Douglas Caldwell

Richard,



The following is a article which appeared in the Moncton paper re this case:



Family, Dieppe in court over land deal City expropriated land ;family argues it was worth more than municipality offered By Craig Babstock Times & Transcript Staff Published



Wednesday January 23rd, 2008 Appeared on page A 4 A family that had its land expropriated by the City of Dieppe several years ago is suing the municipality for approximately$2 million.



The three-week civil trial is currently in its second week in Moncton's Court of Queen's Bench, with Justice Stephen McNally presiding over the case.



The plaintiff is Peter Gauvin, executor of the estate of his deceased mother Mary Estella Gauvin.



The Gauvins owned a piece of property on the southeast corner of the Dieppe Boulevard-Champlain Street intersection near the airport.



It was approximately 12 acres in size. In 2001, the city expropriated the land and offered the owner between $400,000 and $500,000.



The Gauvins, believing the property to be much more valuable than that, later launcheda lawsuit that has taken years to finally come to trial.



That land has since been developed and is now the site of an office building,



a Super 8 Motel and a Cora's restaurant. The case is scheduled for three weeks and the plaintiff is still calling witnesses and presenting evidence to prove its case against the city.



Yesterday, the court heard a land appraiser hired by the Gauvin family testify the property had a market value of more than $2 million, _(( Goodwin())))





after development costs were subtracted. The court also heard that prior to expropriation, the Gauvins were planning on developing the site themselves and had been developing plans for a hotel, gas bar, convenience store and restaurant, along with a residential component.



Dieppe Mayor Achille Maillet said yesterday he's aware of the lawsuit, if not the specific details of what's happening in court.



He said a couple of city staff members are attending the proceedings on behalf of the city.



"Other than that, I can't comment because it's before the court," said the mayor. The city's response to the plaintiff's claims will become clearer when the municipality's lawyers call their witnesses and evidence later this week or next week.
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