SYDNEY, N.S. — The hearing to determine how much the Cape Breton Regional Municipality will pay for the land it is building a second cruise ship berth on is slated to take place next month.
The hearing is set for Feb. 4-7. Should the parties, however, prior to that time reach a settlement, the hearing would not go ahead.
The matter involves the CBRM and two numbered companies — 3060709 Nova Scotia Ltd. and 1588145 Nova Scotia Ltd., both owned by North Sydney businessman Jerry Nickerson.
The hearing is to take place at the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board offices at Summit Place in downtown Halifax. There are no plans to webcast the hearing, but it is open to the public.
The NSUARB will ultimately place a value on the land obtained last year by the CBRM.
According to evidence previously filed with the provincial regulator, the appraisal commissioned by the former owner of the property expropriated for the construction of a second cruise ship berth in Sydney placed the value of the parcels at a total of $4.15-4.24 million.
However, the appraisal prepared for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality only values the land at $1.53-1.82 million.
The appraisal prepared by Turner Drake and Partners for Nickerson dated April 9, 2018, places the value at $4.15 million. The appraisal’s summary noted that, to the appraiser’s knowledge, the site wasn't actively marketed for sale in the three years prior to expropriation and no offers to purchase the land were received outside of negotiations with the CBRM.
The Sept. 11, 2017, appraisal report prepared by Altus Group Ltd., also for Nickerson, places the value of the land at $4.24 million and estimated an “exposure time of six to 12 months to sell this property at its estimated market value.”
Both appraisal reports reference possible contamination of the lands due to their former industrial use, but added that it is assumed that any contamination can be managed without extensive remediation.
The CBRM’s appraisal was prepared by Ingram Varner and Associates.
In all, six parcels make up the property being used in the construction project, which is located to the north of the existing cruise ship berth and was formerly the site of Sydney Engineering and Dry Dock. The title to one of the parcels in question is the subject of a dispute with the federal Crown.
The contract for construction of the second berth was awarded to Zutphen Contractors of Southwest Mabou for just over $19 million after the project was scaled back and re-tendered. It is being funded evenly by the CBRM, the province and federal government.
The expropriation has occurred and work on the project is underway.
In the CBRM’s reply to the claim filed by Nickerson, regional solicitor Demetri Kachafanas wrote that the CBRM admits that Nickerson is entitled to compensation for the fair market value of the expropriated properties.
However, the CBRM disputes using the sale of the former Robin Hood Flour warehouse properties, which were also owned by Nickerson, as a comparison in determining the value of the site currently at issue, noting the Robin Hood Flour lots were “purchased by a highly motivated buyer from an unwilling seller and the sale price does not represent a sale for fair market value.”
In 2011, the CBRM reached a settlement with Nickerson and announced it would partner with Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. to purchase that property to expand the area where cruise ships dock and allow for the extension of the boardwalk. The CBRM and ECBC each contributed $750,000 to that purchase.
Jillian Moore, a spokesperson for the CBRM, did not respond by deadline to a request for an update on the status of construction of the second berth.
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