Re: letter to the editor from Wayne Bennett June 6 regarding the proposed sports complex.
I sometimes feel that many seniors (and I am one) in our community are against supporting anything that benefits the youth and younger families of this community.
Having been on the committee to promote the Wesbild Centre, we were confronted many, many times by seniors saying, “We don’t need any more sports facilities here,” or, “Why should I support an arena when I don’t have any family here to use it?”
My thought on that statement is that maybe you have a family residing in another city and making use of the facilities offered there. So seniors there are paying taxes to support these facilities that your family can be enjoying. What goes around comes around.
With the way our population of younger families in Vernon is increasing there is a need for us to support these venues in the community. I am a firm believer in keeping the young busy and motivated with healthy lifestyles and in doing so, we lessen the crime on our streets (and then not fill the proposed jail in Lumby).
I can go on and complain that I pay library taxes and don’t use the library and other facilities that we are paying taxes on but by the same token, being a senior I enjoy the homeowners’ grant and the age grant deductions from my property taxes. Doesn’t that compensate us?
And then we can reverse the situation and remind you that younger families are paying taxes on venues that we seniors can enjoy and we don’t hear many of them complaining.
He also mentions the fact that he lives near the college, the proposed site for the sports complex and that parking and extra traffic in the area will be an issue.
I am quite certain that parking and other issues will be addressed before the sod is turned, should that be the chosen site.
While we seniors don’t like to accept change and want to keep things as they are, we need to accept that we cannot stop progress, nor can we stop our city from growing and having the need to provide these facilities to provide a healthy lifestyle in our community.
Beryl Nerling
Vernon
