Photo: Sarah Crookall

7710 Main Street.

The fight between the previous owners of a house that the Town of Osoyoos recently bought and the municipality continues, with the case heading to civil court.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Kevin Primeau claimed the town owes him roughly $28,261 for furniture that remains in their possession or was sold off after closing.

Primeau alleged that when the Town of Osoyoos took possession of his property at 7710 Main Street on Jan. 17, 2025, he had already disclosed a fixed-term tenancy and negotiated to leave furnishings, but the town denied access to the property.

He claims that the locks were changed on a business rental hut that was not on the property.

"Multiple efforts to retrieve and document my personal items were refused or ignored. The town later treated these items as abandoned or theirs, despite no legal basis or notice. I am seeking compensation for the value of my retained property and related damages," Primeau claimed.

The 7710 Main Street two-bedroom house sits between the Holiday Inn and Coast Osoyoos Beach Hotel along Osoyoos Beach.

During a Jan. 28 council meeting, Osoyoos' chief administrative officer, Rod Risling, said the building was a "very strategic purchase."

"[It] not only ensures access to critical infrastructure, including the pump station wastewater line, but also eliminates the need to actually move that line, which would have a significant amount of risk associated with it also would have impacted businesses along the highway, and the cost of that project would have been likely in that $4 million range," he said at the time.

Risling added that the acquisition would save taxpayers money, and that the "unexpected issues on the transfer" are being resolved between all parties.

Primeau previously filed a Freedom of Information request in January and April 2025 regarding the sale he claims was done in secrecy via the town's lawyer.

He also included a timeline and copies of repeated emails from November to January trying to confirm the town's willingness to honour the fixed-term tenancy, which would be ending on April 6, 2025.

Primeau provided a list of the household furnishings and personal property that remained at 7710 Main Street in his claim and were subsequently retained by the town following completion of the sale.

"To resolve tensions, I offered to leave all furnishings (valued at $26,025) if the town would permit tenancy until April 6 and allow removal of a trailer and seacan. This offer was countered with the town offering an extended time for the seacan and trailer, but not the tenancy. This offer was not acceptable," he alleged.

When Primeau claimed that he was conditionally granted access for early May, he found "numerous personal items unrelated to the tenancy or sale, such as beach rental equipment stored in a separate breezeway, were removed or disappeared without notice."

Primeau alleged that he reported these items as stolen to the RCMP. He added that the town, via its police department, alleged that the proposal constituted attempted fraud.

He is seeking compensation for the lost or unreturned items, which are valued at $26,025, along with acknowledgement that the items were not abandoned and reimbursement for legal expenses, time, and "possible reputational damage caused by the town's actions."

The Town of Osoyoos did not respond to Castanet's request for comment by publication deadline.

None of the allegations in the lawsuits have been proven in court.