The president of two businesses behind a gravel mining operation and concrete factory is now claiming more than $500,000 in damages from the City of Prince George.
The figure is stated in an affidavit from John Paolucci, president of Rock'n'Roll Aggregates Ltd. and Rolling Mix Concrete (B.C.) Ltd., in relation to a long-running dispute with the city over the operation southwest of Foothills Boulevard and North Nechako Road.
In mid-October 2020, bylaw enforcement officers issued a cease work order over an allegation that work setback limits set out in the city's soil removal bylaw may have been violated.
The two businesses took the issue to court in February 2021, arguing in a notice of claim that the operation is subject to the B.C. Mines Act and not the city's soil removal bylaw.
In a statement issued in December 2021, the city conceded the point and added it had reached an out-of-court settlement on the matter.
But three days later, a revised notice of claim was filed on behalf of Rock'n'Roll and Rolling Mix claiming they had suffered damages related to the shutdown and face additional costs to resume the operation.
The step prompted the city to claim the plaintiffs had agreed to no longer pursue damages and were now acting in "bad faith" and has not yet rescinded the cease work order.
In responses, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Roy Stewart, has said the settlement agreement was limited to so-called "jurisdiction claims" and that his client still remained entitled to "additional damages."
Moreover, documents indicate that the plaintiffs are now seeking significantly less than the $6 million they would have pushed for if the City had maintained authority over the works.
On that note, Stewart argued the mine had been operating since 1995 when the city bylaw in effect at that time had no setback requirement and that the city's cease work order was invoked under a bylaw passed in 2019
As a result, Stewart maintained the city would have been liable for compensation equal to the roughly two million cubic metres of sand and gravel that would have been foregone due to the difference in setbacks between the City's bylaw and the mining permit granted by the province.
Instead, documents show Rock'n'Roll and Rolling Mix are now seeking a considerably less - but growing - amount in damages from the city.
According to Paolucci's affidavit, filed earlier this month at the courthouse, Rock'n'Roll and Rolling Mix have suffered a loss of more than $500,000 related to site clearing and the cost of securing material from a different and more costly source.
He said the cease work order forced the businesses to pay the contractor first hired to do the clearing about $30,000 to "demobilize" from the site, and that now the work, "which includes building a required berm" will cost about $480,000 more than if the order had not been issued because the contractor is now busier.
Rolling Mix has also been forced to purchase about 7,800 cubic metres of gravel for about $6 per cubic metre - or about $5 more than if it had got the material from the Rock'n'Roll pit - amounting to an additional $39,000 not including incidental costs, Paolucci continued.
Because the city has refused to confirm the cease work order is no longer in affect, the damage "continues to accrue," Paolucci added.
The case remains before the court.
