The Municipal District of St. Stephen (MDSS) has approved the demolition of a Starshine property at 18 Marks Street, but the province has asked them to delay the process.
Starshine Properties Ltd. has been at the center of at least three Safer Communities and Neighbours Act investigations and seizures by the Department of Justice and Public Safety.
An affidavit, obtained by The Courier, revealed that an officer saw what he believed to be drug use and trafficking at the property.
“During this surveillance period, a total of 17 short-duration visits to the property occurred,” JPS Officer Ryan Cormier wrote in the affidavit. “These visits occurred by persons on foot and by vehicle and lasted from one to five minutes.”
He said one male, on Aug. 16, was observed in the earlier hours “bringing an item to their mouth and conducting multiple lighter flashes before letting out a large cloud of smoke.”
“In my professional experience, this is typical of drugs being smoked through a glass pipe,” he wrote in the affidavit.
He also said, “It is apparent that the owner of the property does not, or will not, take control of the situation.”
The property appeared to have significant damage, with broken NB Power meters, and garbage surrounding it.
Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Renaud told the council the province had reached out to the administration prior to the meeting.
“For full disclosure, for the public’s knowledge, and your knowledge, while we would graciously request that this motion be passed, as of this afternoon, our colleagues at GNB had reached out to us and they want to have a further conversation regarding how this property is dealt with,” he said.
Renaud said that in fairness to the relationship with the provincial government and the reimbursement process, there might be a delay between carrying out the resolution to allow for conversations to take place with GNB.
“But given the correspondence we got this afternoon, we just wanted to let you know that, don’t expect us to be on site immediately,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Ghislaine Wheaton did question what the province would want to do with the property outside of demolition and cleanup.
Renaud said he was not in full knowledge of the province’s intentions, other than that the Local Governance Minister wanted to have a meeting with the mayor.
“Which is why I would like a bit of time to have that conversation … so we know exactly what the situation is,” Renaud explained.
Starshine Properties Ltd purchased about 20 properties between St. Stephen and Utopia, which have faced power disconnections, among other issues.
The Courier reached out to the Department of Justice and Public Safety, and in an email statement, four days after the request was made, the department said it wouldn’t comment on what its intentions are for property while it is under a community safety order.
