Vegreville Town Council Forgives Rent and Utilities for CHROMTEC

Vegreville Town Council Forgives Rent and Utilities for CHROMTEC

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Members of Vegreville town council have granted CHROM TEC payment forgiveness on its facility for rent and utilities for January, February, and March.

The decision came during the Jan. 11 council meeting. It was the first time the CBD Purification Company had asked for payment forgiveness. Previously, council had granted deferrals of rent and utilities for April through December 2020.

Paul Casey said the amount deferred was approximately $163,900 for those months. “By forgiving rent and utilities for CHROM TEC for January, February and March 2021, it is expected the town will be foregoing an estimated $65,000.”

“I believe it’s been very difficult for companies to get up and running in these times with Covid-19 and different problems so I believe it’s in the best interests of the community to be patient and to allow time for these matters to work out,” stated Councillor Dave Berry, who proposed forgiveness for three months instead of two as stated in the original motion by Councillor Tina Warawa. She agreed to Coun. Berry’s amendment and the motion passed unanimously.

Councillor Taneen Rudyk echoed the comments of Coun. Berry. She stated, “As a landlord, we are able to make small concessions to the renters and if this is facilitative of ensuring that they are able to get through these next few months I think this is probably a wise decision. We’ve been working long and hard to make this renter to be able to move past the hurdles and Covid really put some stops in their way, so I think this is probably a wise decision for us.”

Coun. Lemko stated, “I fully support the additional month. It would be terrible of us to lose this CHROM TEC business and start all over again. We’ve come so far and they’re so close. To start over with an empty building would be devastating, and I think that three-month grace would provide them the time to do that and would hopefully be beneficial to us all. And I support that.”

Mayor Tim MacPhee said, “I’ve had many meetings with them the last couple of weeks and they do have a plan so hopefully it will still come out the positive message that it was before. Moving forward would be a good thing for our community.”

In a follow-up interview, MacPhee said the company was unable to bring technicians, equipment, and investors into the country, and that has led to the standstill. “We’re working with them right now, the federal government through our MP, to get at least one technician into the country that can help speed up the process so they can show the investors, local investors and foreign investors, what their plan is.

After these three months are up we have an obligation as a council to do what’ right for the taxpayers who own that building and of course, we are trying to do our best to work with them. We would love for this to go ahead to create jobs to sell that facility…We are trying to support them the best we can, but come the end of March we’re going to have to make some decisions. Hopefully, they can get some of this straightened out.”