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RANKIN INLET - Hamlet councillor Hamish Tatty said he will likely resign from his position in the coming weeks.

"Stuff going on around here in this hamlet doesn't seem to be properly done nowadays.

"Maybe as an outsider I can get work done easier," he said at a meeting on Sept. 2.

Tatty, who has been in council for almost seven years, has already stepped down from his duties on the economic development and personnel committees.

He said he will announce his final decision at a council meeting next week.

He said is also considering a run in the upcoming territorial election.

"That's in the back of my mind as well," he said.

Work halted at quarry

Council voted to immediately halt work on the Diane River quarry site.

Inukshuk Construction had been excavating material from it for the Area 6 expansion.

Council member Paul Kanayok said a freeze had been put on the quarry 15 years ago and said he was concerned the gravel was inappropriate for housing pads because of the amount of clay.

Joe Kaludjak, acting mayor in Lorne Kusugak's absence, said he was concerned not enough local workers had been hired for the job. According to SAO Paul Waye, an administrative error had put a clause in the contract stipulating gravel would be taken from a site no more than five km outside of town.

The Meliadine River quarry is about nine km away.

The company will now look for a new quarry site which will require screening under the impact review process.

Most of the allotted site, which is 20,000 cubic metres, has already been taken from the Diane River site according to Waye.

Out of 40 individual lots on the Area 6 site, 13 have been spoken for by Nunavut Housing for the construction of five-plexes.

Ralph Ruediger, regional director for community and government services, said he does not believe there will be any delay with construction.

Asphalt woes

Not everyone is happy with Rankin's new road job.

At its last meeting, council discussed a number of concerns with the asphalt millings recently rolled out on roads around town.

Acting mayor Joe Kaludjak said he had expected the surface would be more like concrete, and has heard complaints from residents as well.

Others were concerned the roads were already becoming rutted.

"It was a matter of doing the best we can with what we've got. If we had the money to do hot, paved asphalt, we would have done that," said senior administrative officer Paul Waye.

The $207,000 paving job is expected to last a decade with proper maintenance.