IT NEVER ENDS!!

---Nova Scotia Boys School Edition ---

From day one.... in 2005 when SWSDA was given $600,000 to maintain the boys School until it was sold, SWSDA has treated these funds like newly found pin money to be spent as Mr. Anderson saw fit. SWSDA continues to treat these funds in the same manner.

In the pages and blogs that follow over the next few days I will highlight some of these expenditures from the funds provided by the province to maintain the Boys School property until it was sold. Now the real story of what happened to that $600,000 can finally be told.

It is not a pretty story and I expect it will anger some when they become familiar with some of the details. All of the numbers I will use are derived from Affidavits Sworn by SWSDA's CEO Mr. Anderson or pre-trial memos from Mr. Robert Belliveau , Q. C. , one of the lawyers hired by SWSDA. Remember, these are not my numbers.... they are SWSDA's.

Before I start, let's get some principles and facts set out so that we understand the references.

1. The Province actually provided a total of $625,000 for the maintenance of the Boys School until it was sold. Please find below the Minister's letter transferring a $600,000 payment in October 2005. Click on it to enlarge.


2. Closing on the sale of the Boys School was on June 27, 2007. This is an important date. Remember it.

3. As indicated in earlier blogs, readers should visit the Barrington Municipal Web site to understand the tug of war that has taken place between Mr. Anderson the the Municipalities in Shelburne County about the use of the maintenance fund before and after the sale as well as the revenues derived from the actual sale of the school.

4. From the beginning Mr. Anderson assured Shelburne municipalities that the maintenance fund and the proceeds from the sale were safely kept in a separate account collecting interest to be added to the total.

5. SWSDA never produced an accounting of maintenance expenditures and revenues from the sale as of the date of sale, June 27, 2007. Below please find a copy of four different sets of numbers prepared by Mr. Anderson in SWSDA's efforts to justify their expenditures on items other than maintenance of the Boys School until it was sold. Please click on the image below to enlarge.

Here's what is in front of you.... it is a bit boring but worth working through! Trust me......

The first column ...takes you to May 31, 2007, a little less than two months before the closing on the sale of the Nova SCotia Boys School to Mr. MacDonnell.... in fact a week or more before Mr.MacDonnell had even incorporated the company that beat out Mr. Dockrill's proposal and won the bid for the Boys School in March! These figures in column one are those provided by Mr. Anderson to Team Shelburne.

Remember, Mr. Anderson is reporting here on his use of the "Maintenance Fund" established by the Province for the Boys school. Please note total repairs and maintenance costs reported here at the end of May only account for $10,672.91. Revenues are a total of $640,040.10 - BEFORE - the sale of the Boys School .... made up in part by interest of $12,343.60..... that would work out to about 1% per year. the balance remaining according to SWSDA at the end of May 2007, before the addition of proceeds from the sale of the Boys school is $278,638.37

The second column .... reports on the increase in revenues to the Boys School monies as a result of the sale of the Boys School for a reported amount of $550,000 and the balance remaining from the maintenance fund, totalling a reported $791,697.27 at the end of July, 2007. Interest increases from $12,343.60 at the end of May to $16,190.35. Not sure what interest rates applies to what amount since this is an increase of nearly 25% in interest attributed to these funds over a two month period! (Please note that SWDA and Mr. Anderson have never provided an accounting of maintenance expenses to June 27th when the property was sold.) This is the closest we get to it.

According to this statement prepared by SWSDA and provided by Mr. Anderson, total maintenance expenses, more than a month after the sale of the property totaled $402,189.58.

At this juncture, Team Shelburne members and the public had been told by SWSDA and Mr. Anderson that the $791,697.27 was in a separate account collecting interest as the Shelburne County Boys School Fund. If you read Team Shelburne minutes from the Municipality of Barrington site you'll see that Team Shelburne worked earnestly from June onward to limit Mr. Anderson's spending of these monies initially and then tried with increasing desperation to get the monies away from Mr. Anderson in August and September.....

