The mayor of Altona is upset with McDonald's Canada.

Melvin Klassen says ever since the local McDonald's franchise closed its doors in 2015, the corporate headquarters for the fast food chain has made very little effort to sell the Centre Avenue property. The building and lot have become an eyesore in the community and mayor and council want McDonalds to do something about it.

"McDonald's prides itself on being a positive corporate citizen in the communities it serves, but I beg to differ," said Klassen. "What bothers me is that the parent corporation refuses to sell the property at a reasonable price. I have had some potential developers ask me what it will take to pry that property from McDonald's, but when they contact McDonald's they walk away shaking their heads saying, 'McDonalds has no intention of selling or developing that property.'"

The fast food restaurant was mothballed last year because the franchise owner did not want to invest in the necessary upgrades that McDonald's was demanding for the operation.

The Altona Community Development Corporation has offered to buy the prime piece of commercial property, but the price was to steep. Colliers International has the property listed at $325,000, which is down from the original asking price of $400,000. Klassen admits, the present site is unattractive and it gives the town and McDonald's a bad image. He question why the company refuses to work with the town to do something positive with the property.

McDonald's Canada was contacted about the issue, but has offered no response at this time.