Princeton town staff are looking into municipally-owned properties and their associated rental agreements, following a request from the crisis assistance society for a rent reduction and an investigation by The Spotlight into the use of the Masonic Lodge on Vermilion Avenue.
“We have to backtrack and see who is in what,” said CAO Cheryl Martens. “I’m kind of going through it and figuring out who we have in our properties.”
In some cases – as with the crisis assistance thrift shop – there are no written agreements in place, she said.
Two weeks ago The Spotlight, using the Freedom of Information Act, obtained a copy of the town’s lease with the Masonic Lodge and reported the masons pay $2 per year to the town for exclusive use of the property at 187 Vermilion.
The five year lease, written in 2012, included an automatic renewal clause that extended the arrangement for another five years, in 2017.
The document requires the lodge to pay for utilities, upkeep and liability insurance and also states the lodge may have to pay property tax, although annually the masons receive a property tax exemption under bylaw.
Friday The Spotlight, again using Freedom of Information, obtained copies of two letters between the municipality and the Masonic Lodge from 2002 that set out the purchase price of the building and the rental terms for five years.
A letter to then-administrator Cornie Froese states: “This is to advise you that the Brethren of Similkameen Masonic Association have accepted your offer of $52,000 for the building and two lots on Vermilion Avenue…The Masonic Association will be allowed the use of the building for a period of five years at $1 per year.”
According to Martens however, that five-year-agreement continued but was never renewed in writing, in 2007.
“I think some things were done with a handshake,” said Martens, who became CAO in February 2018. “That is not what I would have done.”
Princeton Mayor Frank Armitage is a member of the lodge, but was not on council in 2002 when the building was purchased by the town. He was mayor in 2012 when the lease was signed.
The town responded to a third Freedom of Information request with a letter stating the material requested would cost an estimated $700.
The Spotlight requested a “list, by address, of all municipally-owned property occupied by a third party and the lease/rental agreements attached.”
The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act allows bodies to charge for costs incurred beyond three hours of work and Martens estimated the task would trigger an additional seven hours billed at $100 per hour to cover staff time, photocopying and the use of registered mail.
In a letter to The Spotlight Martens explained that the requirement to contact third parties impacted by the request would prove time consuming.
“As an estimate, there may be 15 to 20 lease agreements that involve, but [are] not limited to, government, commercial businesses, non-profit organizations and social organizations. Each agreement would have to be reviewed to determine if the third party could be harmed from the release of their agreement and, if third party notice needs to be provided, preparing correspondence to third parties and reviewing the third party responses.”
The municipality’s response is in accordance with legislation and The Spotlight is considering its next steps.
This story has been updated to correct an earlier version. The Spotlight previously reported Mayor Armitage, who is a member of the lodge, was not on council when the lease was signed in 2012. He was, in fact, the mayor.