Hay River (Apr 04/05) - A Hay River family says they will be homeless when the Town of Hay River evicts them from the subleased land on which their house stands.

"I've got no where to move to," Greg Nessel said Friday.

In February, a court ordered the Nessels to vacate the land because of unpaid lease fees and property taxes totalling $7,133.

Greg Nessel and his estranged wife Donna are facing eviction from their land in Hay River. Though they have been packing up as much of their property as two trucks and a trailer will hold, they are still hoping for a last minute change of heart from the Town of Hay River. The Nessels owe the town more than $7,000 in back taxes and unpaid lease fees. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

In 1999, Nessel subleased the two side-by-side parcels of land - one residential and one storage - from the previous sublessor.

The sublease for the residential lot expired in August 2001, while the sublease for the storage parcel expired in June 2002.

In his Feb. 11, 2005 ruling, Supreme Court Justice John Vertes noted Nessel was continually in arrears. The Nessels were also ordered to remove the house and other possessions from the property.

Anything not removed will become the property of the town and could be sold to pay the unpaid bills.

Nessel originally received an eviction notice from the town in December 2003.

The family must be off the two lots in the West Channel by noon today (April 4). The deadline was extended from March 31.

"Theoretically, the town could have gone in at midnight (on March 31) and said, 'You're out of here,'" said Michelle Staszuk, a lawyer for the Town of Hay River.

"Nobody wanted to do that. The town is certainly hoping they will remove their property."

Staszuk also noted the town waited two years from Nessel's last payment to begin court action in April 2004.

Nessel and his estranged wife Donna, who has lived in Edmonton for two years, are still fighting the eviction, even as they prepare to move to Edmonton.

The house remains on the land since Greg said no contractor could be found to move it at this time of year.

Donna Nessel can't believe the house is being "stolen" from the family because of unpaid bills.

"It pisses me off," she said Friday, noting everything she and her husband have worked for is in that house.

On Friday Donna was preparing 'Eviction Sale' notices for Hay River bulletin boards. Using a black marker, she wrote 'Sale Ends Monday Noon' on the sheets of paper.

A court order had given the family until midnight on March 31 to leave the land.

When a court sheriff and an RCMP officer arrived the next day, the Nessels told them they were packing up and the officers extended the deadline.

Over the weekend, the family packed whatever they could into two pickup trucks and a small trailer.

They said they are taking just the essentials - clothes and personal items.

They have nowhere to put the larger items, like furniture, appliances and beds.

"We're losing everything," Donna said, adding they will have to start over in Edmonton. She had been staying with her mother in a two-bedroom apartment in Edmonton, while attending school.

Greg and Donna plan to head to the Alberta capital with their three children, aged nine to 15. An older child already lives in the city.

They say they will probably end up living in the trucks on the streets of Edmonton until they can find some accommodations.

The Nessels' 12-year-old daughter Dawn, a Grade 6 student at Princess Alexandra school, is upset about having to leave her home. She had hoped the town would give her father more time to pay.

"I think it's kind of stupid because, my dad, he's sick and we have to go off our land," she said. "It makes me kind of mad."

Greg Nessel, 41, survives on an $800-a-month disability income. He had surgery for asbestosis in 2000 and has not worked since 2002.

On Thursday the Nessels tried a new tactic to save their house.

Greg sold it and all his possessions to his wife for $1.

"All the court action relates to me," he explained.

"It was a last-ditch effort to save my kids' home," said Donna, adding she hopes the town will now deal with her on renewing a sublease for the land.

Donna, 38, said, if the town doesn't renew the lease and takes possession of the house and other items on the land, "I'll charge them with theft over $5,000."

The Nessels estimate their house and possessions are worth about $85,000.

Staszuk says the court order applies to property left on the land and is not affected by any sale.

The town leases the land from the Commissioner of the NWT.

Greg believes the town wants the family off the property to open up the area for a new residential subdivision.

However, Staszuk said she has been advised the town has no plans for the property.

Nessel said he has made many attempts to re-sign the lease since 2000, but the town has refused to deal with him.