Former Smurfit-Stone Mill property headed for tax sale

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After many years in limbo and a state of disrepair, the province says it will put the former Smurfit-Stone Mill property up for tax sale later this year.

Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said the Department of Finance and Treasury Board plans put the mill property for tax sale “as early as late spring,” but said it’s more likely to happen this summer, following recent questions in the legislature from Bathurst West-Beresford MLA René Legacy.

“The development of the property remains a priority, not only for Bathurst but also for the province of New Brunswick,” he said in the legislature. “It’s a beautiful spot and it has to be repaired.”

When a property taxes are unpaid for more than a year, the province can put the property for tax sale to recover the outstanding balance. If a property listed for tax sale is not sold to the public, the Finance and Treasury Board can bid on it and the property will be listed as provincial surplus land.

If a bid on the property isn’t sold to the public, or a bid made on behalf of the minister, the property can be reoffered at a future tax sale.

Legacy said he first questioned why the site, which is more than $2 million in arrears on taxes, wasn’t going to tax sale about four years ago. He said there are many problems with the property and the first hurdle to addressing them is for the province to gain ownership.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that they are going to move forward,” he said of news of the tax sale. “The only caution I have is that this is the same minister who two years ago said we were going to have this resolved.”

In April 2022, during a session of the legislature, Steeves said the mill property file would be resolved by year’s end.

The mill property was purchased by a numbered company in 2016, which saw some work done including the demolition of a number of mill silos and the construction of a Petro-Canada gas bar. In 2022, the company’s only officer and director Raymond Robichaud, died. The land is still believed to be owned by Robichaud’s estate.

“Once the province actually takes over the ownership it opens up to have an honest negotiation with other partners, whether it be the city of private ownership, or even federally,” Legacy said.

Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain said she knew tax sale was “a strong possibility for the site” after recent meetings with the province, but said the city didn’t have confirmation.

“I am so happy. We’ve never been this close,” she said of the tax sale news.

Chamberlain said the city intends to work with the province to find developers for the five parcels of land that make up the site. She said some land needs significantly less cleanup than others.

“I think those are going to go in the tax sale,” she said. “The others, you’re talking big dollars (to clean up.)”

The city, with help from the province, completed an environmental impact assessment of the 237-acre site in 2021. It revealed remediation would cost anywhere from $12 to $15 million, with the cleaned land suitable for a mix of commercial, residential and industrial use.

“We have done a lot of leg work that we can share reports with developers,” Chamberlain said. “We really want to work in partnership with the province and with potential developers.”

Legacy said when he questioned the departments of transportation, environment and public safety, they all said there is no money budgeted specifically for the site in 2024. He plans to question other departments in the coming days.

“At this point in the game, if (tax sale) is what’s going to happen, somebody should have planned to have some money to do something with it,” he said.