Dysart et al is purchasing a piece of land for a price way below market value.
A series of events has led to the municipality buying an Elephant Lake Road property for $4,998 under the value it was appraised at. Raquel Ness, a lawyer representing Downey, Tornosky, Lassaline, and Timpano Law, met with Dysart council Tuesday.
She offered up the property to the municipality for the cost of $2.00 on behalf of her client that has passed away. Ness says the late James MacGarey’s beneficiaries do not want to take the land because it is environmentally protected meaning they can not do much with it. The neighbouring property owners also declined to take on the property for similar reasons.
According to Ness, the property was valued at $5,000 by a local appraiser and another appraiser said it was valued at $20,000 which several councillors questioned how there could be such a difference. Ness did not know why there was such a difference but noted that the $5,000 appraisal came from a local expert.
Although what to do with the land is not set in stone, the Director of Planning noted that “there are options for it.”
After a discussion, it was voted unanimously to buy the property from the estate of MacGarey.
