A landlord-tenant dispute has led to the Boyle Food Bank being locked out of their facility, located at the corner of Railway Ave. and Fourth Street, in a building occupied by the Pure Water Oasis purified water bottling facility.
Volunteers at the food bank came in to open shop Tuesday morning to find a padlock on their door.
The food bank was allowed to use part of the Pure Water Oasis building by the previous management, which changed this past spring.
Doug Coté said he bought Pure Water Oasis April 1 from the previous owner, Tony Hewko. Coté served the food bank with an eviction notice less than two weeks after taking over.
Coté said the food bank was not the only tenant asked to move. A bookkeeping business based out of the building was also asked to leave and has found a new location, he said.
Hewko declined to comment on the current dispute, but said Coté has full say in the matter and that the food bank had been doing a fine job under his watch.
The food bank’s closure created potential difficulties for those who rely on it.
Jim Kurasevich works on a ranch in Grassland and drove down to pick up some food for himself Monday afternoon, but had to be turned away.
He acknowledged that the next closest food bank is in Athabasca, but said he did not have enough gas in his pickup to get him there.
"I'll survive," said Kurasevich. "I'm sure there are people that are going to be more needy than me, that are going to be needing, that have children."
See the Aug. 13 issue of the Athabasca Advocate for more on this story.
