Editor’s Note: On April 28, The CBC’s Tom Ayers reported that the CBRM will actually pay $3.8 million for the Nickerson property. The $2.5 million budgeted for 2022-23 represents the outstanding balance. The Spectator apologizes for the error.
Did you happen to catch the price tag on the land the CBRM expropriated from businessman Jerry Nickerson for the second berth?
I couldn’t find the figure listed in the budget materials provided to the media, but it was referenced by District 4 Councilor Steve Gillespie as council was considering how to fund a 5% across-the-board tax break. Gillespie noted that the payment to Nickerson of $2.5 million would be a one-off.
As the CBC’s Tom Ayers reported on 14 December 2021, CBRM expropriated “six parcels of land from numbered companies” belonging to Nickerson in 2018:
Nickerson did not accept the value offered by the municipality, so he applied to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for compensation.
The matter was scheduled for a hearing this week, but late last week, the parties reached a tentative settlement…
According to documents filed with the UARB, the municipality initially cited an appraisal report valuing the properties at $1.8 million, but later revised that to $2.4 million.
Nickerson filed two appraisal reports. One valued the land at $4.2 million and the other set it at nearly $4.5 million.
I think it’s worth remembering that, according to the Due Diligence Assessment of Plans for Second Berth at the Sydney Marine Terminal prepared by CPCS for ACOA and the provincial Department of Transportation in 2017, the CBRM had budgeted $1.5 million for the Nickerson property. CPCS warned at the time that this was probably low:
Other cost components, including the acquisition of the North Lands Property & Water Lot (the “Nickerson Property”), estimated to cost $1.5 million, may also be underestimated. We understand, for example, that the owner of the Nickerson Property is seeking $6 million for the property. We further understand that this land is contaminated. It is unclear to what extent the cost of environmental remediation is included in the estimate (though CBRM and the Port of Sydney have both indicated that adequate provision for environmental remediation is included in the cost estimates for the project).
At $2.5 million, the Nickerson property purchase price will be “only” 60% higher than estimated, so I guess we dodged a bullet?
