Fredericton city council voted Sunday to proceed with the expropriation of the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition<\/strong>‘s leasehold interest in the city’s Exhibition Grounds \u2014 a decision made at a special meeting called just one day before a municipal election, and one that the incoming council will have the power to reverse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Council passed five resolutions giving the city full control over the 12-hectare Exhibition Grounds property<\/strong>. The city already owns the land but has leased it to Fredericton Exhibition Limited<\/strong>, operating as the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition, under a 21-year lease set to expire in 2031.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Council also voted to offer the exhibition $4.1 million<\/strong> in compensation for the loss of its leasehold interest \u2014 a figure the N.B. Exhibition can legally challenge as part of the expropriation process.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Only six of Fredericton’s 11 councillors attended the Sunday meeting. Of those present, four voted in favour of proceeding: Jocelyn Pike, Greg Ericson, Cassandra LeBlanc<\/strong> and Kevin Darrah<\/strong>. Five councillors \u2014 Mark Peters, Margo Sheppard, Eric Megarity, Steven Hicks and Bruce Grandy \u2014 were absent.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The special meeting was triggered by a ruling from Fran\u00e7ois Carrier<\/strong>, an Edmundston lawyer serving as the province’s expropriation officer, who gave the city the go-ahead to proceed on May 8. The city received Carrier’s written decision at 4:15 p.m. on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mayor Kate Rogers<\/strong>, who is not seeking re-election in Monday’s vote, said she called the meeting on short notice because council had previously instructed her to do so if the expropriation officer’s decision arrived before election day. “To do otherwise would have been to go against the will of my council,” she told those gathered.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Councillor Greg Ericson<\/strong> confirmed he asked city staff whether Sunday’s vote would bind the incoming council. The answer was no. “The new council will have the full right and authority and power to give the N.B. Exhibition their lands or to continue on with this process or anything in the middle of that,” Ericson said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mayor Rogers echoed that view, saying the new council “will have the authority to work with the N.B. Ex to determine what their future is on the land.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Rae Tretiak<\/strong>, executive director of the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition, said Sunday’s outcome was not unexpected but expressed a desire to resolve the dispute quickly. “We want to reach a negotiation sooner than later. We do not want to delay anything. We want to get the job done and we want to move on so that everybody can put this one to bed,” said Tretiak, who has led the organization for approximately one year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The exhibition has been contesting the city’s expropriation of its leasehold interest since September<\/strong>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fredericton Council Votes to Expropriate Exhibition Grounds Days Before Municipal Election Fredericton city council voted Sunday to proceed with the expropriation of the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition‘s leasehold interest in the city’s Exhibition Grounds \u2014 a decision made at a special meeting called just one day before a municipal election, and one that the incoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,48],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat Was Decided<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
A Thin Quorum<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Why the Meeting Was Called Before the Election<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
New Council Not Bound by the Vote<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Exhibition Says It Wants a Negotiated Settlement<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n