Worst winter ever

BY BRENT FOX

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

It was the worst winter of his life and he looked forward to going to jail to get a place to live.

His mom had to leave their apartment because there was no heat and he left a month later after other services had been shut off for weeks.

Jan Lund left his Garden Court, New Minas basement apartment Wednesday, April 18. He had a respite with electrical service being temporarily restored.

The Lunds had leased the modest basement apartment in December and paid the rent for December, January and February. They didn’t pay for March because of the heating situation. The lease included heat, water and electricity.

The heat was turned off a few days in February, Lund said, and was cut off continuously from early March, causing upstairs pipes to freeze and flood the apartment.

Lund’s mother called the RCMP and eventually Community Services officials placed her in a Halifax seniors’ home.

Lund said she’s unhappy there and homesick for the Valley. “I bet she won’t live a year down there.”

Lund himself also suffered foot pain because of the cold floors in the unheated premises. The electricity and water were shut off March 23.

He understood that the matter was caused by an issue between the property owners.

Lund took the matter to the Residential Tenancies office in Kentville March 27 and April 11 to no avail.

Pretty much flat broke

Lund said the board seems to have wanted them to work it out between themselves. They couldn’t enforce any regulations, at least not in time to be of any help to him.

In the meantime, he had to stay at the emergency shelter in Kentville one night because of the cold. That shelter, however, has been closed.

Moving day, Lund looked haggard as he got ready to leave the apartment. “I’m normally clean shaved,” he noted, “but I didn’t have hot water for a month.”

He sat amid the clutter of a household in the process of moving. He would stay with a friend until the next day.

Lund pointed out that he’s broke because of all this. “I have about $3 in my pocket.”

He said, “this is the worst winter I’ve ever had. I’m 61 and I don’t need this crap.” He’s worried mostly about his mother. They have been close all his life and she is his primary concern.

Lund said that Community Services was no assistance to him in his plight.

So Lund was headed for court the next day to plead guilty to a breathalyzer and related charges. He knew he would receive a jail sentence, but hoped it would be long enough to give him a place to stay until he can get his life organized enough to head to the Great Lakes to sign onboard a ship, hopefully as an engineer.

He showed up at the Kentville courthouse April 19 with bags packed for a jail stay. He received four-and-a-half months.

However, educated in accounting, he has been a sailor for much of his working life, being downsized from the Coast Guard casual list in recent years.

The Advertiser’s attempts to contact the landlord by press time were unsuccessful.