Hello world and a quick apology for yesterday's distracted post, because that's what I was...completely distracted by today's post...but bear with me and I think you'll see what I mean...also, there are many examples of how human interference alters the environment and I only offered one, deforestation...
Just watching a show on Channel 10 called 'Human Sprawl' about how we manipulate and destroy entire environments with human habitation, and the colossal toll this takes on wild areas through fragmentation, clearing, and complete removal of plants, therefore habitats...and the quote "Cities affect climate" because they are hotter than the natural environment, etc...this is one point of many that I didn't cover yesterday...but I digress...
And I apologise for a second time this post for pulling the plug so early on the chance of any big announcement as advertised...'it'll be worth it'..and I can only ask that you bear with me, again...I'm not trying to be Secret Squirrel or Machiavelli or anything stupid like that, but I am acutely aware that I need to act to keep other people at arms length for fear that Council will attack them the way it has others, myself included...fears that have also been expressed to me by others.
So, again, I apologise that I can only shuffle the voluminous deck of allegations, accusations, information and angry declarations that I have received from a range of people, particularly in the last week, particularly on the McMahons Demolition Contract and the involvement of Mayor Steve Perryman...and shuffle quietly off stage left...
I can only ask...(and he can't believe he's saying this-Ed)...that you trust me that I am trying to get this critical issue right...but at this point I stand by every allegation, statement, claim, whatevs, that I have made re the conduct of the Council meeting 17/09/2013 and the Demolition Contract.
I re-iterate: in several recent posts I have outlined what I believe to be gross misconduct by Mayor Steve Perryman, the Mt Gambier City Council and Adelaide based McMahon Services re the awarding of the Old Hospital Demolition Contract to McMahons.
At Council's full meeting on Tuesday 17th September 2013, the last two items (but not appearing on my copy of the agenda) were the saving/demolition of the Laundry, and the Demolition Contract...I've covered this extensively in previous posts.
When it came to the Demolition Contract, Mayor Perryman declared a 'Conflict of Interest' due to an 'accommodation agreement' with 'the Tenderer', and left the Chamber...as stated previously, I could not hear exactly what he mumbled, but I did ask the other two people present, and there was no doubt about the nature of what Mayor Perryman said...
And obviously Council knows who those other two people are, and so just for the record, I approached them and put to them my summation of Council proceedings re the Laundry and Demolition Contract, particularly Mayor Steve Perryman's 'Conflict of Interest' withdrawal...with some minor variations, they seemed to think that my account and observations were reasonable and accurate (paraphrasing).
And I have no problem identifying state Liberal candidate Troy Bell as one of those people, because he was there with his own concerns about what might happen with the Demolition Contract...and the other person is a private citizen who might have been there for the Residents and Ratepayers Association, but I'm not sure...
I don't know, maybe they're both angry shareholders in a company that tried to Tender but failed, whatevs, I approached them and I can only state what we discussed...and if either one cares to disagree, that's up to them...this is my blog, my opinion, my responsibility...they just happened to be the two people who I had to go to for a balanced, informed opinion...(geez, talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time-Ed)...quite...(and if they're silly enough to be seen talking to you in public-Ed)...yes, alright, thank you...
Early on Thursday 19th September 2013, the ABC Local Radio's Stuart Stansfield ran a long interview with Councillor Des Mutton about the Demolition/laundry issues, and I rang to raise the issue of Mayor Perryman's COI, Stuart answered...(and wasn't he thrilled-Ed)...indeed...and when I described the proceedings of Tuesday 17th, Stuart said that he was already aware of it, and after a brief, stunted discussion, he remained fairly dismissive, but stated that he would look into it (paraphrase).
I don't know how Stuart Stansfield knew about the COI business only 36 hours after it had happened, he wasn't there on the Tuesday evening, but he didn't question what I was claiming...unless I missed it, there has been no mention in the local media of any of the three COI issues that saw Mayor Perryman leave the Chamber...(I think I know-Ed)...know what?...(how Stuart knew-Ed)...oh yes, do go on...
(Well, didn't you post the first The Rort Report on the Wednesday 18th?-Ed)...indeed...(well?-Ed)...oh, you think he read it on the blog...(yeah that, or he already knew before the vote, heard it from Sandra Morello who was at the Council meeting, or a Councillor, or someone read the post and told him...there's any number of ways really-Ed)...quite...
I rang the ABC again on Tuesday 24th September following a story about McMahon's massive 'Demolition Bulldozer' arriving on site (noon on Sunday 22nd Sept), spoke to someone (?sorry) who put me on hold, and then returned to very tersely state that Stuart was looking at it and that 'we'll just leave it at that, for him to look at' (paraphrase)...
At this stage all I can say is that I believe that there were only two final Tenders, and that a third potential Tender, as identified in The Border Watch newspaper, actually withdrew well before the vote was held in the Council meeting 17/09/2013.
Also, as late as Thursday last week (26th September 2013),
there was no public Tender offered for this highly lucrative
Accommodation contract, and that demolition work is due to start this
week or very soon after...but I have heard conflicting accounts about the possibility of McMahons recently starting a tender...I'm sorry that I cannot be more specific, but, whatever, it changes nothing about what has transpired thus far nor the timeline of those events...
I completely reject the assertions made in The Border Watch 25th September 2013 by Council's Operational Services Director Daryl Sexton that this demolition will be completed by Christmas...(or when he says "on the ground" does he mean a massive pile of rubble still to be processed?-Ed)...good point...and he also is quoted as saying that 'works could start within weeks' and that 'crews would begin the project by removing asbestos and junk on the site'.
He is then quoted as saying 'the company would then move into full swing in the demolition phase, which was expected to take around 12 weeks' but that "...it won't be going 24/7..."...I just don't know how this is all possible...
As I understand it, Council's Asbestos Register indicates that there is asbestos throughout the building, and as per a recent ABC Radio interview, it is in things like window putty, and therefore the frames and surrounds, and that there are some 'known unknowns', eg, asbestos piping in the walls, underground, etc, but how much exactly?...this will take even a large, experienced crew months to remove responsibly and legally...surely Daryl Sexton is aware of this...
Also, there's no way that McMahons is going to pay a large crew of people to just hang about in Mt Gambier, so because Council has chosen an Adelaide based contractor, the site will be operating as many hours as they think they can get away with...it's not going to be 9 to 5...and every day added because people complain about the noise, dust, etc, is another day's cost added to the open-ended 'Contract' that Council has signed...(gee, it just gets better and better-Ed)...
I'll pull stumps here, but there is much more to come on this issue, and I maintain that Council awarding the Demolition Contract to McMahons is both inappropriate and grossly irresponsible...this is financially disastrous for the ratepayers of Mt Gambier...but who will stop them?...
Tomorrow: More Dobelle, PATS, and Turbines Bullshit
And probably another gouge at this 'Bio-Energy' bullshit, and anything else that gets in my way between now and then...grrrrr...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...toodle pip...
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