CITY OFFERS $58,000 FOR FOUNDRY IF POT-SMOKING PAIR ARE EVICTED

If Cambridge councillors have their way, the city's high priests of pot will
soon be sent packing.

Reverends Michael Baldasaro and Walter Tucker, that is _ those bearded
maestros of marijuana and founders of the self-proclaimed Church of the
Universe.

With Monday's decision to not only forgo $900,000 in back taxes and hydro
costs owing on the property, but to pay owner John Long $58,000 on top of
that, councillors hope to stem a public relations problem that threatens to
run out of control.

It is but the latest political attempt to stifle the church.

Evicted from the old IMICO foundry in Guelph last January, Tucker and
Baldasaro moved to Cambridge and set up camp at the abandoned Kanmet steel
foundry on Margaret Street almost immediately.

Long, a Cambridge businessman who bought both the IMICO and Kanmet
properties in 1992 for $1 apiece, granted the church members ``sanctuary.''

But not for long.

The duo's championing of pot as a religious sacrament sparked concern among
politicians and some neighbours, who followed Guelph's lead and promptly
began exploring options to run the pair out.

``The neighbours around there have major concerns about what's happening on
the site,'' Cambridge Mayor Jane Brewer said after Monday's decision.

And plans to oust the church members through a complicated and long-term tax
registration process weren't cutting it, she added.

``This way we can get on and make decisions about what will happen on the
site.''

But from his motorhome at the former foundry in the Preston area of
Cambridge, Tucker says the church won't budge.

``It's not going to happen,'' said the 65-year-old pot disciple, unaware of
the purchase until informed by a Record reporter after the council meeting.

``It's our home. How can they say we have to be out by the end of October?
That's just stupid.''

He and Baldasaro have made renovations and are set to stay the winter, he
said. And if the city wants them off the property, they'd better be prepared
to cough up enough cash to help them relocate.

``If they want us to leave, they should maybe offer to help us by giving us
some money _ the same as they're doing for Mr. Long,'' said Tucker, who
noted that Long promised the church a two-year tenancy.

``If we hadn't come here, John would have got nothing for his property. If
he wants us to leave, we'll have to take legal action to compensate us for
the legal abrogation of his promise.''

If nothing else, he said, the duo should be compensated for the $300 to $400
in improvements they've made to the property, and for ``guarding'' it
against vandals and arsonists.

``We've replaced windows and doorways and bought locks,'' Tucker said. ``A
lock for a door costs $50.''

How much would it take for the Church to move on?

``I think $10,000 would be fine,'' he said. ``If the city gives us $5,000
and John gave us $5,000, that would be fine. Certainly, someone should
compensate us for all the good we've done for this community.''

Long was unavailable for comment, but for its part the city said the Cheech
and Chong of religious sects are not players in this deal.

``Our deal is with Mr. Long,'' said Brewer, noting it was hashed out, so to
speak, at a series of closed door meetings over the past two weeks. ``We've
not given Mr. Tucker any money and we won't be giving him any.''

What's more, she said, the city's deal with Long is contingent on the
church's speedy departure from the premises.

``They will be off the site as of Oct. 31 or we won't take possession.''

While most councillors voted in favour of the purchase Monday night, Doug
Craig and Ted Fairless did not.

``I think it's one of the worst decision's council's made this term,'' Craig
said. ``Essentially, we're paying a gentleman who owes us $1 million _ and
another half-million to clean up his property _ $58,000 to get off of it.
And he's got worthless land because it's contaminated.''

But Brewer said the purchase should be put in perspective.

``It's a far cry from the price Mr. Long wanted,'' she says, citing the
original $125,000 price-tag.

``And if we went for the tax registration (option) we wouldn't have got the
taxes anyhow. They'd eventually have to be written off.''

Ironically, Cambridge officials hoped to avoid the trouble and expense
encountered by Guelph. The church racked up $500,000 in back taxes and
penalties at the abandonedfoundry before being evicted by the city last
January.

``That cost the City of Guelph a great deal of money,'' said Brewer at the
time. ``And I would hate to see that cost come down onto the taxpayers in
Cambridge.''

Copyright Kitchener-Waterloo Record 1998

Checked-by: Don Beck