Council Briefs
City governance committee gets go-ahead
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Get ready to hear more about the arcane procedure of city governance.
Mayor Mark Heyck casts a vote during a council meeting Monday evening in favour of creating a committee that will study governance issues such as council term limits and whether the mayor can regularly vote. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
Council voted 5-3 on Monday to create a committee that will study and recommend specific changes to things like council term limits, the mayor's voting ability, council code of conduct, the elections bylaw and a council communications protocol.
Mayor Mark Heyck passed chairmanship of the meeting to deputy mayor Adrian Bell to voice support for the committee and vote in favour of the motion.
In an interview last week, Heyck said he's in favour of the mayor being able to regularly cast a vote and changing council terms from three to four years, something that would require approval through a plebiscite.
A number of councillors said the issues the committee would consider have merit but questioned if it would be the best use of time and resources.
Couns. Niels Konge, Steve Payne and Rommel Silverio voted against the motion, while Julian Morse, Linda Bussey, Heyck, Rebecca Alty and Shauna Morgan voted in favour.
Heyck said the committee would likely consist of himself, two councillors, the city clerk's office and may include others. No deadline was set by council for the committee to complete its work.
The motion stemmed from a consultant's report carried out in 2015 that examined city governance.
Councillors expressed dissatisfaction with the report.
"I don't think this report provided the substance we were looking for," Coun. Linda Bussey said.
Councillors voted to receive the report but not accept it, hoping the distinction would indicate they don't necessarily support what it states.
Split decision on
Enterprise Drive
Council on Monday voted to allow buyers of properties for light industrial or commercial uses along an extension of Enterprise Drive more time to secure development permits and finish construction but nixed a plan to allow longer loan repayment options.
Cynthia Moyo, owner of Best Movers, had approached the city in October about whether administration could be more flexible. A city staff report indicates she experienced challenges with bank financing to meet the expected payments and deadlines on top of construction costs.
As is, the buyer must pay a 15 per cent down payment and the remainder within six months. Buyers have 12 months to get a development permit and 24 months from purchase to finish construction.
Staff recommended allowing repayment over as much as five years, changing the Enterprise Drive permit deadline to two years and lengthening the construction deadline to four years. The 31 lots on the road extension in Kam Lake went on the market in 2012 and 14 remain unsold. A staff report notes 40 per cent of purchasers have been late obtaining the permit while 65 per cent missed the construction deadline.
The staff recommendations received a mixed reception among councillors.
Coun. Adrian Bell voiced opposition to flexible payments but favoured changes to the deadlines.
"I feel we've created a bit of a mishmash of, 'This lot can get flexible financing, this lot can't,' and I feel we have to be consistent or it could invalidate our appraisals that we based our pricing on in the first place," Bell said before the votes, adding he'd support a future motion to have the property re-appraised to see if the price should be changed.
The flexible payment portion was rejected in a 5-3 vote while the deadline changes were unanimously approved.
Moyo expressed disappointment about the decision.
"I feel city council is out of touch with the reality of Yellowknife," she stated in an e-mail. "Surely if a subdivision with only 31 lots has only sold 17 since May 31, 2012, it's time to review why they are not selling."
She stated that when small businesses are given a chance to purchase land, they tend to stay in town.
"But how many of them can afford to put a down payment on a lot, convert the lot to its usable state and finishing paying off the lot all within six months?"
City eyes signs marking indigenous history
City council unanimously approved spending up to $5,000 for research, consulting and graphic design work for signs marking important locations to the Yellowknives Dene First Nation within the city.
The spending stems from the city's heritage committee, which requested to be able to spend the money from its reserve of more than $140,000.
The money is expected to be used to help develop signs at sites with significance to both the Yellowknives Dene history and that of the non-indigenous settlement of Yellowknife.
Potential sites include the Back Bay Cemetery, Pilot's Monument, the Sacred Tree, Weaver Drive and downtown.
The initial request to the city's municipal services committee was for $30,000 for planning the signs with potentially more funding to install them.
However, that was reduced to $5,000 just for the research and design work. Councillors said once the committee has a better idea of its plan, another funding request could be considered.
The signs are part of an effort by the heritage committee to have greater inclusion of First Nations in its activities to promote history. The heritage committee has also added a seat to a Yellowknives Dene representative.
