Qualicum Beach town council was expected to vote on a motion last night directing staff to proceed with the demolition of the Heritage Forest stable buildings.
Despite an eviction notice in May of last year, and then notification in early November that the building would be demolished, the caretaker is still living in the residence, Coun. Dave Willie said Monday. The motion in front of council last night to demolish the building included the words "when vacant."
"He's still in there," said Willie. "He's had his hearing and he has to be out by the 15th (of February). I think it's over."
Willie said the resident, who has been living at the town-owned facility rent-free for more than seven years, appealed the demolition ruling. The appeal was held with town staff, said Willie.
When council first brought a motion to demolish the facility in November, there was some discussion about saving the stables portion and razing only the residence. The town did an assessment on the facility but Willie said the consensus was it wasn't a good idea to leave any portion of the building still intact.
"To leave a shell (of a building) in the forest is just asking for trouble," Willie said Monday.
The motion in front of council last night also called for the town to refer to Heritage Forest Commission Council "to provide a recommendation describing what the Commission envisions for post-demolition restoration of the site, e.g. natural vegetation, etc."
(See Thursday's edition of The NEWS for a report on Monday's night's decision.)
The NEWS has received a number of e-mails from the same e-mail address from a man who says he is the resident/caretaker of the building. The NEWS has been unable to confirm the man, who says his name is Bert Nowak, is actually the resident but that name has arisen in this story in the past.
The NEWS received this e-mail Thursday (it is being published here in its entirety and unedited):
"The demolishing of the residence is the tactic used to enforce a 3 to 2 council vote made without an in-depth review of my occupation here. I tried my best to provoke an insight for the decision that could satisfy a basic educated understanding of why but have failed."
"The elements of logic would require that who, what, where, when and then why must be resolved adequately to inform the best possible outcome. The story is incredibly fractured of reason but the outcome is certain. Staff of the Town of Qualicum Beach had defined the outcome."
"A meeting of bureaucracies was held on Tuesday 28th of January by which an arbitrator found the scope of the meeting to only test the validity of an application to demolish the caretakers quarters and so it is."
"Thank you all for your interest, best of luck to you all. Bert Nowak."