Hartland liquor outlet dispute headed to court

A company that conducted a traffic study in Hartland for NB Liquor that was a key element in the awarding of an agency store in the community warned a mid-winter car count in the summer tourist town might skew results, court documents show.

"Traffic volumes observed in January are typically less than during other months of the year, especially compared to the summer months," wrote Brendan McPhee of CBCL Ltd., the engineering consulting company that conducted the Hartland traffic count.

"This would be especially true as Hartland is home to the World's Longest Covered Bridge, which is a well-known tourist attraction."

A dispute over the awarding of the NB Liquor agency outlet in Hartland is headed to court next month, with duelling traffic counts likely to be the central issue.

In April, NB Liquor moved its lucrative agency franchise from a traditional spot near Hartland's famed covered bridge to the local Hartland Irving station and Valu Foods outlet, about one kilometre upriver.   

The move triggered opposition in the town and accusations by Peter Cook, the owner of the Freshmart grocery store that lost the outlet, of political manoeuvres and corporate cronyism.

Cook, a prominent Liberal in Carleton County, had the franchise but lost a competition to keep it after NB Liquor put the contract up for open bidding.  

A 100-point score card NB Liquor used to grade two bids it received appeared to show Cook was beaten easily, 96.1 to 88.25.

Cook disputes that count and believes NB Liquor's politically appointed board of directors, headed by prominent Progressive Conservative and one-time Irving Oil employee John Correia, played a role in the outcome.

"It was either manipulated on purpose, which I believe, or if nothing else, it's pure incompetence," Cook said this week.

"I was cheated." 

NB Liquor has declined to comment publicly on the dispute, but in an affidavit filed with the Court of Queen's Bench vice-president Alan Sullivan said Correia had no involvement in the evaluation process and his past associations are irrelevant to Cook's losing the bid.

"Mr. Correia's previous or current roles with ANBL or other companies had no effect on the fact the Applicant scored lower in the RFP process than Valu Foods," Sullivan's affidavit said.

A number of issues are disputed by Cook in NB Liquor's scoring of the two bids, but a traffic count that was worth 30 points in the competition – more than any other element – has emerged as the most contentious.