You'll find out shortly why Mr. Anderson didn't give them the money. ...... I expect you will be as surprised as Team Shelburne was to find out why SWSDA didn't want to give the money to Team Shelburne!!

AND.... THE ANSWER IS FOUND IN COLUMN THREE......

The figures and supporting explanations found in column three were provided in two sworn affidavits submitted by Mr. Anderson in November 2007 where he makes the following statements.

"That I am a former banker with 17 years of experience with the Bank of Montreal. As a result of that experience, I am familiar with management, banking, banking practices, accounting and the application of accounting principles;"

"That Team Shelburne is not a legal entity and does not legally exist."

"That the sale proceeds referred to have already been dissipated of in manners which are consistent with SWSDA's bona fide business undertaking." (My underlining.)

"That when SWSDA made the deposit of the proceeds of the sale of the former Shelburne Youth Facility [sic] its bank account, more than $350,000 was owing on the LOC. As such, the bank automatically took $350,000 of the proceeds of the sale to reduce SWSDA's indebtedness on the LOC. Any positive balance was thereafter used by SWSDA to meet its ongoing expenses on behalf of the five municipal units which comprise Team Shelburne;"

NOW ...... YOU TOO KNOW THE SECRET....!!!

SWSDA HAD SPENT ALL THE MONEY FROM THE BOYS SCHOOL.... both the maintenance fund and the revenues from the sale of the Nova Scotia Boys School property,........ before they went to court on Fraudulent Conveyance charges in December 2007.

The remedy being sought in the Fraudulent Conveyance case was designed to force SWSDA to take the money they and Mr. Anderson had claimed up to that point was in a separate interest bearing account and set it aside so they couldn't spend it!

That is when we discovered through Mr. Anderson's Affidavits ... that the Boys School money had already been "dissipated" according to Mr. Anderson .... (must be a fancy bankers term for "spent").... (my dictionary defines dissipated as "wasted, gotten rid of, spread around, thrown away") .....

The solution... worked out at trial by the parties was to get SWSDA to take an amount equal to the proceeds from the sale of the Boys School and the balance of the maintenance fund out of the proceeds realized by SWSDA when the former Naval Base was sold and set it aside to replace the Boys School Funds that had disappeared.....Oops!!! I meant had been secretly "dissipated" by Mr. Anderson.

The Consent Order agreed to by SWSDA, the Muncipalities and OPI and Issued by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Reads....

"The proceeds of the sale of the lands and premises known as "Shelburne Place" together with the balance remaining in the maintenance fund at the time of the sale (the "Team Shelburne Funds") shall forthwith upon the sale of the sale of the former Shelburne Naval Base be deposited by the South West Shore Development Authority ("SWSDA")into an interest bearing segregated bank account or GIC to be held pending the outcome of the Plaintiff's claim against SWSDA in the proceeding known as 2002 S. H. No. 187898 ( the "first action");"

NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND A BIT MORE OF THE BACKGROUND.... please take a look at column four.

It shows SWSDA's latest accounting of revenues and maintenance costs related to the Nova Scotia Boys School and their latest version of what should be set aside to replace the Boys School funds "dissipated" under Mr. Anderson's leadership.

NOW..... according to SWSDA the money to be set aside by SWSDA is not $791,000 or $782,000.... as it was in July or October..... SWSDA now argues it has decreased by nearly $100,000!

...... oh, and by the way..... no interest has accrued to the Boys School Fund since July 2007.... almost two years ago.... go figure..... **** ..... must be more intricate banker's stuff.... too complicated for me... my degree is in Economics!

Which leads us to the reason that SWSDA and Mr. Anderson are now facing Contempt of Court Charges. ..... Trial is in Shelburne October 23, 2009 and is open to the public.

More about this later.... this blog is already too long.... but thought I should set the stage so readers could get the basic facts about how we got here..... Please let me know if I can provide clarification.... and make sure to pass this on to others.... especially your local representatives.....