Smurfit-Stone mill needs to be torn down Bathurst tells owners

Bathurst city council is demanding owners of the old Smurfit-Stone mill site, Green Investment Group, tear down the abandoned structure.

City officials posted a notice at the site alerting current owners to demolish some structures, saying if they don't, the city will.

City Manager Andre Doucet says they are tired of promised new projects that never materialize.

"It has to be approved by the province of New Brunswick whatever is going to happen there, plus there's the unpaid taxes, which is a very substantial amount," he said.

The unpaid taxes are in the hands of Green Investment Group and now total almost a million dollars. GIG abandoned the site after buying it, and stripping anything of worth from it.

Glimmer of hope

There was a glimmer of hope for Bathurst in 2014 when Raymond Robichaud of Bouctouche announced his plans to purchase and reclaim the site.

He tells CBC News, talks with the province are slow and he's trying to negotiate the back taxes, but if all goes well, the property could be his as soon as May.

It can't come soon enough for the city. Last summer, a state of emergency was called after a sinkhole from an old, rotting mill pipe opened up in a resident's driveway. The city paid $60,000 to clean it.

"We don't have the money to handle all of this," Doucet said.

The process in a similar situation would be for the city to do any repair work then invoice the owner for the amount that it costs.

Last time, GIG didn't pay and taking the company to court is too expensive for the city, so they're still trying to recoup the funds from the province.

Sudden closure in 2005

The mill's sudden closure in 2005 didn't win any fans in the community according to Mayor Stephen Brunet.

"A lot of people quite upset with what they did and then they turned demolition to another company and people are really upset with them as well," he said.

"It's really evident what they did now, with the snow leaving us and the site over there looks terrible."

Memories of the mill linger in the city, with the public library named after it.

"There's been a slow build-up to changing the name and a lot of people have requested it over the years," Brunet said.

But the change would not come without added costs.

"Changing the paperwork and address and the title here, there's a cost to that," Brunet said.