City/Celgar continue to meet
By Kyra Hoggan
A second meeting between the city and Celgar has taken place in the wake of Celgar’s decision to withhold its taxes and, instead, file suit against the city in the B.C. Supreme Court.
Mayor Lawrence Chernoff characterized the meeting, held Monday night during council’s in-camera session, as positive, saying opening lines of communication is a critical step in finding some sort of middle ground between the two parties.
“We’ve got some dialogue going,” he said. “We’re trying to sort things out in terms of what we’re really looking at and what we need to do.”
Celgar manager Al Hitzroth concurred.
“We’re getting together and talking about our respective positions, clarifying the issues,” Hitzroth said.
“When you’re getting together and communicating face-to-face, it’s always a good thing.
“I can’t say we resolved anything or committed to anything, except that we’ll keep working toward a solution.”
In related news, a similar situation between Catalyst Paper and North Cowichan is currently before the court, and Chernoff said all parties are hoping for a quick verdict, so they can get a sense of the court reaction to these sorts of issues.
“My understanding is that it’s going back to court on Thursday (because) all the summations haven’t been finished,” he said. “They’re asking for a quick judgment, so we should have a good idea soon of where the courts stand on this.”
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