Part 4: GET YOUR FREE ELECTRICITY NOW!

By Harold G. LeBoeuf

Where? - - At the Willistead Amusement Park.

Of course, you will have to be a registered vendor for the Rotary Club’s Art In The Park and pay it the appropriate fees; or, you could be a performer who requires electricity instead of your own electrical generator; or you might want to operate some type of booze tent with entertainment for the hootenanny; or you might be a promoter of some other money generating event for the Rotary Club or Willistead Manor such as a carnival attraction or circus, in which case a number of clowns will be provided at no extra cost (sorry, no dogs, other pets or elephants allowed).

“How is this possible”, you might ask, “since this is supposed to be an historical, public, Heritage Park?”  Well, Messrs. Miceli and Marshall have worked out a scheme to provide free electricity via four electrical stations situated strategically throughout the park. The cost of all of the underground conduit, electrical cables, controls in the Maintenance Building and upkeep have not been disclosed to anyone. No, Miceli didn’t tell City Council about these plans and Marshall was never in attendance at any of the council meetings to explain what was going on.

If you spoke to any of the workers excavating the trenches and installing conduit and cable, and I did, you would be told that the work was all being done by City employees. There was one City owned truck there sporting the City’s logo on the side. There was also another truck there that didn’t have any identification marks on it whatsoever. I took several pictures of the trench, the conduit, the workers, and the City owned vehicle on the scene without any problem whatsoever. However, when I tried to take a picture of the unidentified truck, a person stood in front of the license plate so I couldn’t take a picture. I literally had to race to the back of the truck to get the picture. But this is just a teaser for a future article in this ongoing saga.

New electrical being installed to accommodate
Art in the Park Vendors and Beer Tent

 There was already a “stop work order” for construction in the park resulting from the objections to Councillor Alan Halberstadt by the Save Willistead Park Group. The apparent supervisor of the operation (definitely a City employee) told me that John Miceli had given them their instructions and to proceed with the matter. However, that same gentleman when advised of the stop work order, telephoned Miceli. Miceli told him that the stop work order didn’t apply to this project because it wasn’t a part of the other proposed project involving drainage and pathways. Miceli repeated his instructions and told the Supervisor to continue with the work regardless of what anyone says. For once, Miceli may have been correct. How on earth could the stop work order include the installation of the four electrical stations when in fact no one even knew about this project (except for Miceli and Marshall).

Station 1 (my numbering) is located two hundred and six feet, eight inches (Please don’t ask me for metres and centimetres - that’s a foreign language to me, and my measuring instrument isn’t in metric) due east from the east wall of the Maintenance Building (Washrooms). It is easily viewed from the existing pathway.

These have been installed throughout the park.
 Is this to ensure accessibility?  Can citizens use it too?

Station 2 is located two hundred and fifty-three feet north by north east from station 1 or twenty-one feet diagonally from the southern most pillar on the southeast corner of the Honourable Paul Martin Gardens. It too is clearly visible from the existing pathway and very close to where the beer tent is setup for the Beer Festival held on the Friday evening before the opening of Art In The Park (coincidence?).

Station 3 is located three hundred and one feet, nine inches in a southerly direction from Station 1. It, too, is clearly visible from the existing pathway.

Station 4 is located in a southwesterly direction two hundred and thirty-four feet, nine inches from Station 3, or four hundred and thirty-two feet, one inch from Station 4 to the small drinking fountain situated on the east wall of the Maintenance Building.

So at the very least, the installation of the four electrical stations requires a minimum length of nine hundred and ninety-six feet, two inches of underground conduit and wiring. But wait, how many more electrical stations to they plan on installing. You won’t get an answer to that question. It is strictly on a wait and see basis.

What is the real cost of this project, and how could it possibly get authority to proceed without prior approval from City Council? Call Micelli at 519-253-2300. Ask for John and pose the question. Or, in the alternative, use these facts and come up with your own guesstimate: five city employees wages for one day just for Station 1; one City owned vehicle; one vehicle not owned by the City; one excavator (owner not known - yet); one or two persons who may or may not be City employees but in control of a vehicle not owned by the City; 996 ' 2" of electrical conduit (absolute minimum); the same amount of electrical cable; four 8x8 wooden posts on which to mount the boxes; four steel electrical boxes; the necessary switches and breakers inside each station; necessary electrical boxes, breakers and switches inside the Maintenance Building; plus the unknown employee hours to install the other three boxes and equipment, trucks, digger machine, etc.  I very conservatively came up with a cost of $100,000.00. Ask John when you call him. That number again is 519-253-2300. Oh, and don’t forget to go through the same procedure for any additional electrical station that is installed later.

Mr. Mayor, Councillors, Board of Willistead Manor, Messrs. Miceli and Marshall - What are you thinking?

Harold G. LeBoeuf