INSIDE AURORA: Burning Questions

May 28, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Scott Johnston

It’s time for another look at some local burning questions, such as:

What is required first; a new hotel to justify and attract large sporting and cultural events to Town, or an increase in large sporting and cultural events to justify and attract a new hotel?
What’s the largest item in the Aurora historical collection; a Fleury plough? The BMO lollipop clock? A speed hump removed from traffic calmed area northeast of Yonge and Wellington? Something else?
When did Dick Illingworth invent the character of Aurora Annie, our Town’s politically-minded rodent, who traditionally makes her appearance to discuss local matters around February 2?*
Since we have an at large system for municipal representation, when Councillors collectively say they’ve received, for example, eight calls from residents on an issue, how do we know when that is eight different people, and not one person calling each Councillor?
And by the same logic, if everyone in Town got really worked up over an issue, and called all of the Councillors, could we run into a situation where Councillors would stand up and say they’ve heard from 440,000 residents, even though Aurora’s population is only about 55,000?
What’s going on first thing in the morning on Wellington between the GO parking garage and Industrial Parkway that causes radio signals to be lost in a wash of static?
Is there any park that is used so infrequently most of the year as Aurora War Memorial Peace Park where the cenotaph is located?
Since one of the Chamber of Commerce’s arguments against the move of the Home Show from the Aurora Community Centre to the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex this year was that people wouldn’t know where it was and as a result, attendance would suffer, did it?
How many different types of animals are buried in the Aurora pet cemetery?
And will this historical site ever be made more easily accessible and open to the public?
Since it’s inevitable that eventually the clear bag program for curbside pickup will be introduced, and that it will not apply to bags used for activities such as the annual Aurora Clean Up Day, does this mean that people can stockpile their questionable trash and put it out in opaque bags on these special days with no one the wiser?
With increased controversy about the growing east side of Town being too far from events such as parades on Yonge Street and activities at Town Park, does this mean that Aurora can no longer be considered a small town?
And speaking of Concerts in the Park, Ribfest, the Haunted Forest, Arctic Adventure and other entertaining activities, would Aurora not be a much more boring place without our Town’s terrific special events department?
Does it not sound like the only way the complaints about the recent Leisure Complex renovations will be addressed is by completely demolishing it and starting fresh with a new structure?
If we didn’t have the hundreds of volunteer hours put in by residents to clean up trash around Town on the annual Clean-Up Day, how much would it cost the municipality to perform this service?
Why was it that last year the price of a barrel of oil dropped so much that gas prices decreased into the 80 cent a litre range, but now with a barrel of oil worth even less and apparently a glut of oil on the market, gas prices are now well over a dollar?
Will the introduction of twinned GO train tracks ahead of all day service provide the opportunity to build more much needed road or pedestrian over/underpasses in Aurora?
Just wondering.