The City of Winkler has moved to expropriation to acquire the Stanley Ag Society's land adjacent to the Winkler arena.

Negotiations had begun seven years earlier, but with no agreement in sight, the city has left the decision to a third party so construction can begin on the Meridian Exhibition Centre.

The Society's membership voted against selling the land West of the arena in 2016. 

Stanley Ag Society President Toban Dyck says they would've been happy to continue operations in its current location.

"As a Board, our position has always been to serve the best interest of our membership," Dyck said in a statement. "We are working to make sure the Society thrives. It's important children, adults and families receive an education in rural Manitoba living. This is what Manitoba's Ag societies were mandated to provide. And it's a responsibility we're driven and equipped to carry out."

"It's a very difficult decision," Winkler Mayor Martin Harder says. "The expropriation process is one we don't take lightly."

A concern for both parties has been the value discrepancy between the separate appraisals the City and the Ag society commissioned.

The city had originally had an assessment on the land, and made an offer. The Ag society also had an assessment and presented those numbers.

"The difference is going to be whose assessor is right, or who is wrong. And that's the purpose of expropriation... someone else decides," he says.

Now that expropriation has begun ownership of the land will switch hands, and if negotiations fail a third party will determine the value of the land.

He says it will still be a matter of months before a deal is finalized.

Stanley Ag Society President Toban Dyck has said a move could open up new possibilities for the organization.

"We think of new land, new possibilities, it's a real blank slate," Dyck says.

However, while a number of options for a new location have been presented to the Society, so far none have served as a suitable replacement.

The Stanley Agricultural Society will have a general meeting mid-April.