Viking Council agreed to pursue the purchase of a property on main street at a special meeting March 11.
The building in question is located at 5213 – 50 Street and is commonly known as the Java building.
This building was owned and operated as Java Blossom by former Viking Mayor Laura Yakiwchuk. The property was eventually sold to Viking business man Kent Hafso.
Viking’s town office has been housed in the Viking Carena Complex ever since moving from the Civic building in the downtown area.
The current council has expressed strong interest in relocating back to the downtown for space and public accessibility reasons.
At the March 11 meeting, Council went into closed session citing Section 27 on Privileged Information – Land as part of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act.
Discussion took place for about an hour and a half before a motion by Councillor Judy Acres was defeated. The failed motion had called for administration to arrange a building inspection on 5213 50 Street.
A second motion by Councillor Dana Ewashko requested administration to “prepare an offer to purchase the building owned by Kent Hafso at 5213 50 Street Viking Alberta for $50,000 subject to a building inspection.”
Ewashko’s motion passed unanimously.
A third motion also passed unanimously and was made by Mayor Jamie Buttner, which read: “That council will oversee the renovations for the office and work directly with Kent Hafso, the project coordinator.”
The current council has a narrow time frame for this undertaking as council is in its fourth year of a four year term with general municipal elections slated for next October.
Patricia Harcourt
Editor
