Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 20/02) - The city plans to open up a plot of land beside Stanton hospital to the best bidder by the end of the month.

Stanton officials have had their eye on the land for some time, and have told the city about plans to expand a number of hospital facilities and services there.

However, discussions have resolved nothing and city hall is forging ahead with a request for proposals (RFP) process, which will open the land to any interested parties.

"A competitive process yields the best value as far as our backers (taxpayers) are concerned," said Coun. Dave McCann.

"We could have gone the RFP probably in June, but we delayed," said Coun. Wendy Bisaro.

"I think our heart is wanting to save the property for the hospital, but the head is also very strong in saying that this is not a giveaway."

"It's a piece of property that we need to get some revenue from. That hasn't happened."

Both McCann and Bisaro said they hope the hospital submits a proposal to develop the land.