North Bay Trailer Park to close

I have never had the door slammed in my face so harshly_{– James Wankel}

Owner’s angry letter

However, the owner of the property, James Wankel of Westcan Property (Sk) Ltd, said he would now be closing the park and services would be disconnected.

In a letter to the tenants Wankel said his company had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to find solutions but said “local government, including the RM of Buckland, Wsask [WSA] and the city of Prince Albert …have done absolutely nothing to help this process.”

In his angry correspondence Wankel, who is based in B.C., went on to say:

As a seasoned investor I have never had the door slammed in my face so harshly, I believe your local economic woes are your local governments’ own doing. I look forward to never investing in this province again.

Residents frustrated

For residents like Terry Jackson, who has lived at the trailer park for over 30 years, it’s a worrying situation.

“How can they put 200 people out of their homes and where is everybody supposed to go?” he told paNOW. “They want all of the units off the property by August 1st but there’s nowhere to put them.” Jackson said he and his wife planned their retirement at the trailer park but this changes everything and they’d likely just have to walk away from their unit.

Fellow residents are also deeply concerned about where they will live.

“It’s unfair, it’s not just for me but a lot of people are stuck and have nowhere to go,” Veeda Boudreault said. She lives in a unit with her family of four. Her mother and sister also have their own units there. “It’s devastating. The people who could leave before have already left, but for the people who can’t, it sucks.”

James Wankel did everything he could to find a solution …but he was just brushed off_{– Kathy Brandoline}

Boudreault claimed at a public meeting last year some local residents in the surrounding area “were putting us down like we were nothing.” She’s convinced they as well as the RM of Buckland simply didn’t want the trailer park to remain open.

Many residents who remain on the site say they have nowhere to go and claim there has been little help from local governments in trying to find a solution to the inadequate sewer facility.(Tyler Marr/paNOW)

That sentiment is shared by Kathy Brandoline, the manager at the park for the last four years. Her mother managed it previously for fifteen years.

“James Wankel did everything he could to find a solution [to the sewer issue], but he was just brushed off,” she said. “From the very beginning I think the RM had their mind made up [not to help].”

Roxanne Beaulieu, an eight-year resident at the trailer park moved out a few months ago and claims many RM residents didn’t regard the people at the park as locals. She said the owner was always there to help the tenants but had no support. However, she like others, figured it was futile to try to stay on.

“I’m over it … it’s not like we haven’t had a warning for two years,” she said. We got our eviction notice two years ago so technically that’s still [valid].”

paNOW asked the reeve of the RM of Buckland for comment regarding what appeared to be the final step in a long drawn-out saga.

The lagoon’s treatment cell is about eight times smaller than what’s required _{– WSA}

“Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about it and that’s the long and the short of it,” Don Fyrk said. “They’ve been extending things [at the lagoon] since 1993, so I guess it had to come to an end sooner or later.”

Water Security Agency says problems existed for years

The Water Security Agency (WSA) had been dealing with the present and previous owners for many years regarding the inadequacy of the sewer lagoon and attempting to bring them towards compliance.

“It’s severely under-sized for the current population and we suspect there could be potential leaks to the underlying groundwater,” spokesman Patrick Boyle said. “The lagoon’s treatment cell is about eight times smaller than what’s required. To date little progress has been made.”

Boyle said there had been discussions with the RM about a possible new lagoon and with the city of Prince Albert on other options with the WSA trying to facilitate meetings between those local governments. However, ultimately there was no resolution.

The city of Prince Albert was not immediately available for comment but Mayor Greg Dionne had previously said the city did not have the reserve capacity to tie-in the park’s sewer into their system.

Park owner James Wankel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from paNOW.

With files from Nigel Maxwell

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princelabertnow

by Glenn Hicks

North Bay Trailer Park to close

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