Update as of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday
After speaking with Mayor Joe Preston, an agreement has been worked out with Entegrus and while the power and water were to be turned off this morning, service will be restored to all tenants by this afternoon. And the correct address is 14 Holland Street and not 17 as originally reported to myFM. We apologize for any confusion.
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Hopeful news this evening for the residents of 19 units at 14 Holland Street in St. Thomas.
The city’s utility provider, Entegrus, is threatening to disconnect the hydro and water Tuesday due to outstanding payments attributed to the absentee property owner.
myFM spoke with Mayor Joe Preston Monday afternoon about the threat to tenants.
He talked about one possible scenario.
The property is owned by Gareth West of Burlington, Ontario who was among 25 Canadians accused of operating a ‘Grandparent Scam’ that targeted elderly individuals across the U.S.
He is the founder and CEO of West Developments.
West allegedly managed a call centre in Quebec that operated between 2021 and 2024.
Most of those involved were arrested in March of this year and charged with conspiring to commit money laundering.
However West is still at large.
He also owned an apartment building at 232 Elm Street that was shut down by the City of St. Thomas and the St. Thomas Fire Department due to a number of fire code violations.
City staff and employees from Thames Valley CMHA and the fire department supported tenants who were displaced.
At the time, Chief Fire Prevention Officer Kim Destun advised there were significant fire and life safety concerns in the 23-unit apartment building.
This is an evolving story and myFM will have more details as information becomes available.
Written by Ian McCallum
