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Court date for Sun Wave and City of Prince Rupert pushed back to October

The City of Prince Rupert will have to wait a little longer for their day in court, as the BC Supreme Court has granted Sun Wave Forest Products request to postpone any hearings on the matter to the fall.
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The City of Prince Rupert will have to wait a little longer for their day in court, as the BC Supreme Court has granted Sun Wave Forest Products request to postpone any hearings on the matter to the fall.

The hearing on the case, which has to do with Sun Wave contesting ownership of the site and access to the equipment after its bid to buy the land back through a tax sale was rejected, is now set for October 31, 2011. The case was originally to go to trial on June 16 and 17 for the first court action and June 22 and 23 for the second, but Sun Wave requested more time and more documents from the City in a June 7 filing. The court agreed with Sun Wave and granted the extension on June 8.

Prince Rupert mayor Jack Mussallem said he was hoping for a more expedient conclusion to the legal battle that has been going on since last January.

We are disappointed that the cases have been delayed. The people of Prince Rupert deserve some closure and we hoped to achieve that by setting down the trials. However, we have a court order setting a firm date now, so there should be no further delays. We look forward to bringing an end to the litigation,” he said.

In the meantime, we will continue to try to reduce our costs, and to work in a positive and constructive manner towards a successful outcome for Watson Island."

Sun Wave spokesperson Bill Belsey said the delay will give their lawyers time to review the offer information they had requested from the City, once it is forwarded on, and that they will also continue to work for an out-of-court resolution.

This delay will allow, hopefully, more mediation on the matter. We have requested to recommence mediation, but the City has denied that request,” he said.

It is still not our desire to go through the courts, as it is costly to everyone involved.”