Botwood mayor takes aim at Gerry Byrne, says wood chip operation will go ahead anyway

The Town of Botwood has made it official — they've got an issue with Gerry Byrne.

Mayor Scott Sceviour expressed his dismay with the provincial forestry minister in an interview with CBC News on Monday, after Byrne said a company vying to bring more than 200 jobs to Botwood was an "unwilling" business partner.

• Botwood eyes wood chip project as biofuel plant bites dust

"He's got nothing good to do with central Newfoundland," Sceviour said. "If it's not on the west coast, they don't care. And I'll stand behind that until he proves to me otherwise."

United Kingdom-based Bulk Logistics wanted to partner with a local sawmill, Harold Sheppard Ltd., to access a massive area of timber in central Newfoundland. They would create wood chips and ship them to Europe out of the Botwood port.

But the government offered them an allocation of 60,000 cubic metres — about 20 per cent of their original ask — in areas nowhere near Botwood.

Kent Roberts, the owner of Harold Sheppard Ltd., walked away from the offer, but is still committed to moving forward with the project, Sceviour said.

Power will be connected to the former Abitibi paper shed this week and Roberts will move his sawmill into the building within two weeks. According to Sceviour, Roberts has connected with a group of independent harvesters with access to around 100,000 cubic metres of timber.

The first boats could arrive in Botwood by May, to ship wood chips to the United Kingdom.

"Things are coming along for [Roberts]," Sceviour said. "He called me Friday night and told me he was more motivated than ever."

The mayor said there will be two shifts of 25 workers, with more jobs unloading ships. Job growth will be slower than anticipated without access to the timber they wanted, Sceviour said.

Byrne drops ball in meeting, sources say

Sceviour says it was Byrne who appeared unwilling to do business during a meeting with executives from Bulk Logistics in Botwood earlier this winter.

Multiple sources inside the room, including Sceviour, have told CBC News that Byrne introduced himself at the start, then fixed his eyes to his cell phone and did not speak again until the meeting ended.

"That's the attitude we're dealing with," Sceviour said on Monday.

One Bulk Logistics executive, who was scheduled to stay in Newfoundland for another week, got on a plane out of Gander the next day, frustrated and feeling a deal was impossible.

Sources say Transportation Minister Al Hawkins was on the same flight, and made apologies on Byrne's behalf.

But Gerry Byrne says that's not how it happened.

"I was very engaged in the discussion," Byrne said. "In fact, I drove out to Botwood from Corner Brook in the middle of the night to take in that meeting, and [was] delighted to do so."

'[Gerry Byrne] would not talk to us right up until today.' - Scott Sceviour, Botwood mayor

Byrne said he received a positive note from the Town of Botwood after the meeting and said it was "very productive."

But Sceviour said nobody around the table was impressed with his behaviour, including Hawkins and local MHA Jerry Dean.

Getting a meeting with the forestry minister has been impossible ever since, Sceviour said.

"Minister Byrne met with us that particular day and we have not been able to get a meeting with him since ... He would not talk to us right up until today."

Prove yourself, Byrne says

Byrne said the government took issue with Bulk Logistic's lack of experience in forestry — despite Sceviour's insistence that they'd only be handling the shipping side of things.

He also took issue with Harold Sheppard Ltd. being used to a much smaller scale of business.

"We know that HSL is a good company, it's a great company … But it's not a company that's actually been able to harvest that level of goods. So that's why we go incrementally."

The offer of 60,000 cubic metres was a stepping stone, he said, but it was only for one year with no guarantees for extending beyond that — something the two companies were staunchly opposed to.

"It was for a one-time permit to allow them to get involved in the industry to prove themselves, and that actually became the issue," Byrne said.

'We figured it was a letter of offer to fail.' - Scott Sceviour, Botwood mayor

And while the companies had requested access to fibre in zones 10,11 and 12 — areas within the Botwood region — the government countered with an offer of land in zones 5, 6 and 8.

Sceviour said these areas are nowhere near Botwood, and are closer to where industry giants like Sexton and Cottles Island operate.

If those companies aren't cutting in these zones, Sceviour questions the viability of the areas that were offered to Harold Sheppard Ltd. and Bulk Logistics.

• No deal on proposed Botwood wood chip project: Minister

• Botwood biofuel project dead, emails show bureaucratic tangle

Byrne disagreed with that sentiment, saying "5, 6 and 8 are extremely viable tracts of forest timber."

But Sceviour is convinced — the forestry minister has no interest in making a deal in central Newfoundland.

"We figured it was basically a letter of offer to fail," he said. "[Government] were going to prove it wasn't going to work."

Calls to Bulk Logistics and Harold Sheppard Ltd. were not immediately returned.