Yellowknife (Apr 08/05) - The Northern store got council's endorsement to establish a gas station on its property.

Paul Hughes, a North West Company manager from Winnipeg, was present at Monday's meeting to explain that the company wants to place a kiosk, a canopy, and gasoline and diesel pumps in the parking lot next to its store as early as this summer.

Deputy Mayor Dennis Nelner argued there is already a problem with traffic congestion in the area. Parking from the Nahendeh Kue office building across the road is overflowing into the main street and into the Northern store's parking lot, said Nelner. Gerry Mulhern, manager of the Fort Simpson Northern store, replied that the North West Company has been allowing overflow parking in its lot as a "neighbourly thing to do."

He contended that parking problems related to the Nahendeh Kue office building extension should have been dealt with prior to the building permit having been granted.

Hughes added that Northern customer parking in the front and rear of store should be sufficient.

Fire fund split

Council passed the first and second readings of a bylaw to designate ambulance user fees for the purchase of protective services vehicles, equipment and infrastructure (such as an extension of the fire hall). Deputy Mayor Dennis Nelner and Coun. Tom Wilson argued that expenses related to the ambulance, like gas and maintenance, should be extracted from the protective services fund.

They were outvoted. Coun. Norm Prevost pointed out that the ambulance fees generate revenue for the village. Those funds have been a boon over the years, he suggested.

A hat trick, and then some...

Sisters Keri-Ann Loutit and Jessie Loutit appealed to village council for a donation towards a mid-month sporting trip they will be taking. They were both named to Team NWT for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, which will be held in Miramichi, New Brunswick, April 17-23.

They still required $1,200 each for expenses, which was over and above the money they had already raised through raffle ticket sales.

Council voted to give them a total of $600. Then Coun. Norm Prevost not only offered his congratulations but gave the girls his honorarium from the meeting. He challenged the other councillors to do the same. Indeed, they followed suit.

Ministerial meeting

Michael McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), has offered to meet with village council over the community's formula funding from MACA. A date has yet to be finalized, but the encounter is expected mid-month.

The territorial department recently boosted the village's 2005 funding to $918,288, which is $99,288 more than previously announced. Mayor Ray Michaud noted that the amount is still about $600,000 short of what the village wants.