Dimitri Bobesko, left, speaks to members of council about his interest in purchasing some land. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Property request

Resident hopes to purchase land from Town of Battleford

Jun 7, 2023 | 1:58 PM

A local resident spoke as a delegation at Battleford town council’s meeting Tuesday, making a proposal to purchase some land from the town.

Dimitri Bobesko said he would like to buy 2.31 acres of land, zoned for agricultural use, on the west side of the town, that is adjacent to his property, since he owns the land around it. The two miscellaneous lots – at 1.39 acres and 0.92 acres – are essentially landlocked, so he believes they wouldn’t likely be of much value to anyone else anyway.

He noted he previously discussed his request with town administration in September of 2022 but didn’t hear back.

Bobesko hopes to transfer his own land to his children in the future, but with these two lots in between that are still owned by the town, it creates a bit of a hiccup in the process.

“I’d like to get something done,” he said. “At my age, I’d like to move on.”

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Bobesko also gave a little background about why purchasing this extra land is so important to him now.

“Back in the ‘60s, my father bought that land, and he never had title to that land,” he said.

Bobesko noted that his father attempted to rectify matters with town administration of the time, but they didn’t help him to obtain the titles for this land in question despite his efforts.

“I’m using this as a bit of an example of why I’m pursuing this with great diligence here,” he said.

Mayor Ames Leslie said the town needs to go through a formal process to sell any public land, according to the town’s policy.

“You would have to bid on it through the public tender,” he told Bobesko. “If council decides it wants to sell it [this land], it would have to go through the tender process first.”

The property sale would need to be advertised so anyone interested in purchasing it would be able to submit a bid.

“There are a few parcels of land the town owns that are adjacent to the land he owns presently,” Leslie told battlefordsNOW. “He [Bobesko] was hoping to buy it outright, but council of the Town of Battleford has a policy that all public lands need to be sold through a tender process. Also, the town never has to accept any proposals in that tender. They can refuse them all until [the bids reach] such a level they feel is adequate.”

He noted it was good to hear from the resident to get some of the history of the land. But unfortunately the land in question will have to be put up for sale through the public tender process first.

“Maybe there will be somebody else who will be interested,” Leslie said. “If council so chooses to [select] one of the bidders in the tender, then the land will be sold.”

At this point, council has agreed to begin the process to seek to put the land up for sale.

“This is not a commitment to sell it,” Leslie said. “This is just a commitment to put up the tender, to feel out if there is any interest.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow