By paNOW

Property leased by P.A. mayor draws criticism

Jul 20, 2018 | 7:17 PM

The mayor of Prince Albert can’t say if he’s falling foul of the city’s unsightly premises bylaw, but suggests criticism about a piece of land he is leasing on 15th St. is politically motivated.

Greg Dionne explained how clean-up on the lot could not commence until now as testing had to first be done by the owner of the former industrial lot.

paNOW published a story earlier this week about a property owner who claimed city hall was being over-zealous, “selective and vindictive” when they moved onto his land to mow grass and weeds. The city manager refuted that, saying the process around bylaw infractions was handled without prejudice.

Following that article, paNOW received an e-mail complaint about the mayor’s leased and fenced lot on 15th St. opposite Dr. Java’s. The complainant, who does not want to be identified, said it seemed the city did not want to pursue any clean-up activity there, saying it had been an eyesore for years.

paNOW reached out to Dionne for comment who admitted the lot had been unsightly for many years and that’s why he decided to take a lease on it.

Event Centre funding

City may hire lobbyist for event centre money

2h ago

International honours

Raiders' Kubiesa to represent Czechia at IIHF U18 Men's World Championship

5h ago

Learn the signs

How often should you change your brakes?

9h ago

“I’m pleased I now have an agreement to take care of it and it’ll be cleaned up just like the other lot I have on the corner at Second Avenue,” Dionne told paNOW. “This lot was an opportunity to get a property, clean it up, and allow community groups to put their signs on it.”

Dionne said he had leased the land “in the last year” and in the past, the city would be phoned by people complaining that it was always unkempt and crews would have to go there and mow it.

“I want this lot to have regular maintenance,” he said.

According to Dionne, he only discovered in the last month that the land he was leasing was bigger than he originally thought and actually extends behind the fenced portion. He added he was not in a position to clean it up until the owners had marked their drill holes and conducted testing on the sub-surface soils. Going onto the property would have risked damaging the equipment, he said, but with the testing done he can now move in and clean up.

“You [paNOW] have received a complaint now, so it’s going to be cleaned up,” Dionne said.

Speaking to the anonymous complaint he said, “they’re just reaching for straws,” implying the complaint was politically motivated.

When asked if he or the city had received any other complaints about the lot, Dionne couldn’t be sure.

“No, not this year …well, who knows? I can’t answer that. Who knows? But it’s being cleaned up,” he said.

Dionne said the site would be cleaned up by an August 13 deadline set by the owner and the work would include smoothing over some mounds of dirt and fixing some damage to the fencing. While he wanted the fence to come down he said the owners needed it to remain in place to protect some infrastructure.

The mayor said once the site was cleaned he’d allow community groups to affix their signs to the fence.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow