File Photo (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Sheldon Spackman

Failed Negotiations

Town of Blackfalds ends bid to buy family’s home for parking lot expansion

May 12, 2020 | 9:00 AM

The Town of Blackfalds has ended its bid to purchase a property near the multi-plex where an expansion of the building is planned to begin this spring.

The land in question contains the home of Justin Smith, where he and his family have lived for a number of years.

However, due to its proximity to the multi-plex, the Town had identified the property as one to acquire for additional parking as part of the expansion project.

Several months of negotiations between the Town and Smith have broken down to the point where the Town has decided to end any further attempt to acquire the property.

Myron Thompson, CAO for the Town of Blackfalds, says when engaged in negotiations with any person, resident or otherwise, the Town aims to pursue those negotiations with the utmost good faith.

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“This is the public’s expectation of its elected officials and of Town Administration,” says Thompson. “So too is it the public’s expectation that, in any such negotiations, the Town will be prudent, careful and manage the tax dollars it is entrusted with in the public interest.”

“Over the course of this process the Town and the landowners have come to vastly different positions as to the fair market value of the lands and residence,” he continues. “And the Town and the landowners have significantly different positions with respect to the additional compensation that should be considered in relation to the relocation of the landowners.”

After thoroughly researching options such as building a replica home at a new location, or moving the existing home to a new location, Smith says the Town’s final offer was more than $95,000 short of what they needed to break even for the expense of having their home moved.

“When I continued to raise concerns about things, I was told that if we did not accept that offer, then the only choice left would be expropriation,” explains Smith. “Basically, after a year of dealing with this nightmare, we are right back in the same place.”

Smith feels his negotiations with the Town were not done in good faith.

“We believe there is plenty of evidence to show that this did not happen,” he exclaims. “We have been told that we could stay in our current location, only to have that option taken away. We were told that the Town would pay to re-build our current home, we went above and beyond what the Town required and spent over 20 hours dealing with nine different home builders, only to have that option taken away.

“We agreed to move our home,” he continues. “And when we raised concerns about costs being missed or that the amount being provided would not cover all the costs incurred for the project, we were largely ignored and simply put back in the same place we were over seven months ago.”

Thompson concludes, “Weighing all of the competing factors, including the potential impact on the multiplex expansion and on the landowners,” he continues. “The Town Council has determined that it is best to forego further efforts to acquire these lands and to allow the owners to remain in what they have referred to many times as their “forever home”.”

Town officials had previously indicated in January they hoped to have possession of Smith’s land by May.

Completion of the Blackfalds Multi-plex expansion, which includes the addition of a new 1,300 seat arena to twin the existing ice surface, along with a new state-of-the-art library, is slated for fall of 2021.