Town needs to take steps before demolishing dilapidated Crocker’s Cove house

By Mark Squibb/December 23, 2021

A destitute, wreck of a house is an eyesore for Crocker Cove residents, but it may be standing for some time yet.

Following Deputy Mayor Sam Slade’s update regarding the purchase of several new pieces of firefighting equipment during the December 14 council meeting, councilor Danielle Doyle said she had a number of residents contact her about the status of a burned-out house in Crocker’s Cove that the town had purchased in an auction.

“That house is continuing to deteriorate, and I’m wondering if there is a timeline for when that will be torn down,” asked Doyle.

Deputy Mayor Slade said that it came up in the most recent Public Works meeting, and that an environmental assessment needs to be done before the house can be torn down.

Once that assessment is complete, the town still won’t be able to bulldoze the house. Instead, it will have to call a tender for the demolition.

Doyle was none to impressed with the length of time that might take — nor how much it might cost.

“It’s really unfortunate that we, as a municipality, and at taxpayers’ cost, have to go through such an amount of money to tear down a building, that we didn’t want but we ended up with, and it’s going to cost tens of thousands of dollars,” said Doyle.

Once the building is demolished, the hope is that the town can sell the land to at least recoup the cost of demolishing the building.

The actual motions which prompted the discussion were, firstly, to approve the purchase of self-contained breathing apparatuses for the Fire Department in the amount of $104,270 plus HST from K&D Pratt, to request an approval from the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs to borrow from Scotiabank the sum of $63,000 at a rate of prime plus 0.25 per cent to cover part of the equipment’s costs, and to purchase hose for the new pumper from Wolseley in the amount of $2,952 plus HST.

The motions passed unanimously.