Best Western question answered

David Clattenburg, Chief Administrative Officer for the Region of Queens, said in a past interview the details of the sale will be released in the future, but not right now. Clattenburg said that negotiations with future developers of lands around the upcoming Queens Place recreation complex could be hurt at the moment if details of former business transactions are publicized.

According to Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Affairs Communications Officer, Brian Taylor, the Region is correct. He pointed to two sections of the Municipal Government Act that apply to this situation.

Section 22.2a says that the council or any committee appointed by the council may meet in closed session to discuss matters relating to acquisition, sale, lease and security of municipal property.

Section 477 says the responsible officer may refuse to disclose to an applicant information, the disclosure of which, could reasonably be expected to harm the financial or economic interests of the municipality.

The entire Municipal Government Act can be found at www.gov.ns.ca

There have also been questions surrounding the sale of the timber taken out of the Queens Place development area.

“We got proposals from contractors. They cut down the lumber to sell and we got a stumpage fee,” said Clattenburg.

The Region had someone look at the lot to estimate how much the timber would be worth, and was told there wasn’t a lot of marketable timber there.

Clattenburg didn’t have the exact figures, but he said it was in the range of $3,000. He added the sale ended up being a little higher then the estimated price as well.