Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 17/98) - In the wake of their court victory against the city, members of the Yellowknife Property Owners Association are looking for speedy payment of court costs.

The association, said president Matthew Grogono, is seeking $34,000, about 60 per cent of its legal tab, for the case.

The city was ordered by the court to pay half the association's costs in the suit.

"If the city wants to quibble about exactly how much of what Mr. Cooper is charging is payable, we can both pay the lawyers a few more thousand dollars each to come up with the same number," said Grogono.

Association lawyer Steven Cooper explained that if the city agrees to his calculations, both parties would sign an agreement, which would become payable immediately.

If the city contests the figures, said Cooper, it may be necessary to hold a hearing and let a judge or clerk of the court act as arbitrator.

Grogono said he received a fax from city lawyer Leo Burgess Monday afternoon. Burgess said he was expecting to get instructions from the city on how to proceed by Tuesday.

The issue was dealt with during the closed portion of Monday's committee of the whole meeting.

When the meeting returned to the public forum, council passed a recommendation instructing Burgess to proceed through the more formal and costly adjudicated process of determining costs.

"There will be costs to going through the adjudication, but at the end of it we'll know how much we have to pay," reasoned Mayor Dave Lovell.

City clerk Tim Mercer noted Burgess had advised council to go the more formal route.

At last report, the city had racked up a legal bill of $55,000 on the case. More difficult to calculate is the cost of the time and resources city staff have devoted to the case during the two years it has been before the courts.