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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City councillors debated whether to increase the core funding available to groups in Yellowknife by $60,000 during Tuesday's municipal services committee meeting.

If the boost to $360,000 from $300,000 is later approved during budget discussions it will be the first increase to core funding since 2005 when council agreed to up the number of recipient groups to 13 from 11.

Councillor Bob Brooks, chair of the grant review committee, said the increase is long overdue. Even if the extra funding is eventually approved, however, the committee also wants to send out letters warning funding recipients that amounts could decrease in the coming years. That's because the committee wants some groups to work towards becoming self-sustainable.

The ultimate goal, said Brooks, is to "wean off" certain groups who have better chances of becoming self-sustainable.

"It makes room for others," he said.

Some groups requesting funding for 2009 are: the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (requesting $80,000), Yellowknife Senior Association (requesting $55,000) and Ecology North (asking for $20,000).

All groups should be able to become self-sustainable, said Coun. Paul Falvo.

"I don't think I agree with the statement that many (of these groups) have no other avenue of funding," he said. "They all have communities they can draw on." He added over the years he has volunteered for the majority of groups which receive grant funding.

The city, under the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, is allowed to designate two per cent of its total expenditures to grant funding. In addition to core funding grants, this available portion also includes special grants, clean-up grants and grants to people eligible for tax relief.

"I really think this is not the place we should be stripping," said Coun. Kevin Kennedy.

911 implementation report

The city hopes to have a 911 report ready by the end of this month.

In June, the city's 911 management committee received a presentation from Vancouver-based communications solutions company Planetworks.

The soon-to-be available report, produced by Planetworks, will discuss options for the possible implementation of a 911 system in Yellowknife and the territory.

"It will tell us how to do it. Is it feasible?" said committee chair Coun. Paul Falvo.

The report will also tell council how expensive such an endeavour would be.

Discussions on setting up 911 started in the early 1990s but the territory lacked both the cash and the technological infrastructure to follow through.

Calls for the system began anew in 2000 when a 31-year-old woman riding a snowmobile broke through the ice on Prosperous Lake. Her common-law husband, who was riding ahead of her, crashed and was injured.

Passers-by found the man and rushed him to the hospital, while trying to call 911. Miscommunication with emergency workers directed them to the wrong scene. Meanwhile, the woman had managed to get out of the water and walk about a kilometre towards cabins. She was found dead the next day.

A coroner's report released a year later strongly recommended the city start a 911 service.

New power substation approved

City councillor members expressed unanimous approval for a new Northland Utilities power substation at a site zoned for parks and recreation.

The substation, which is set to go between 54 Street and 52 Street, will allow the company to upgrade the electrical distribution system in Yellowknife to a voltage of 25 kilovolts from 5 kilovolts.

Set for completion in 2009, the conversion will provide a more economic distribution of power within the city. Northland will plant 15 trees and 30 shrubs as a buffer zone between the proposed site and nearby homes.

Council passed the motion for approval quickly, prompting Northland Operations Superintendent Albert Bouchard to exclaim "That was easy."