It appears Sun Country Trailer Court has a brighter future following the sale of the property July 15. Residents of the trailer park, located south of St. Paul on Sec. Hwy. 881, are optimistic about their futures there since learning the new owner plans to continue to operate the site as a trailer court.
“I am delighted, I am absolutely delighted,” said Kitty Flanders, a senior living at Sun Country. Two weeks ago she had her second hip surgery and is at home recovering, relieved she will not have to move out. “We are all welcome to stay and all we really wanted was to be allowed to stay, pay our lot rent and live our lives.”
An e-mail was sent to Tim Patterson, a lawyer with Edmonton Community Legal Center, who has been representing the residents of Sun Country after they received an eviction notice attached to their door in April giving them 30 days to vacate the property. At that time, Patterson was able to negotiate an extension to mid July. Patterson has now been informed the new owners will not be evicting any tenants from the trailer park.
“We are in the process of getting it cleaned up. We have cleaned up one trailer already,” said Fred Tithecott, who works for Keywest Realty and Property Management and brokered a private sale of the property to a numbered company 1614748 Alberta Ltd. A corporate registration search indicates the director of the numbered company is Barry Wade, the owner of Keywest Realty and Property Management Inc.
“We are going to be a lot stricter than the previous owners,” said Tithecott in a phone interview with the Journal. Any incidents of “parties or drugs” or property not being looked after could mean eviction, he said, adding the residents are supportive of the new regulations and have pitched in and are helping clean up.
Tithecott said some time will be required to complete all the repairs needed at the site. There are three trailers that must be removed and he said he is working with the trailer owners to remove them. He said he met with Krystle Fedoretz, planning and development officer for the County of St. Paul, and he believes the County is supportive of the new owners.
Residents Charissa Miller and Ken Foy are also excited about the new owners. Miller said she met them when they were out to inspect the property and believes they are sincere about fixing up the property and continuing to operate the property as a mobile home lot.
The new owners have started to clean up, repair the potholes in the road and install a new water softener. In response, the residents are cutting the grass and pitching in to help out wherever they can, said Miller. She was particularly pleased when Tithecott suggested that she price out some new playground equipment.
“It would be great to have more families move in here,” said Miller. “We really want to work with the new owners and make this a nice place again.”
