Council briefs
Grace Lake parks discussed
Joseph Tunney
Northern News Services
Friday, August 26, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Council passed a motion Monday evening to direct administration to begin consultations on options regarding public access to Grace Lake North, prospective park locations and the overall trail system in Grace Lake North.
Consultations are planned to begin within the next few weeks, said Dave Hurley, facilities manager for the city.
The motion passed unanimously.
City applies for infrastructure funding
Council voted to direct city staff to submit applications to attain funding for four water and sewer infrastructure projects under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund at its Monday meeting.
It was also directed to apply for projects under the Public Transit Fund.
According to the 2016 federal budget, new infrastructure funding is scheduled to be announced in two phases.
The first phase has been announced, with the Northwest Territories set to receive $51.7 million.
The goal is to accelerate projects that would not occur in the next three years if this funding was not available.
With the five applications, the city is hoping to accomplish several upgrades, such as replacing the bus shelters and modernize the water pump house.
Possible new work camp for Kam Lake
At the municipal services committee meeting Monday afternoon, council heard a proposal for another work camp in the Kam Lake neighbourhood.
The camp would exist for a term of four years on Coronation Drive.
In March, the city received an application for a development permit for the area to install eight single-wide, new modular homes at the northwest corner of the lot to serve as worker's accommodation.
Establishment of the accommodation is intended to support various construction projects that Hovat Construction has planned or is anticipating.
"The applicant has stated that by securing accommodation for workers in a tight and expensive rental market, a local construction company will be able to be more financially competitive when bidding on construction projects in the North," stated the agenda for the meeting.
There has previously been a camp on that property in support of Hovat Construction but it has since been removed.
Council will hear more about the proposed accommodations in two weeks.
Council hears about YK food system
The Yellowknife Farmer's Market made a presentation to the Municipal Services Committee Monday on Yellowknife's food system.
The presentation outlined the strengths and weaknesses of the food economy in Yellowknife.
Some of the common concerns were that there is a heavy reliance on imports, not enough fishermen selling in the domestic markets and a lack of formal access to traditional foods. Additionally, 63 per cent of adults are overweight or obese in Yellowknife while the Canadian average is 51 per cent, according to the presentation.
