Citizens submit dozens of proposals to city hall
Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Aug 18/00) - Plans for a senior citizen's complex was not the only proposal submitted for development at the former Bartam Trailer Court site. At least 38 proposals were sent in, outlining a variety of public suggestions as to what should become of the School Draw site.
| Tax increase the bottom line
Mayor Dave Lovell says the city would have to raise taxes in order to construct a public use facility at the Bartam Trailer Court site.
Lovell said the city would gain $400,000 for the sale of the Bartam site and an additional $70,000 per year in property tax revenue if it sells to a private developer.
But if it decided to put city funds into building some type of public use facility at the site, the lost revenues and added cost would have to be recovered through a tax hike.
"I like parks ... but the argument there is amenities versus taxes. There's no magic pot of money.
"You could say that we could find the money somewhere else ... but ultimately if we go ahead on (public use) then we're looking at another tax increase at some time in the one per cent range. That's the bottom line," said Lovell.
The lone contractor's proposal for developing the former Bartam Trailer Court came as quite a surprise to some municipal leaders.
Yellowknife's City Administrator, Max Hall. and Coun. Cheryl Best both informed council in June that at least four local private developers had expressed an interest in purchasing the site.
When the deadline came for submitting development proposals, only Nova Construction came through.
"I am disappointed in the fact that there was only one proposal ... after a while you just get a reputation for not being a good place to develop," said Mayor Dave Lovell.
He believes public outcry is the reason why developers lost interest in the land.
"I've had people really mad from the other side saying 'how come a few people down there are blocking development,'" Lovell added.
Best was also baffled.
"I had actually heard from three or four different people saying that they were very interested in that land. I have no idea why they all didn't put in proposals," she said.
While several other developers verbally expressed interest, URBCO Inc. was the only company besides Nova to request an application from City Hall. URBCO vice-president Greg Herndier could not be reached for comment by deadline.
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Details include plans for a parking area, trail system, kayak and canoe rentals and public washrooms.
SPIRIT YK member Brian Weir said the mining museum would begin at an underground tunnel, drilled about 300 feet into the rock.
"This shaft will come up into that open space between Franklin and School Draw, and we could have a modest mining museum on top," said Weir.
There, a coffee shop could be built for visitors, and mining displays and information kiosks would be situated, similar to SPIRIT YK's displays near the Yellowknife Airport.
Weir estimates the project will cost the city approximately $1.9 million, but with the help of community volunteers and donations, that cost could be reduced.
"Yes, it's going to cost the city money. It's not a money maker, but everybody's always going on about how we have to have something for the tourists.
"Well, let's do something for the tourists ... the tourists love that junk," said Weir.
About 60 Yellowknife residents convened at the Bartam site last month to brainstorm ideas for developing it for public use.
Amanda Mallon, one of the organizers of that event, said the participants pulled together and formulated some "great ideas."
"Almost all of them incorporated some sort of outdoor usage," she said.
Those ideas ranged from basketball courts, an amphitheatre on the rocks, expansion of the playground, picnic areas, a boardwalk and trail system and a community garden area.
And according to Mallon, the proposals were drafted to meet the needs and wants of all Yellowknife residents.
"There were people from across the spectrum of the city, people that used to live in Bartam Trailer Court, people that live in the Old Town, and also people from the other end of town that just wanted to keep the open space," she said.
Mallon said the city should honour its original intentions to use the property for a public use facility.
"They promised those people that they were relocating them so that the land could be used for the public ... and I think that they should keep that promise," she said.
Ecology North also submitted a proposal for the site. It includes all of the outdoor amenities discussed at the public gathering, with one exception.
The organization proposed that 30 to 40 per cent of the land be reserved for "responsible, attractive, affordable, environmentally sound housing for the 21st century."
The housing project would consist of 10 to 15 clustered units with features such as improved air quality, centralized heating, water treatment facilities and a reduction of pollutants, air emissions and solid waste in accordance with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's 'Healthy Home' principles.
According to Petr Cizek, board member for Ecology North, the CMHC is interested in the environmentally-friendly housing.
"It could be balanced between a development project and public use and conservation ... a demonstration project which could be developed on a non-profit basis but still bring in some revenue for the city in terms of the property," said Cizek.
The plan would require city funding, but Ecology North's proposal states the project would be the city's chance "to show initiative in a new direction and work with public and private groups to develop something at the beginning of this new century that will be a shining example of Northern co-operation and expertise."
