Two Tantramar councillors are raising questions about abandoned properties in their wards, and what the future holds for them.
Both Deputy Mayor Greg Martin and councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell have called attention to buildings they say could pose a danger to residents due to their dilapidated condition.
Wiggins-Colwell told council in March that a property across from the Dorchester post office has been vacant for nearly 30 years. Recently, said Wiggins-Colwell, “I got a call from the postmistress saying there were three young kids in the building playing.” By the time the councillor checked it out, the kids had moved on, but she remained concerned. “They do board it up, but they do break it down and they get back in,” said Wiggins-Colwell. “The floors are caving in… so it is a bit of a concern.”
Deputy Mayor Greg Martin has a similar concern over in Jolicure at the intersection of Parson Road, Luciphy Road, and Jolicure Road, where a former community hall lies vacant. “I just want that building to be secured,” says Martin, “whether it’s tearing [it] down or boarding [it] up… Do something so that somebody doesn’t get hurt.”
At its April 11 meeting, Tantramar council is slated to consider first reading of a renewed Dangerous and Unsightly Premises bylaw based on those currently on the books for Sackville and Dorchester. The bylaw gives the municipality the power to clean, repair or demolish buildings that have gone through a rigorous complaint and evaluation process, and then charge the costs to the property owners.
Both the Dorchester and Jolicure properties appear to be owned by the provincial government, specifically DTI, the department of transportation and infrastructure.
Tyler McLean of DTI says the Dorchester property is currently following the disposal process under the province’s Public Works Act, but the department is still working on determining who owns the Jolicure property. Service NB lists the site as owned by “NB Supply and Services”, a former provincial department which ceded its responsibility for government buildings in 2012 to DTI.
Martin says he has heard from constituents that the Jolicure Hall is beyond repair, and so demolition might be in order. McLean says once ownership is established, the department will look into “next steps, which may include declaring the building as surplus property if owned by DTI.”
According to the province’s website, surplus properties are first offered to other government departments, then to municipalities, before being put up for sale to the general public.
Aulac Visitor Information Centre: ‘What can we do with this?’
Martin is also curious about the future of another abandoned building, but this time one that’s in much better shape: the former visitor information centre in Aulac.
DTI says the former visitor centre is “currently a surplus property,” which DTI staff check on periodically throughout the year. It’s winterized and unoccupied, and there are no plans for the property other than to divest, according to McLean.
The building does not appear on the province’s list of surplus properties for sale in Westmorland County.
Martin says there’s potential for the Aulac property, and possible community interest. “I’ve had a few, not many, but a few people in my ward suggest things like our own little tourist centre, or a craft place to sell local crafts to tourists,” says Martin. “It’s an amazingly good spot. It’s terrific. The amount of traffic that goes by there, going to not only to the Big Stop, but to Trueman’s Farms for ice cream…” The building is also across from the road leading to Fort Beauséjour National Historic Site.
“It’s a matter of what the province wants to do with it,” says Martin. “Whether it would be available and what it would cost to maintain it and repurpose it.”
Martin says once he know the status of the building, “then I would go to the community and say, Okay, what can we do with this? How can we make it work? What is the community willing to put into it? That would be the thing for me.”
