sum- mer Music festival before noise complaints killed the event. It's hard to figure how the new festival space won't have the same problem. Every council wants to leave a legacy before the next one comes up with a better idea. Just follow the glowing path. Legacy projects easily forgotten Road closures are coming to King Street in the heart of uptown Waterloo, starting again this week as work crews install the overhead rigging needed to power the LRT system. It comes as local retailers were just getting back on their feet after almost a year of closures wrapped up at the end of November in time for the Christmas rush. But the problem, according to some, is that customers haven't rushed back to the core since King Street's reopen- ing, and the next round of closures won't help them. While some have threatened legal action against the Region of Waterloo for business losses, the majority of them are hoping that customer behaviour changes fi rst before any legal remedies are necessary. As it stands, despite earlier reports, there have been no formal claims lodged against the region for business losses, and for those who think otherwise, there is no war chest for the region to pay out potential claims. Any compensation would have to come from taxpayers, and most of these business owners realize they'd only be suing themselves in the from of higher property taxes. Th ere is also great diffi culty in proving those losses and the region has a long track record of winning such disputes. Truth is, the onus is on the business to demonstrate how the construction led to losses and to show the region didn't do enough to mitigate the results. The region launched a public campaign about letting everyone know that the uptown was still open for business, and did their best to ensure access and keep people abreast of the construction delays. Did the construction hurt? You bet it did. But the pay- off should come when everything is complete. Some local business owners are just hoping they're around to enjoy the spoils and that somebody else isn't collecting the rewards. Biding their time BOBBY'S WORLD BOB VRBANAC