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Whistler – The Whistler Interfaith Society received notice this week from lawyers at North Shore Credit Union (NSCU) that could be the beginning of legal proceedings aimed at receiving payment for the outstanding $3.2 million loan on Millennium Place.
“We’ve received official notice that no further payments will be accepted other than payment in full,” said Peter Shrimpton, president of the Interfaith Society. “They’ve put us on notice that legal proceedings can be issued at any time.”
The legal notice was received on Monday (Oct. 27) and Shrimpton said it’s an indication the credit union is “running out of patience.”
Lisa Landry, the municipality’s general manager of economic viability, said Tuesday (Oct. 28) that foreclosure is one of the options for NSCU. Doug Smith, NSCU’s VP of corporate affairs, said the bank is “taking a number of steps” to encourage a resolution to the situation, but the institution still wants to see a mutually beneficial solution.
“Foreclosure would not be a mutually beneficial solution,” Smith said.
The mortgage, for which the municipality is the guarantor, expired in spring 2007 and NSCU called the loan guarantee in May 2007, Landry said.
Since then, municipal staff has been working with Interfaith Society members to negotiate terms for the municipality to take over the title of the building and pay the outstanding loan.
In September the municipality was set to secure a new loan from the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA) to pay the NSCU. But after the Interfaith Society rejected the municipality’s terms for a new lease, Landry said she asked that the MFA not grant the loan. With taxpayers in mind, the municipality won’t take on a new loan for the building without the title transfer, she said.
“We’re not going to be on the hook for a mortgage on a property that we don’t own,” Landry said.
The municipality has withdrawn its latest offer to the Interfaith Society for clarity’s sake, Landry said, but talks are ongoing. Shrimpton said the main sticking point is the municipality’s proposed five-year term for a new lease, which provides no long-term guarantee that faith groups will be able to use Millennium Place.
Landry said the municipality has tried to be responsive to the society’s requests, but it can’t grant a lease term longer than five years under the Community Charter. The charter stipulates that agreements longer than five years must be approved by electors, she said.
“It was the best offer the RMOW could really do for them,” Landry said. “There’s not much more that we can move from what we offered them.”
If negotiations result in an agreement that allows the municipality to take over ownership of Millennium Place, the next chance to secure financing from the MFA will be in March, Landry said. NSCU won’t wait that long for payment, she said.
The municipality could potentially try to find another lender to get the money sooner, but with the global economic situation it’s more difficult to find money now than it was a month ago, Landry said.
“Things are just so tight out there that I don’t know if we could go out and find another lender other than the MFA,” Landry said.
Smith urged the three parties involved in negotiations — the municipality, Interfaith Society and Millennium Place Society — to agree on a solution that meets everyone’s needs. He said he believes once an agreement is in place NSCU will be paid.
Because the loan is a private matter between the NSCU and one of its members, Smith said he can’t comment on the legal notice issued on Monday.
“We are taking a number of steps to encourage the parties to resolve the situation,” Smith said.
He said the global finance climate isn’t playing into NSCU’s actions. The unconventional loan has been in place since 2000 and negotiations for the municipality to take over the building have been underway for more than a year, he said.
“The heat’s been on this one long before the last three weeks have happened,” Smith said.
