[Sust-mar] Sperry's Beach January 14 Update

[Tom Daly]

Sperry's Beach Update:
as of January 14:


	POST REMOVAL
July 28
Minister Hurlburt:
"I can advise that field staff visited the site of the fence on July 27,
2005, and have determined that the fence is not located below the ordinary
high water mark.  The Department, therefore, cannot remove the posts
identified in your letter of June 27, 2005, as they are located on private
land."

October 18
At our request, MLA Morash wrote to Minister Hurlburt to ask the time on
July 27 at which field staff visited the site of the fence, and the
methodology they employed to determine the position of the ordinary high
water mark

January 14
There has been no response from Minister Hurlburt to MLA Morash's letter


	GATE / PADLOCK
Not a word from MLA Morash re David Himmelman's lack of response to Mr
Morash's June 27 letter re: unlocking the gate pending resolution


	BURIAL GROUNDS
Mercifully, winter has ended the presence of cattle roaming freely through
the burial grounds


	OWNERSHIP
August 17
three Sperry's Beach Committee members and our legal advisor Senator Cowan
met DNR Minister Richard Hurlburt,  Deputy Minister Peter Underwood, Senior
Solicitor Diane Rowe and MLA Kerry Morash

Late September
bulk letters from Minister Hurlburt:
"We advised the group that we will retain outside counsel to review these
documents, as well as other information collected over the years."
This was the first we had heard of this, as the subject was not raised at
the August 17th meeting.

September 30
email from Minister Hurlburt's staff:
"The current status is that staff are preparing packages to be used in a
call for proposals for a law firm to review the documentation on this file
and render an independant opinion.  This is a time consuming process as
everything has to be thorough and correct".

October 13
we delivered petition with over 300 signatures to Premier Hamm
"The undersigned protest the closure of long established public access to
Crown Lands at Sperry's Beach and the obvious environmental damage to the
waterfront and adjacent wetlands.  We request that urgent action be taken
to both restore public beach access and resolve the apparent offences
against laws and regulations concerning waterfront property, wetlands and
Crown Lands.  We also request that the landowner involved by immediately
required to protect the adjacent historic burial sites of both First
Nations people and early European settlers from cattle in the adjacent
pasture"

October 27
we requested clarification on progress and timetables through MLA Morash.
There has been no response from MLA Morash.

November 1
Minister Hurlburt announced in the Legislature that DNR had asked three law
firms to bid on providing "a private legal opinion on the dispute at that
community"

November 15, 2005
reply from Premier Hamm:

I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence, with enclosed petition, dated
October 13, 2005, regarding the issues associated with the above-noted
property.

While I understand the community's frustrations, the Province has an
obligation to ensure that actions taken by the Province to not affect the
property rights of a private landowner.

Both Ministers of the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment and
Labour have assured me that their staff have expended considerable effort
assisting the community, and are continuing to do so by obtaining outside
legal advice as to ownership of the "sand spit" and shore front.  I have
also been advised that Mr. David Himmelman, the owner of the land
associated with the burial site, is working successfully with the Mi'kmaq
Burial Ground Research and Registration Association and has permitted
access and entry to perform clean up and research.

I have request the Minister of Natural Resources to advise the committee,
in writing, of the outcome of the legal opinion as promptly as possible
upon receipt.

Sincerely,
John F. Hamm

December 1, 2005
Senator Cowan received a letter from Minister Hurlburt:
"the Department has requested quotes from three individuals to perform
title work and provide a legal opinion re the Crown's interest to land
located at Sperrys Beach"
"On November 29, we retained the services of outside counsel with a request
to have the work completed and a report forwarded to us by January 31, 2006"

Significantly, they have been asked to provide a legal opinion "re the
Crown's interest to land located at Sperrys Beach" and _not_ "ownership of
the sand spit and shore front" as they told Premier Hamm.


We continue to wait for a response from Minister Hurlburt to the October 18
letter from MLA Morash re DNR's methodology to determine the position of
the ordinary high water mark.  While the report from 'outside counsel' is
due by January 31, it is unlikely we will hear anything of its contents
before mid-February at the earliest.


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