Nipawin council is mulling over an offer from what was the Kelsey Trail Health Region to purchase a duplex for doctors at $95,000 plus GST.
The town owns the duplex, while the health region owns the land. The town constructed the building for approximately $350,000, which it transferred from itself to fund. The town owes approximately $95,000 to itself to pay back that transfer.
“At this point, there’s been no decision made,” said Barry Elliott, the town’s administrator. “The fact of the matter is: this was only on council’s agenda because [Kelsey Trail] had made the offer.”
The administrator said council has some legal concerns about the offer, which was presented at their Nov. 27 meeting. They chose to discuss those concerns in a session closed to the public, but ultimately instructed the town’s staff to further research them.
“Council wants to be sure that their interest in this property is protected.”
Elliott said he’s also aware of public concerns about the offer price.
“It’s quite a bit less than what we know the fair market value of the unit to be, but it’s only still discussion at this point,” he said. “Council has not resolved it and council would only resolve it if they’re satisfied that it’s to the benefit of the town.”
If the offer goes in front of council again for a formal decision, Elliott said the town will go through a public notice process.
Both the town and the health region’s top officials agree that only one of their organizations should own both the land and the building.
Elliott said having the town buy the land from Kelsey Trail is not an option.
“They have indicated very, very clearly they had no intention, no desire, no interest in talking about selling any portion of their land.”
A third option would be to move the duplex to a different parcel of land. That would require the town to secure a new piece of land large enough for it at an estimated cost of $120,000, then build a new basement on the new land and decommission the basement on the current land. Rough estimates to move the building range from $209,000 to $226,000, in addition to the cost of the land.
The town collects rent from the duplex, but is also responsible for the upkeep. Elliott said it was not – nor was it ever meant to be – a money-maker for the town.
