Wednesday July 16, 2014 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST INCLUDED
Twists in Sturgis lawsuit By Martha Wickett OBSERVER STAFF
‘Surprisingly complicated’ is how a defence lawyer describes portions of the legal action initiated by Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen and Sturgis North Entertainment Inc. involving motorcycle events they put on in the North Okanagan-Shuswap. After launching the lawsuit in BC Supreme Court in December 2013, in March of this year Sasseville and Hansen began the process to drop the court action against six of the seven defendants. Adding to the mix, Gerhard A. Pyper, the lawyer who initiated the lawsuit on the plaintiffs’ behalf, has been suspended by the Law Society of British Columbia. Salmon Arm lawyer Rodney Chorneyko is representing four of the seven defendants. “It’s very odd. I’ve never had so many twists and turns simply for plaintiffs to abandon their claims so early – there’s so much complication to get documents finalized,” Chorneyko told the Observer. Chorneyko is representing Steve Hammer, site manager for the 2011 Sturgis North motorcycle rally; the Sicamous and District Chamber of Commerce; Renée Charbonneau who publishes a blog and newspaper for the motorcycle community; and Bernie Aubin, an entertainment provider. Also named as defendants are the municipality of Sicamous and current mayor Darrel Trouton, represented by lawyer Larry Robinson, as well as camping provider Vincent Lewis from Vernon, represented by Nick Vlahos. According to the initial claim, Sicamous is named because Sturgis North entered into an agreement to hold an annual event there beginning in 2011 called the Sturgis North Burn-out and Festival. The plaintiffs alleged the event was wrongfully taken over and became the Summer Stomp Burn-out. The chain of events in the lawsuit includes court documents registered Jan. 3 and 14 this year, in which Sasseville gives notice that he intends to represent himself in place of Pyper, his lawyer. In a June 26 letter a client forwarded to the Observer, Chorneyko writes: “It is not usual for counsel to cease representing a party, but it is unusual for that to occur with plaintiffs’ counsel so soon after See Claims on page A2
JAMES MURRAY/OBSERVER
Life imitates art
Event organizer Carla Du Toit poses with one of the artworks available at a silent auction fundraiser for the North Okanagan Shuswap Brain Injury Society, which was held Saturday at the Mall At Piccadilly. The event raised $2,360 for NOSBIS.
City buys Jackson land Five acres: Could be used for indoor sports, performing arts. By Barb Brouwer OBSERVER STAFF
A $1.5 million deal will keep five acres of the former JL Jackson school site in public hands. The City of Salmon Arm has purchased the property from the North OkanaganShuswap School District #83 in a process that has been ongoing over several months, says Mayor Nancy Cooper. The purchase agreement was passed unanimously in an in-camera session following
This week A Salmon Arm octogenarian has been waging war on the city’s weeds. See page A8. The same day as the World Cup final, Salmon Arm hosted a tourney of its own. See A13.
Monday’s council meeting, says Cooper, noting the deal was sealed with board chair Bobbi Johnson signing the agreement late Monday afternoon. “It’s pretty exciting, we’ve been working on it for months,” said Cooper. “Both council and the school district were supportive, but it went back and forth a few times.” The property known as Lot 3 is immediately west of the Downtown Activity Centre (Lot 2) and site of the new School District Administra-
tion and Education Support Centre (Lot 1) and bounded by Fifth Avenue SW and Third Street SW. “The agreement reached will see the city pay some of the property’s value in cash and the rest in services to upgrade the remainder of the former JL Jackson property frontage to the city centre standard, which is almost a $1 million investment in downtown revitalization,” reads the July 14 news release. “The off-site servicing work will be completed on Lots 1 and
2 and 4 and will include improvements such as sidewalks, trees, lighting, utilities, etc., which will enhance this important area of the city centre.” Cooper says some of the $500,000 in the cash portion will come from the city’s gas tax fund, and the remainder of the purchase price will come from the sale of two cityowned properties. “This purchase ensures that this strategic location will be secured and preserved for imSee Partial on page A4
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Time Out..................... A9 Sports................A13-A19 Arts & Events ... A20-A22 Vol. 107, No. 29, 40 pages