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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City council members opted not to revive the tradition of installing a Christmas tree at the intersections of 50 Avenue and 50 Street during the holiday season at Tuesday's meeting.

While most councillors expressed interest in having a "real" tree downtown, the majority felt it would not be a wise idea to place it in its historical location.

"I don't think putting a tree in the middle of an intersection is a good idea, in any circumstance," said city Councillor Kevin Kennedy.

"I think it's a nice idea, but there are some traffic concerns that give me some pause," added Coun. Mark Heyck.

"It can be done," said Dennis Kefalas, director of public works, noting traffic could be limited to only going straight through or making right hand turns.

"But we are putting an obstruction right in the main intersection."

The city looked at many options - including suspending the tree over the mentioned intersection - but recommended finding another location was ideal.

Those suggested were the Greenstone building or the vacant lot adjacent to the intersection.

Coun. David Wind, who called for the tree discussion last week, maintained his support.

"It's a tradition well worth reinstating."

New emergency response and protection bylaw

City council members supported scrapping the existing Emergency Response and Protection bylaw to replace it with a new one.

The original bylaw was adopted on Jan. 28, 2002 and has only been amended once since that time to incorporate new fees.

"It was so outdated, we just wrote a new one," said city administrator Max Hall.

Among several changes or clarifications, the new bylaw establishes what types of activity members of the public are prohibited from - like not entering the boundaries of an area where crews are responding to an incident. Some fines were also increased under the proposed new by-law, such as setting an unapproved fire outdoors, which jumped from $50 to $200.

Council also supported removing the Firearms and Firecrackers bylaw, which was created in 1966. That bylaw, which was created before offences were covered under the Criminal Code of Canada, has become moot and will not be replaced.

Transportation facility gets green light

City council approved the development of a transportation facility in the Kam Lake industrial area despite adminstration's recommendations against it Tuesday.

The applicant, Homes North Ltd., submitted its proposal to develop the area on behalf of Tli Cho Logistics on Sept. 11.

The proposed facility is expected to be the site of about 60 heavy trucks at a time for a couple of months out of the year and would be used mainly as storage for the rest. It would also divert heavy truck traffic off of Forrest Drive, a key factor in council's support of the development.

"It would solve the long-standing problem we've had (there)," said Coun. Lydia Bardak.

While concerns were raised by the Yellowknife Airport, through the planning and development department, that ice fog generated from trucking exhaust would inhibit visibility on end of runway 33 - about 600 metres away, it wasn't enough to sway council to prohibit the development.

"It didn't seem to be an extremely compelling argument," said Coun. Shelagh Montgomery, referring to the administration's recommendation to turn down the proposal.