Absentee Landlord Annette Penkala of Starshine Properties Leaves Utopia, NB Tenants Scrambling
Cecilia Stephenson, a resident of Hillcrest Court in Utopia, received a letter from NB Power this week, warning that electrical services will be cut off on September 30th, which will also impact the park’s water supply.
Vicki Hogarth – Local Journalism Initiative
The letter advises tenants to contact their landlord for more information. Stephenson’s and her neighbours’ units are owned by Annette Penkala of Starshine Properties, an Alberta-based company. Penkala, who bought around 20 properties in Charlotte County for $2.4 million during the pandemic, has gained a local reputation as an absentee landlord, with many of her properties falling into disrepair.
“The power is the issue because it’s in Annette’s name with Starshine Properties,” said Cecilia when speaking with CHCO-TV. “And the power runs two separate wellhouses, one down there and one for this side of the park. So when power gets cut from them, then we have no way to get our water out of the wells.”
Stephenson’s brother recently moved out of another Starshine property in Heathland near St. Stephen at 1 Family Lane after power was cut off there. In July, a mobile home just two doors from Stephenson caught fire, leaving it and a neighbouring unit uninhabitable. Stephenson and her neighbours rescued the trapped resident.
“She got burnt from here to here in order for us to get her out. It was either she got burnt or she died,” said Stephenson.
Despite the severity of the situation, Stephenson says she and her neighbours never heard from Penkala after the incident, and the two homes remain unliveable.
CHCO-TV has made multiple attempts to reach Penkala for comment without success. Meanwhile, the tenants of Hillcrest Court are searching for a way to stay in their homes.
“We have discussed maybe hooking the well house up to one of the trailers and then splitting the power, whichever trailer we have to hook it up to, because everybody’s been here for years,” said Stephenson.
CHCO-TV will continue its coverage in our ongoing series, “Left in the Dark: The Starshine Properties Crisis.”
New Surveillance Camera Rebate Program Successfully Launches in St. Andrews
A new rebate program for residential security cameras has cost at St. Andrew’s Council nearly half its allotted budget for the programme. It gave $100 back to residents who purchased a security camera of any kind. So far, council has spent about 2,000 on rebates for submissions.
“Through the first review of them, we had 18 submissions, approximately getting close to $2,000. I know that several others have come in, and I’m going to be going through them this week, looking at approvals,” said Town Clerk Paul Nopper at the first regular council meeting for the month of September 2024.
Mayor Brad Henderson says the idea was to help provide safety and security to residents, but also aid police in solving crimes in the community. The RCMP have added 51 new positions to New Brunswick, but say they continue to grapple with recruitment and retention issues. And many rural areas have expressed ongoing frustration over police coverage.
“Now that the police in New Brunswick are under-resourced, and in a program like this, what it does is it gives them more eyes and ears,” said Henderson. “So in a time where it seems like crime is increasing, it’s hopefully another tool that makes them more effective at their job.”
Henderson says it will ultimately be up to council to decide the weather to extend the program, but says he believes it will be.
Sunbury Shores Celebrates 60th Anniversary with Exhibition
Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre in St. Andrews is celebrating its 60th anniversary with the launch of an exhibition on Friday. The exhibition features 60 years of work by nearly 100 artists who have been a part of Sunbury Shores over its incredible history in our community, including Deer Island artist Jerome Andrews.
“I’ve been involved Since the early ’70s, the first Charlotte County artist exhibition that they put on, I was in, and it gave me confidence, and I’ve been involved with them ever since,” said Andrews while attending the exhibition opening party.
The 60th anniversary exhibit runs until September 28th.
Algonquin Resort Spa Plans Approved by Council
The Algonquin Hotel has received reached final approval to build its Nordic spa. Council gave third and final reading to the proposal. The original design did see pushback from the community, with it not matching the traditional Tudor style architecture.
Council had to weigh it in, but it’s important to note that the original renderings that are still being circulated out there have changed. You notice that the original ones were almost like an off-white, like almost a light yellow, and the roof was not red. Those have been changed in the most updated plan, so it will be a white building with red roof.
-Vicki Hogarth and Nathalie Sturgeon, CHCO-TV NewsBreak26, Charlotte County, New Brunswick
