City buys old Esso station lot
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2024 (332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The city won the auction for the site of the old Esso gas station at 402 Rosser Ave. on Thursday, bidding $91,000.
Brandon’s chief planner, Ryan Nickel, told the Sun that the intent is either to develop the land or turn it into green space depending on the results of mandatory environmental testing. If testing shows that a significant amount of work needs to be done to fix the potential contamination, it could make development too expensive, he said. In that case, the city plans to turn the property into a green space.
The property was listed at a reserve bid of $90,745.38 to cover unpaid taxes and the demolition costs the city incurred when removing surface buildings last November. There were roughly half a dozen people in council chambers for the tax sale this year. No one entered a competing bid against the city.
Nickel, who told the Sun that the city just wants to clean up the lot and see it used, was appointed as an agent acting on the city’s behalf as part of the auction on Thursday. The Esso property was the only lot that came up for auction in this year’s tax sale.
Tax sales can be held for properties when taxes are in arrears for a designated year. The city must give the owner 90 days notice, and 30 days notice to the public. Proceeds of these sales are used to recoup the taxes owed. This was the first tax sale to take place in Brandon since 2021, Brandon’s director of finance Troy Tripp told the Sun last month.
The owner of the former Esso property was behind on taxes and did not comply with a city order to demolish the building on the site. The city ended up demolishing it and those costs were added to the funds the city hoped to reclaim through the auction.
When it comes to purchasing a potentially contaminated property through tax sale, the city takes on less risk than a private buyer as the Contaminated Sites Remediation Act says the city is not responsible for remediation of a contaminated site, whereas a private buyer would be if they intended to develop the lot.
»cmcdowell@brandonsun.com, with files from Colin Slark