Council in St. Stephen faced tough questions at its meeting over one of the unsightly properties in the community.
The debate began after chief administrative officer Jeff Renaud discussed a seminar he attended called “How do deal with annoying crap! An open bold, group discussion on dealing with crazy how to embrace such challenges” at the ICMA conference in Pittsburg.
Renaud and council have faced questions about how the town is handling the different properties at several different council meetings.
“We’ll never get rid of the crazy,” said Renaud at the meeting.
The property, which has never been identified by council due to privacy requirements in the act involving unsightly premises, is on Milltown Boulevard.
However, “a property” on Milltown Boulevard has been mentioned in complaints filed to the town.
It is an attached duplex building – with a business on the bottom and housing on the top – with one side that has fallen into disrepair.
Residents have described seeing rats problem at the property, as well.
The property has fallen into disrepair. (Nathalie Sturgeon/CHCO TV)
Emily Rodas said she feels that people are likely driven to the point where they no longer want to be cooperative with processes government officials keep talking about.
“We need to take some accountability in how we allowed it to get to a point where people do feel crazy,” she said. “I can tell you right now if that were my building and my entire livelihood were connected to it, my home and my business, I would be losing my mind.
She said if it were any member of council, the situation would be dealt with, to which a number of people in the council chambers erupted in applause.
Rodas also called out Mayor Allan MacEachern, saying leadership is required to advocate on behalf of the constituents to the province about the lengthy process involving unsightly properties.
“Sometimes it’s about advocating for our citizens, they deserve better, I wouldn’t want to live like that,” she said during the meeting.
There were also strong accusations about residents being mean, but also staff being mean in response.
“We need to take some accountability in how we allowed it to get to a point where people do feel crazy.”
Coun. Marg Harding said it’s become a contentious issue and staff are finding it difficult to deal with.
“But by saying that, you can’t keep attacking our staff, they’re good staff,” she said.
Deputy CAO Sean Morton said he has been following the process outlined by the province, which includes protecting the privacy of an individual.
“We’re doing the best we can,” he said during the meeting.
Morton also added there is a risk if protocol isn’t followed, the town could be sued for deeming a property unsightly when it is in fact not – ultimately costing the taxpayers more money. The town is currently dealing with a similar situation on another property.
He said the pressure from the past weeks have made them float the idea of skirting best practice.
“But, things do go wrong when you rush,” Morton said.
Mayor Allan MacEachern both in council and in an interview with CHCO TV declined to speak about businesses in his downtown, saying he appreciates all of them.
“If we just went on the emotion of what is going on to one particular case, we can get in a lot of trouble, and so we have to be careful.”
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