The land in question is located along Poirer Street in the industrial Park. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Industrial Park

Former mayor willing to take La Ronge council to court over land deal

Jun 25, 2020 | 5:18 PM

A former mayor of La Ronge is willing to take the current council to court to reverse a land sale he believes was against the best interest of taxpayers.

Joe Hordyski attended a regular council meeting Wednesday and brought forward concerns about a large parcel of land sold to his neighbour along Poirier Street in the Industrial Park. The majority of council, with the exception of La Ronge Mayor Ron Woytowich and Coun. Jordan McPhail, voted in October to approve the sale of a 164-metre by 153-metre portion of land to Scott Klassen for $1,000, plus $912 for dedicated lands and additional surveying costs.

Coun. Matt Klassen declared a family conflict of interest and abstained from the vote, while Councillors Dallas Everest, Rex McPhail, Glen Watchel and Hugh Watt voted to approve the deal.

“I started to check the council minutes and checked with the town administration and found out 538-feet of frontage by 500 got sold for $1,000,” Hordyski said after the council meeting. “It’s just unacceptable and, looking into it a little farther, I found out there is a clause in the [Northern Municipalities Act] that states council cannot sell or lease land for less than market value unless it’s publicly advertised or put out to the public.”

Hordyski alleges council went against the best interest of taxpayers in the sale of the land as it was sold below market value. He was mayor from 1997 to 2009 and he has 22 years of council experience. During his last term, Hordyski said a third-party appraisal was conducted in the Industrial Park and the cost came in at $2 per square foot.

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“Even if you said 20 per cent of what this third-party appraisal came in at, you’d still be at 40 cents per square foot,” he said. “If you have 250,000-square-feet, that’s $100,000. That’s far more than $1,000.”

Woytowich also alleges the price on the land wasn’t right and called it “a virtual giveaway.” He said that’s why he voted against it, noting it should have been tendered out for bids.

“I honestly don’t know what can be done right now after a property is sold,” Woytowich said. “I do know he has the right to go to Queen’s Bench and have everything overturned. If he does that, more power to him because it would be nice to get everything aired.”

Woytowich is even offering to help pay for lawyer fees to assist in settling the matter and he hopes others in the community do so too.

“Even though I am the mayor and I have to support everything council does, it was a recorded vote and the two of us voted against it because of the way it was handled,” he said.

Woytowich noted the matter is now part of council’s in-camera discussions.

The accusations in this article have not been proven in court.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno