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Two Mountains mayor Marc Lauzon faced a tough line of questions from the leaders of several local community groups during town council's Jan. 15 meeting. They showed up complaining that the working space they've been allocated at the Maison du Citoyen for years by the town is being closed, while $50,000 in renovations are being carried out on the building. In the meantime, they're being forced to relocate to the Two Mountains public library.
Golden Agers affected
Stella Clarkson, president of the Golden Agers of Two Mountains, said she wanted to know "the reason that you're moving us from 13th Avenue to the library, when there are so many of the Golden Agers, they don't drive, and Central Park is central for them all. There are some ladies on 11th Avenue they're 93 years old. They can't drive. They can't walk there … Is there any other place around here for them?"
The Golden Agers are not the only community group in Two Mountains recently put out by the town's decision to carry out some improvements at the Maison du Citoyen. The Horizon Club and the Lions Club are also affected. According to Mayor Lauzon, the town had no choice but to temporarily shut the facility because the windows need replacing and other shortcomings make it potentially hazardous. "It feels like home there to us," insisted Clarkson. "Like, you know, it's so central. The windows are fine for us."
Several buildings affected
Lauzon said the Maison du Citoyen is not the only public building affected by a recent effort to make improvements. He said the town also intends to spend money improving conditions at the Royal Canadian Legion hall. Besides work on the windows, walls and doors, new ramps are also to be part of the work at the Maison du Citoyen in order to make it more accessible for senior citizens. But given the inconvenience of the new location for many seniors, Clarkson still wasn't buying it. "Somebody said that to me, 'oh it's going to be so good because they won't have any stairs to go up or down,'" she said.
"Well, what's the use if they can't get there? What's the difference if they have stairs or not ? … It's going to be too far, really too far at the library for the elderly people to go. Unless there's some kind of a little bus that the city would pay to take us over there." Lauzon suggested the town might take the means to make it easier for seniors to travel to the public library, "and I'm very sure we can arrange something. We'll see what we can do. Maybe we have a problem about this. But if you are ready to speak with us, to try to do something, the main thing is that we make the right decision. We have to do what is best for you."
Danger questioned
"Is it really that dangerous, though?" Clarkson asked, while acknowledging that the present wooden ramp is broken. While maintaining that most of the building is safe, Lauzon confirmed that the ramp itself is "dangerous" and that "we have to make some repairs fast." He said the building's interior is not up to the specifications required of a building for public use "and it can't stay like that." Clarkson said, "it's not like we're going to fall through the floor or something." But Lauzon added, "It's old, it's not a real house, it's a pre-fab about 40 years old or something like that and we never got it into good condition. So if we don't want to have problems, we have to do something. Of course we are working with our specialist at the city and he told us it is not dangerous, so you don't have to be afraid for that. But if we want to keep that place in good shape for the next 15 or 20 years, we have to invest money."
Bert Klotz, a ranking member of the Two Mountains Chapter of the Lions' Club, also complained to the mayor of being displaced by the renovation project. "We want to have a place to hold our meetings each Tuesday as usual in one place and some kind of storage where we can put all our belongings," he said. "The big problem is that now we're starting to have doubts as to whether what's been offered will meet our needs … We'd like to know if there's a permanent place for us." "We want to have a win-win situation," replied the mayor, without making a definite commitment. Klotz responded, "If you were to tell me tonight that we don't have to leave, I'll go across the street and have a drink and be happy."
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