A judge's decision allowing for an agreement between the Town of Canmore and the receiver overseeing Three Sisters Mountain Village (TSMV) assets is viewed as a necessary step by Canmore's MLA and former mayor, but much still needs to happen before the troubled development project can move forward in the mountain-resort town. Madame Justice B.E.C. Romaine ruled earlier this spring that PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. (PWC) can now enter into an agreement with the town to finalize a wildlife corridor for the Three Sisters lands. While it has permission to do so in the interest of the Three Sisters creditors it represents, just how soon an agreement will come remains to be seen.
Banff-Cochrane MLA Ron Casey, Canmore's mayor only a few months ago, said the judge's order is a step forward, but any final agreement between the town and PWC will only be the beginning of a process.
"The final agreement with Pricewaterhouse would be something that covers a whole series of things, the wildlife corridor being one of them," Casey noted.
Casey said he's optimistic there will be an agreement between the two parties before the end of 2012.
Not everyone is that optimistic.
Deputy Mayor Gordie Miskow said he doesn't foresee an agreement being finalized in 2012, despite a fairly upbeat report from PWC to the court.
The March 8, 2012, report from the receiver to the court said, among other things: "The receiver has now however reached a point where it believes that it has the basis for an agreement with the town, which will resolve the wildlife corridor issue in a manner acceptable to (Sustainable Resource Development)."
As the receiver, PWC is tasked with representing the preferred creditors of TSMV. Those creditors are headed by HSBC Bank Canada, which is owed $27.5 million. The bank is also part of a loan syndicate owed another $44 million. As well, HSBC is the third-position creditor for another $22 million. PWC's job is to secure agreements that will maximize the value of Three Sisters lands to get value for the creditors.
The land owned by TSMV and now controlled by the receiver covers about 1,495 acres, about 634 acres in what are known as sites 7, 8 and 9. There's also an unfinished golf course. The book value of Three Sisters assets was pegged at around $320.8 million back in early 2009.
from Western Investor July 2012
