Davidson Sawmill scraps relaunch plan and moves to sell equipment
Davidson Sawmill scraps relaunch plan and moves to sell equipment
The following is a translation, the original article is available here.
The Board of Directors of Davidson Sawmill issued a press release, in which it said it was definitively ending its plan to relaunch the activities of this company, which has been closed for more than a decade now. At the same time, as he had already hinted in the past, the company, also called Davidson Energy, says it wants to proceed as soon as possible with the sale of the assets. Recall that last September, CHIP 101.9 revealed that the company was being targeted by creditors, including the Municipality of Mansfield.
Even if the press release does not mention this situation, the Municipality of Mansfield-et-Pontefract confirmed that this situation was not completely resolved. The situation with its creditors still allows the company to sell what is inside, but not the buildings or land, which are still subject to actions. The sawmill owners say they intend to sell the equipment.
“The decision, taken at the end of a five-year effort to obtain guaranteed supply (GS) reservations (or cuts rights reservation) for wood raw materials, will mean that all the equipment will soon be
dismantled,” the statement reads. “As a result, all fixed and mobile equipment dedicated to sawing, drying and planing white pine and hardwoods will soon be moving elsewhere. Talks are underway with various Canadian equipment manufacturers and dealers.”
For several years, the promoters of the revival of the Davidson mill had asked for the help of politicians to acquire GAs, which the sawmill had lost the rights to during its years of inactivity.
“We thought long and hard before making this decision,” company CEO Hubert Saint-Cyr wrote. “But the repeated refusals of government authorities to grant us GA reservations leave us no choice.”
A lawsuit against the Municipality of Mansfield
When contacted, the Municipality of Mansfield was short on comments. It seems that in addition to the unpaid tax file, the current owners of the Davidson Sawmill have also initiated a lawsuit against the municipality.
“I understand that you are insisting and we would like to talk to our people, but as you know, when you are the subject of legal action, you have to be careful and you cannot reveal anything. On the other hand, yes, we have received a legal action, they’re claiming approximately $70,000 from the municipality and the case should be heard in the coming weeks,” Mayor Sandra Armstrong told CHIP 101.9.
Less and less support
“The closure of Davidson Swamills also means the definitive scrapping of the integrated industrial plan that the owners of the forest site had been nurturing. This plan included the construction of a cogeneration plant powered by forest biomass, a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production plant and an aquaculture project. No decision has yet been taken on the future vocation of the Davidson industrial site,” the statement concludes [Sic].
Questioned a few times to this effect, the Warden of the MRC Pontiac has repeated much of the same in the last two years.
“We have always hoped that the project will materialize, however, we believe that those responsible for the project must review their business plan,” said Warden Jane Toller this week when discussing the issue of the sale of another sawmill, Jovalco. Yet when elected in 2017, Jane Toller was much more enthusiastic about reviving Davidson. She even declared in 2017 that it was the number one project to revive the forestry industry in the Pontiac. Since then, Commonwelth Plywood in Rapides-des-Joachims has managed to start up its facility again and the warden seems today, even if the equipment has been sold, more optimistic about the Jovalco site than Davidson.
“Seeing in Mansfield what is happening in Rapides-des-Joachims would be a dream come true, but the promoters still have a lot of work to do. There was a report from the Government of Quebec on the equipment of the plant among other things, there are several elements to take into consideration and sometimes, we may want to aim to have several sectors, but we always have to see what you have to prioritize,'” Toller said.
More details to come.
