Homeowner Michèle Bordessa is frustrated with city hall’s lack of action to address an adjacent derelict property even though she has lodged her concerns consistently for almost 10 years.
Bordessa, who lives beside 749 Stadacona Street East, has complained to the bylaw enforcement officer about this property for the past eight years. However, she is not the only homeowner having trouble with city hall over such properties.
Carter Currie, who lives adjacent to 1511 Hastings Street, has been filing complaints to city hall since Aug. 15, 2018, and has not seen the municipality take much action against this property, either. He has been vocal about his disappointment with city administration, writing several letters to the Moose Jaw Express since December 2019.
Through research, the Express has confirmed that former resident Dr. Elizabeth James — who now lives in Brockville, Ont. — owns both properties. The house at Hastings Street has been abandoned for 17 years, while the house on Stadacona Street East has been empty for more than eight years.
The Express will feature Currie’s concerns in a separate article.
749 Stadacona Street East
“It’s frustrating. It’s been going on for so long now,” said Bordessa, who noted this is the third bylaw enforcement officer (BEO) with whom she has communicated on this issue.
The BEO told her years ago that the property was a problem and he would put it on a list for remediation. She thought that would be helpful, but then it never happened and she was forced to make yearly complaints to city hall.
Bordessa lodged a concern this past May but did not receive a response from the BEO. She complained again in June, but this time emailed Mayor Fraser Tolmie and councillors Heather Eby, Crystal Froese and Dawn Luhning. Luhning said she would forward the complaint to city manager Jim Puffalt, while Froese said she would also ensure city hall responded.
However, when the BEO called Bordessa, it turned into the same “song and dance from him,” she said. He explained the process for complaints, but Bordessa said that wasn’t good enough since this issue had been occurring for eight years. She didn’t understand why city hall had to wait for her to complain when she called every year with the same concern.
“The conversation I had with him was not particularly productive,” she added.
An understaffed department
The BEO said his department was understaffed and he was the only employee. Moreover, he told Bordessa that they didn’t have time to “babysit” derelict properties. Bordessa later called Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development, who was more helpful.
Sanson confirmed city hall was facing staffing issues, as city administration had redeployed employees due to the pandemic. Bordessa said she understood, but pointed out this issue had been going on for years.
City hall eventually sent an engineer to review the structural integrity of the home; the review showed nothing warranted city hall tearing down the home. Someone from the municipality later came in early July to mow the lawn; while Bordessa appreciated that, the overgrown trees were left untouched while city hall did not address the main cause.
“… The root cause (of this problem) is an absentee landlord,” Bordessa said.
An absentee landlord
Through her research, Bordessa learned that Flora MacDonald — the aunt of Elizabeth James — and her sisters used to own the house after inheriting it from their father. The house was for sale when the Bordessas bought their home more than 30 years ago; it was in rough shape even then. Since MacDonald couldn’t sell it, she rented it to an ex-Hutterite.
MacDonald later moved to Ontario and became an absentee landlord. The renter ended up paying for new shingles, but MacDonald never paid him back, leading him to place a lien on the house. Eventually, he moved, and the house has sat vacant since.
Bordessa learned that MacDonald had died and left the house to James, a psychiatrist in Ontario. Interestingly, Bordessa graduated ahead of James from Central Collegiate more than 35 years ago.
Owing back taxes
In January 2018, the Bordessas received a copy of a letter that city hall sent to James saying it would take the property title since the latter owed $4,000 in property taxes. Bordessa thought this was good news since the municipality would take responsibility for the property; however, she later discovered James had paid the taxes and the situation was back to square one.
“No one has taken care of it in two years. She’s neglectful. The taxes build up and then she pays them,” said Bordessa. “The city has a responsibility to deal with this … it’s really not getting dealt with. There’s little Band-Aids that keep getting put on it every year, but it’s not dealing with the issue once and for all.”
Bordessa is skeptical that city hall or the BEO will ever put this property on a list. She doesn’t want to be in this same position in 10 years when she sells her home to retire. She doubts she would be able to sell when a run-down building is next door.
“There’s got to be something that can be done so property owners aren’t dealing with this for literally decades,” Bordessa added. “It’s just not OK."
