Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 13/98) - The City of Yellowknife's search for a new senior administrator is almost over.

Final interviews for the position were held earlier this week and negotiations with the winner of the competition are about to conclude. The city said it will be naming its new administrator before the week is up.

Petitot must go

The name of Petitot Park may soon be changed. Council on Monday approved a motion by Ald. David Ramsay to consult aboriginal groups on the renaming of the Frame Lake Trail park.

Ramsay said the motion arose out of a passage in the book, Stolen from our Embrace. It noted Father Emile Petitot, a Catholic missionary, sexually abused native children during his 18 years of service in Fort Providence and Fort Resolution, starting in 1962.

The community services department is currently trying to determine if the park is named after the same Petitot.

Airport authority

The city will be studying the idea of establishing an airport authority. Ald. Ben McDonald suggested commissioning a study on the pros and cons of establishing a separate body to administer airport lands.

The motion, which capped the costs of the study at $5,000, received unanimous approval.

A city staffer said a study is also being made of the feasibility of building a road from the Kam Lake Industrial Park to Highway 3.

Bylaw changes

Day-care centres and group homes can now be established in more areas than ever before.

Zoning bylaw changes enacted last night, make group homes a conditionally permitted use in all residential areas as well as commercial mixed use and Old Town mixed medium- and high-density areas.

Day-care centres are now permitted in commercial service areas, and conditionally permitted uses in medium and high-density multi-family residential areas.

Applications for conditionally permitted uses require council approval.