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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Residents won't get to vote on a $20-million borrowing scheme despite one city councillor's last ditch attempt to convince colleagues the matter ought to go to a referendum like what traditionally happens when the city wants to borrow money.

City council passed a two-part motion Monday night that allows administration to revise its 2013 to 2015 capital investment plan and bring forward a borrowing bylaw of $20 million, ostensibly for the building of a water treatment plant already under construction.

The motion was carried 6-2 with only councillors David Wind and Cory Vanthuyne voting in opposition.

Wind proposed a third clause in the motion that would have directed administration to go to Yellowknife voters for approval to borrow the money before second reading of the borrowing bylaw, but no other councillor would second it.

"It really is a shame that there wouldn't be a councillor who would at least second this motion in order that we could have a discussion about that," he said at the council meeting, adding financial experts such as the governor of the Bank of Canada have recommended caution when taking on debt.

He said $20 million is a lot of money and that's why Yellowknifers should have a say through a referendum. Some members of the council chamber gallery cheered Wind on as he spoke.

While some of the money is expected to go into the $22-million water treatment plant – a facility the territorial government ordered the city to build two years ago – administration has acknowledged in recent weeks a good portion of the borrowed money will be used to replace aging water and sewer lines and crumbling sidewalks and roads.

The city has pegged the so-called "infrastructure gap" at $74.1 million.

Wind said, however, some of the city's infrastructure woes come down to poor spending choices, pointing out that only $700,000 has been set aside for road rehabilitation this year.

"It is true that the city's infrastructure deficit has continued to grow over the last six years, especially since the report from Dillon (Consulting Ltd.), but this is more to do with the choices this and previous councils have made and past budgeting and past management advice provided to council," said Wind.

Several councillors fired back at Wind, arguing that the need is dire and that taking on debt in this case would be responsible.

Coun. Bob Brooks said unlike the city's request to borrow up to $49 million for a downtown district energy project, which the city put to a referendum and lost last year, this borrowing wasn't "discretionary."

"Even if the voters said, 'No' we would have to fix this stuff anyway," said Brooks. "So what I would like to avoid is asking the public as to whether we can get the money for these projects and then doing it anyway. It would just (anger) the public. I don't see the point in that when you know you have to replace it."

Last year, just one week after losing the referendum vote, administration introduced a recommendation to council advising it that requirements for seeking voter approval on borrowing ought to be scrapped.

Officials backed off shortly afterward, however, saying it misinterpreted the GNWT's Cities, Towns and Villages Act, which requires referendums on voting for amounts of more than $250,000 unless the minister of Municipal and Community Affairs found the borrowing vital to the public interest. Senior administrative officer Bob Long told council last week the city would be caught in a

"Catch-22" if it was forced to go to the public in a referendum vote to borrow for the water treatment plant because the GNWT had ordered the city to build it.

Coun. Mark Heyck said it is important to address the needs of public health and safety tied to underground water and sewer repairs.

"The advantages of accelerating this work (over the next five years) are many," Heyck said. "We've crunched the numbers and clearly the savings realized from borrowing over a longer period of time, which is subject to construction inflation, is significant. It has the appearance of borrowing 20 million, but in fact it is saving the community millions more over the long term."

He also disputed Wind's reference to financial experts, because he thought most economic experts have been saying it is important to stimulate economic activity through public projects.

"It is in fact more detrimental to not spend money at all right now," he said.

Vanthuyne, who did not support Wind's proposed amendment, said he won't support a borrowing scheme until the entire asset management plan on infrastructure needs is complete. He said he wants the water treatment plant to be discussed during the next budget.

While he is not against borrowing per say, he says council should have greater insight on the plan.

"I still have concerns as it relates to borrowing $20 million when I have said all along that I want council to see the asset management plan in its entirety so that council can raise full questions," he said.

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