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City should shut down McLean Mill

Too much money has been spent on McLean Mill, says ALberni resident.

To the Editor,

The City of Port Alberni alone has poured well over $8,000,000 into the McLean Mill and the steam train operations so far.  Why on earth do we need a McLean Advisory Committee?  The mill should be shut down.

Parks Canada requires only that the mill be left open for visitors to stroll through. And, of course, the caretaker position would be retained.

The city budget doesn’t tell us how much the mill itself is losing annually and how much the steam train costs us.

If the city closed the mill and wished to operate the train, the losses should be split equally between the city and the regional district (to which the city contributes money anyway).

The most cost effective and responsible actions for the good of city taxpayers are to shut down the mill and stop the steam train operation.

We don’t need a committee to explain the obvious.

Richard Berg,

Port Alberni

(Editor’s note: Budget presentations for McLean Mill and the steam train are available under the link for the 2014 five-year plan at www.portalberni.ca)