KAGAWONG—Billings Township council has contacted its township lawyer to advise him that it will no longer be commencing an expropriation process on Fraser Road.
“We were going to go through the (expropriation) process but after receiving further information we decided that it would be too expensive and time consuming for the township to continue,” Billings Mayor Austin Hunt told the Recorder last week. He said the decision by council not to proceed was made within the last few weeks and a formal resolution was passed by council in the past two weeks to this effect.
Mayor Hunt noted, “our lawyer felt we could have won the case, but it would have taken a very long process and would have been very expensive. We have always been told we have a claim to the road.”
As was reported by the Recorder in June, 2016, Billings Township council had agreed to commence an expropriation procedure immediately on Fraser Road. The road is involved in an ongoing longstanding legal action in which the township has been seeking to have Fraser Road declared a public ‘given road.’
Council in June 2016 had passed a motion which stated in part, “the issue of the ownership of Fraser Road, running through Lots 12 Concession 13, and Lot 13 Concession 12, has been an ongoing issue for years, and the township of Billings is of the opinion that it is a public ‘given road’ and the issue of ownership needs to be resolved in the most cost effective expedient manner; that it would commence the expropriation procedure.
Mayor Hunt noted at the time the township over the years has provided some maintenance and work on the road.
“I sense there has been a cooling off and that the gate is open again on the road,” said Mayor Hunt. “We have formally passed a resolution from council advising our lawyer not to proceed with the expropriation proceedings.”
