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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The City of Yellowknife's recent move to post notices on items stored on the government dock should not be misunderstood as an attack on people who use the site, says the mayor.

"This is a way of getting in touch with everyone who has (items) there and then determining which ones have authority to use (the wharf) and which ones should really be somewhere else," Mayor Gord Van Tighem told Yellowknifer this week.

On Friday, Sept. 7, city officials placed notices on vehicles, bicycles, canoes and boats - both those on land and those moored to the wharf. A large crane on one end of the property that has been there for decades and two barges were also tagged.

While reactions to the notices have been mixed, Anne Lynagh, who served as the floating home representative on the City of Yellowknife's harbour planning committee, said most people agree cleaning up the site is a good thing.

"I don't think anybody was happy with government dock the way it is now," she said. "People know that area is prime, wonderful real estate and would like to see it used better."

Owners and caretakers of the property identified for removal must either move the items away from the wharf by 3 p.m. on Sept. 24, or get in touch with the city and seek the authority to continue to use the space, said Van Tighem.

Permission to use the space will be considered for fishing boats and other vessels that need to have continued access, as well as some items that are used regularly by people who live in the area. Use of the wharf will vary depending on need and at the discretion of the city.

"You've got people who live near there and have uses for things like how to get to a home and back," said Van Tighem. "It's a matter of setting it up to be a little bit more organized than it has been."

Lynagh, who no longer lives on a houseboat but remains a houseboat owner, said one of the main concerns for people who live on Yellowknife Bay is how they will get to shore once the federal wharf is leased to the city. There are many more canoes stored on the site than are used on a day-to-day basis, she said.

The city is hoping to offer a solution to people who use the wharf to travel to and from their homes before the deadline.

"As of or before Oct. 1, the first visible change down there will be a canoe rack, picnic tables and bike racks," said Van Tighem.

Those wishing to make use of the canoe and bike storage on the government dock should contact the city to get authorization, said Van Tighem. These bike racks, canoe racks and picnic tables will be put in an interim location over the winter. Come spring, the city will get to work planning the long-term look of the lot, he said.

One of the goals of these notices is to find out what has a purpose for being on the property, what could be stored in a different location and what has simply been abandoned there, he said.

Items that have not been removed by the Sept. 24 deadline could be towed by the city to make way for environmental clean-up work that will be conducted by the property's current administrator, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This cleanup is scheduled to begin on Sept. 25. The city's notice also states the cost to remove property from the wharf might be billed to its owner.

The extent of contamination on the property or the intensity of the work to clean below surface level will not be known until the environmental review of the property is complete, said Van Tighem.

"One of the interesting things about environmental remediation is they dig holes and put down drills and dig out cores and hope to find nothing, so then it's very quick. But if you find something, you have to keep going until you stop finding things," he said.

The City of Yellowknife is in the process of finalizing a 50-year lease with DFO for the property, but it will not be finalized until DFO has finished the environmental remediation, said Van Tighem.

The lease agreement and cleanup of the government dock is the first physical step taken by the city since council adopted the Yellowknife Harbour Plan on June 25. Of the many items and goals laid out in the plan, the city has pulled out five priorities that it is working on concurrently.

While much work remains to be done, those who live in surrounding areas have a choice in how they will approach these changes, said Lynagh.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for people to take responsibility for the lake, the land, and the waterfront," she said.

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