By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
The Town of Brome Lake (TOBL) plans to expropriate land from the Brome Lake Ducks (BLD) duck farm to build a new fire station, TOBL director general Gilbert Arel confirmed last week. The exact size, dimensions and location of the land to be expropriated will be determined after analysis by surveyors.
Arel explained that the town asked the farm’s owners as far back as 2016 if they were willing to sell land to the town for the fire hall; when the farm wasn’t willing to sell, the town planned to build the fire station on land it purchased adjacent to the community centre. However, he said changes to provincial regulations about building near wetlands made some of that land off limits.
Arel said there were “not a lot of options” in terms of possible locations for the fire station. “It needs to be big enough – 85,000 to 95,000 square feet – and it needs to be near the high-risk buildings downtown,” he told the BCN. “I proposed a few ideas, and [councillors] wanted me to make an offer to the duck farm. We started negotiating with them, but when we made an offer, they said they did not want to go that route anymore.” By that time, he said, the town had gotten a grant from the provincial government that required them to build the fire station within a certain time frame.
“For reasons that belong to them, they could not go ahead with the sale of that land. We said, ‘We understand, but we have the authority to go ahead with an expropriation.’ They said, ‘We understand.’ … If we had known [BLD] was not interested in selling, we would have looked at other options. One of the reasons [we couldn’t] was because of the timing of the grant.”
Legally, the municipality has the right to expropriate most private land “for any municipal use,” including the expansion of water, sewage or road infrastructure or any work required by a municipal bylaw. The town is required to give BLD a formal notice of expropriation and submit a detailed plan for the expropriation to the provincial administrative court (Tribunal administratif du Québec; TAQ), and BLD is entitled to financial compensation. According to a description of the procedure on the Quebec government website, the TAQ “has exclusive jurisdiction to determine the compensation payable in the event of an expropriation.”
At the May 5 council meeting, a contract for just over $32,000 was awarded to Laboratoire Montérégie to conduct geotechnical studies on the site. At the time, a council representative described relations between the duck farm and the town as “excellent.” Councillor Louise Morin said she “felt bad” to expropriate land from the duck farm, but “they understand it, so it’s not a problem.”
“Unexpected and regrettable”
Angela Anderson is the general manager of Brome Lake Ducks. In an email exchange with the BCN, she said the company was not pleased with the situation, but did not want to get into a “he-said-she-said” spat with the town.
“Brome Lake Ducks has always maintained a professional and collaborative relationship with the Town of Brome Lake. As [Mayor Richard] Burcombe has stated previously, we have supported the town over the years, by donating land for the community center and the daycare. We fully support the town’s decision to build a new fire hall. […] We also hold the utmost respect for the fire department and the dedicated individuals who serve as members of the TBL fire squad,” Anderson said. “That said, we were deeply disappointed by the town’s decision to proceed with the expropriation of our land for this project. Given our longstanding relationship and history of cooperation with the town, this course of action was unexpected and regrettable.”
She said BLD had initially been open to exploring the potential of selling the land to the town. However, by the time the town made an offer earlier this year, she said, “we had since reassessed our position and made the decision to retain the land. This was done to maintain greater operational flexibility—particularly the potential for future cultivation to help offset our feed costs. From our understanding during discussions with Mr. Arel and Mr. Burcombe, the town pursued multiple leads on different land opportunities and ultimately made the decision to expropriate our land due to time constraints and the risk of losing the grant. While we recognize the importance of making timely decisions to ensure the fire hall project moves forward, I want to be very clear that this does not mean we are pleased with the decision to expropriate our land.”
She said BLD’s lawyers and the town’s lawyers were currently reviewing the file.
Arel said he expects the TAQ procedure to take three or four months, although the final negotiation of compensation could take a year or more.
The new fire hall is expected to cost between $10-12 million, with $4 million contributed by the provincial government and smaller amounts contributed by Brome Village and the town of West Bolton, which will share the fire hall. Calls for tenders will be sent out either before or shortly after the Nov. 2 elections. If all goes according to plan, he said construction should be completed by the end of 2026.