A recent meeting at the Williams Lake Library helped to shed some light on the announcement from Victoria that the city will be getting 70 new long term care beds.
The province put out the call in late summer and had a deadline of October 30th for expressions of interest from companies interested in building and running such a facility.
Everything was moving forward so quickly, many seniors were caught off guard and wanted to know the details.
To that end the meeting was called and representatives of the city and the CDR were on hand.
One man was adamant that the city’s sale of the old Cariboo Lodge was illegal and not in the city’s best interest or that of seniors.
What the man failed to grasp when the property wa sold for 10-dollars, was the extremely high cost of keeping it.
The building has asbestos and once a single wall is opened, the entire facility must be done.
Mayor Walt Cobb acknowledges the costs…”that’s what we were told, yes, and that’s what all the studies showed. That’s why Cariboo Lodge was shutdown in the first place.”
The lodge was closed 14 years ago and the city tried for years to sell it with no takers.
The property was sold to a Vancouver-based company, Insight and as the mayor notes they are a go regardless …”yes, that’s right. They have told us they are moving forward regardless of whether they get the 70 beds or not”
The city had several calls regarding the project, but it is known how many actually put in an expression of interest.
That information is expected early in the new year.