Fredericton city councillors vote to move forward with NBEX expropriation

Fredericton council is moving forward with expropriation of the New Brunswick Exhibition Grounds.

City councillors in Fredericton have voted to move forward in expropriating the New Brunswick Exhibition grounds, following a hastily called meeting on Sunday afternoon.

The special meeting was announced Friday night, after the province’s expropriation officer François Carrier delivered a final report late Friday afternoon, approving the city’s plans to take control of the property.

The property was gifted to the city more than 200 years ago from the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition Agricultural Society No. 34 for the purposes of holding an agricultural festival each year. The area of property is a total of 30 acres.

A long-standing lease between the city and NBEX is set to expire in 2031.

Council voted in favour of buying out the NBEX lease last year, stating the grounds were needed for housing and a new school to replace George Street Middle School.

Only around half of the city’s 11 council members were present for the last second meeting. Those on hand who voted in favour of moving ahead with the expropriation include councillor Greg Ericson, Cassandra LeBlanc, Kevin Darrah, and Deputy Mayor Jocelyn Pike.

In all, council approved five resolutions on Sunday:

• To receive and consider the report of the Expropriations Advisory Officer and to proceed with filing a notice of expropriation of FEL’s leasehold interest in the entire property.
• Providing compensation to FEL (NBEX) in the amount of $4.1 million, representing the appraised value of the leasehold interest plus 20 per cent.
• Directing staff to sell an 11.9-acre parcel of land to the province of New Brunswick for $7.7 million so that the province can construct a new middle school to replace George Street Middle School.
• Directing staff to prepare appropriate amendments to the Municipal Plan and the NBEX Secondary Municipal Plan to implement the development of educational, housing, and other community enriching amenities.
• Allowing for continued good faith negotiations with FEL (NBEX) throughout the balance of the expropriation process.

Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers said the quick timing of the meeting wasn’t ideal with a municipal election on Monday, but also said she had made a previous commitment to council to hold a vote as soon as Carrier’s report was released.

“Council has been waiting for this report and they were very clear that when the report came in, they wanted an opportunity to consider and to make a decision whether to act now or to defer,” said Rogers to reporters, after the vote.

“There’s been criticism around the fact that this special meeting was called, but imagine had we received that report and staff and myself held that report and didn’t share that information, didn’t disclose to council that we had received the report. That would have been wrong.”

Rogers, who is not re-offering for her seat as mayor in Monday’s municipal election, says it was getting “increasing frustrating” trying to find any common ground with the New Brunswick Exhibition group. She says the only way to realize the city’s development plan for the site was to secure the land themselves.

During the meeting, councillor LeBlanc went as far as to say the land cannot be left in the “power and control” of the N.B. Exhibition group anymore.

“They have not acted in good faith in this process, and I believe they will continue to frustrate any development of these 30 acres, as long as they are permitted to do so,” LeBlanc proclaimed. “Enough is enough. We need to continue to have the guts to make the hard decisions.”

LeBlanc also made it clear that events currently planned for the summer have not been cancelled, despite the vote to move forward in expropriating the land.

Rae Tretiak, executive director of the New Brunswick Exhibition, said while the council vote wasn’t a surprise, the timing of the meeting was.

“On the eve of an election, this is pretty disheartening,” said Tretiak. “Our leadership at the city level clearly had a motive and an expectation.”

Tretiak also responded to the comments LeBlanc made during the meeting. He questioned where the conclusion of bad faith negotiating came from, adding the group has requested to speak with council directly only to have the request declined.

Tretiak said NBEX staff would spend Monday discussing its next steps, adding he was hopeful and optimistic about working with the new mayor and council following the municipal election.

Sunday’s council vote doesn’t mean the expropriation is finalized. Councillor Ericson says the vote is not binding for the new incoming council.

“The new council will have the full right and authority and power to give the N.B. Exhibition their lands, or to continue on with this process or anything in the middle of that.”

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