St. Laurent, Quebec: Enemy of Classic Computing

I found this article in the September 22 issue of the Montreal Gazette: ST. LAURENT SUED FOR COMPUTER-FIRM RAID George Kalogerakis Gazette Justice Reporter ------------------------ A computer recycling firm is suing the city of St. Laurent for $36 million, saying the municipality destroyed millions of dollars in computer parts when it sent backhoes into the company's warehouse. Backhoes broke through the garage doors of A1 Vente Ordinateurs' building on Stinton St. on Thursday morning, the lawsuit says. The machines then used their shovels to scoop up computers stored inside and drop them into waiting dump trucks. This went on until A1 got a court injunction to stop the raid that afternoon. The city's crew returned Friday morning, and A1 obtained a second injunction Friday afternoon, halting all operations. St. Laurent city officials were not available for comment last night. The equipment was sent in as part of a zoning dispute between A1 and the city. St. Laurent has criticized the company for stockpiling discarded high-tech parts outside in an unsightly manner. It also claimed A1 was illegally using the site as a truck depot. So they went to court. In August, Superior Court Justice Vital Cliche ordered A1 to suspend operations and clean up the outside site. The company was given 30 days. If it didn't do the work, the city would and make A1 pay the costs. A1 general manager Mike Brown said yesterday the cleanup was done. It cost $8000 for trucks to haul away all the discarded parts, enough to cover a football field. Brown said A1 buys computer salvage by the truckload from bankruptcies and governments. What can be reused is stored in the warehouse while the junk is left outside. Court papers filed by A1 say the firm had complied with the cleanup order. But the city arrived Thursday at 7 a.m. and broke into the warehouse, which was not part of the judge's cleanup order, Brown argued. The 14,000 square-foor building is usually filled with 8-foot- high stacks of good computer parts, to be sold to brokers or repair shops that need parts. "They just destroyed it all and then took it all away," Brown said. He added about three-quarters of the computer stock had been hauled away as garbage by the time A1 got its injunction on Friday. What remained was about $10 million in stock. Brown said that's why A1 is suing St. Laurent for $36 million - $30 million for the computers that were hauled away and $6 million in damages. He said videotape and photographs taken by staff can prove the city acted maliciously. For example, he said, the warehouse is split in two. In the front is a display area with offices on the second floor while the back is the storage space. Workers sent by the city were pushing computer equipment off the second storey, where it fell 15 feet onto the concrete floor. He also claimed people were taking computer screens and putting them in their personal cars. -- Doug Spence Hrothgar's Cool Old Junk Page: hrothgar(a)total.net http://www.total.net/~hrothgar/museum/