Council ponders unsightly barge

Councillors debate ways to approach what they consider an unsightly premises in Chatham along the water.

On Monday night, the subject of "Unsightly Premises" came up at the city council.    Darlene O'Shea, City Treasurer, presented a report about potential budget increases in various departments, and her report included a projected decrease of $20,000 in the City Clerk's department for expenses related to unsightly premises.

Clerk, Cathy Goguen, said the previous year's budget had money in it for consulting that was not needed in 2016, and that the budget was for 2016 was sufficient to do all th work on the issue that the department had manpower for.

Councillor Brian King raised the issue of the barge and tugboat that have "adorned" the shore at the bottom of John Street for years.  Both he and councillor Peggy McLean say they hear lots of complaints of the unsightly ships, and City Manager Mike Noel put the situation into perspective for them.

"The owner agreed to keep the property mowed, but he was insistent that both the barge and the tugboat were operational, and had no plans in the short term to move them," said Noel.  "The only way to control that property is is buy it or expropriate it."

Cathy Goguen explained that under the rues that govern unsightly premises, the city has no authority to tell owners what to do about items such as boats on their properties.

Councillor Brian King was doubtful the tugboat was any good.  "I know from working at NB Power that if you let a boat sit there that long, the gears will seize up.  The corrosion will ruin it."

King also has issues about people using the property to do drugs.  "There are people going inside that barge, and they are doing drugs inside it.  you can see needles and everything inside it.  It's terrible.  There has to be something we can do."

Brian King concluded by saying council was not trying to discriminate against the property owners.

Councillor Bill Fleiger said that just because the grass gets mowed there, doesn't mean it looks good.  "It is dilapidated, and if that barge or boat were hauled into the river, I'd be very surprised if they would float.  maybe the manager should talk to the family again that owns the property."

Adam Lordon also echoed the sentiment, wishing the property could be used more effectively by the city.  he asked the manager if there was a way to rezone the property so the boats would have to be moved.

"You can consider making by-law amendments, but whether those would be grandfathered for current property owners is another thing.  it would be improper to pass a by-law directed at one specific property.  So, we try to make it more generalized, but whether it would be retroactive would be a bit of a challenge.  but we could take a look at amending by-laws to protect against this sort of thing in the future," said Noel.

Peggy McLean urged the Manage to get back in touch with the land owners who have , in the past, been receptive to inquiries by the city.  "Maybe they don't understand how upsetting it is to people in the community."

"Part of the problem is that it wasn't that long ago that our shore fronts were places for industry," said Mike Noel.  "The foundry building that's there, the wharf itself, those were industrial sites.  but gradually the way that land is being used has changed to more of a community purpose.  Those sites are holdovers from those years.  It's a bit of a challenge, but we can ask the owner to come meet with council again."

"It all starts with a conversation," said Adam Lordon.