ATHABASCA – A local man’s offer to purchase the property behind his home for less than the assessed value was accepted, despite some councillors wanting to put the property up for auction.
Larry Roberts came before the Town of Athabasca’s municipal council with an offer to purchase the 0.91-acre lot that sits behind his house for $10,000 so he could clear some trees that are interfering with his plans.
“I’m a bit of a green energy guy and I want to put in solar panels,” said Roberts, who’s been living at the University Drive property for the last seven years. “I was thinking either you could knock down the trees or sell the property to me.”
The lot Roberts wanted to purchase sits on the south side of his property. It isn’t connected to the road or to utilities, and the sharp embankment means it is ill-suited for future development.
Despite that, the town’s municipal assessor valued the lot at $50,150, a price Rob Balay, Athabasca’s mayor, scoffed at.
“I don’t see this being used for anything other than what it's used for right now,” said Balay. “Sometimes assessed value is unreasonably higher than what the market would ever dictate, but you still have to go through the process to sell it.”
Section 70 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) requires municipalities to advertise the transfer of land when it is below market value, although it doesn’t specify the length the advertisement needs to run for.
Coun. Dave Pacholok advocated for putting the lot up for auction to see if a bidder would be willing to pay more than the $10,000 offer but was voted down by the table.
Roberts asked councillors to have a decision soon, since he was hoping to finish the project before he had to go back to work out of town. When councillors discussed deferring the motion to allow administration to time to figure out the requirements, Coun. Edie Yuill put her foot down.
“We defer a lot of things, like the TrailNet, how many times did we defer that?” asked Yuill. “This is not a very progressive council as far as I’m concerned. We have to defer everything and it frustrates me.”
Councillors opted for a ten-minute recess in place of a deferral, which allowed CAO Rachel Ramey to confirm the legal requirements.
Once the town has advertised the lot disposal, it will be free to accept Roberts’ offer of $10,000.
