By Jeff Labine

City, company battle over property

Apr 25, 2017 | 5:00 PM

The battle for 1203 Central Ave. appears to be heating up.

Lawyers representing the City of Prince Albert and Embee Diamond Technologies Inc. faced off on Tuesday at Court of Queen’s Bench to discuss the contested property. The main arguments centered around defining the relationship between the city, which took ownership of the property from MFN & MB Holdings Inc. back in February, and Embee Diamond.

Peter Abrametz, the lawyer representing Embee Diamond, wants the relationship to be defined as a landlord and tenant. By doing this, the city would have to follow the rules laid out in the Landlord and Tenant Act.

The city’s lawyer, Mitchell Holash, argues Embee Diamond is a contractual owner of the property so the dispute between the two parties shouldn’t fall under the Landlord Tenant Act.

The judge opted to reserve judgement at a later time but promised both lawyers a decision would come soon.

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The central avenue property was owned by MFN & MB Holdings Inc. until this year when the city took possession after the company failed to pay $176,046 in taxes. The court learned MFN stands for Muskoday First Nation. It’s believed MB stands for Mike Botha, who is the chief executive officer of Embee Diamond.

Mike Botha is the father of Ward 3 Coun. Evert Botha, who is also the chief operating officer for Embee Diamond.

The city has since changed the locks, forcing everyone out of the building.

Abrametz said his clients aren’t able to do business while locked out of their building as they require the specialized equipment. He said the city was acting like a bully and ignored its responsibilities under the Landlord Tenant Act.

“This is a building with substantial assets in it,” he said. “It’s not something a business can walk away from.”

He said the business has agreed to pay $3,000 a month in rent in order to lease the building.

Holash argued the promises from the company aren’t reliable as the city has been waiting for payment for roughly five years. He said Evert Botha has acted as a representative of MFN & MB Holdings Inc. in correspondence with the city with reassurances that payment was coming.

The only intentions the city has with the property, he said, was to get it ready for purchase.

“They are asking to get in on a promise but a much, much lesser promise to the city,” he said, referring to the payment of $3,000 in rent. “For five years they have not been able to pay taxes.”

He added there has only been one request to enter the property by Embee Diamond and that was to grab some work and passports.

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter