The Town of Sexsmith in northern Alberta is selling a mothballed canola crushing plant to pay back-taxes.
Town manager Carolyn Gaunt said the town hopes a buyer will come forward before the Dec. 15 deadline with the intention of reopening the plant.
“That’s what we would like to see,” Gaunt said.
The plant hasn’t operated since July 1997. It was formerly owned by Canadian Agra Foods Inc., which was delisted on the Toronto Stock Exchange in April 1999.
A Nov. 15 public auction with a $4.7 million reserve bid generated no offers for the plant.
The reserve was based on what Ontario company Helin Industries was willing to pay for the plant before the sale fell through.
Under provincial legislation, the town can sell the plant to recover taxes it is owed.
Gaunt said there has been some interest in the plant.
