Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 23/00) - After seven years of vacancy, the former Bartam Trailer Court is one step closer to becoming the site of a senior citizens complex.

After three hours of debate and public discussions the Public Services Committee voted yesterday to submit a recommendation that council approve the lone proposal for development of the School Draw site.

Mike Mrdjenovich, owner of Nova Construction, submitted the proposal for development of a 30-unit apartment complex for both seniors and single adults, a project estimated to surpass the $5 million mark.

The decision to recommend the sale of the land did not come with ease however.

The lower boardroom of city hall was filled with concerned citizens, the mayor and council and city employees.

Virtually every person in the room had an opinion to share about what the land should be used for.

Members of the public strongly urged the city to honour its original intentions of using the land for a public-use facility, as was promised by former council members when they decided to close the trailer park back in 1993.

Council has maintained, however, that it has no specific plans for the land and a public use facility would mean spending city funds, eventually resulting in a tax increase.

All eight councillors were present at the meeting and each had an opportunity to comment on the proposal, but only the committee members - Mayor Dave Lovell, Ben McDonald, Cheryl Best and Kevin O'Reilly - were permitted to vote on the recommendation.

McDonald and O'Reilly voted against the recommendation, leaving the chair, Coun. Robert Slaven, with the task of breaking the tie.

Slaven decided to vote in favour of the recommendation, believing the issue should come before council on Aug. 28 for debate.

But it appeared as though councillors had already made up their minds yesterday, as only two out of eight clearly stated they opposed selling the land to Mrdjenovich.

Dave Gilday, who has been encouraging the city to acknowledge the public-use possibilities, said he believes the battle has been lost.

"I heard all of the councillors today and I think, most clearly, the majority of them have spoken in favour and that's a problem. So I suspect, knowing they are consistent (in decisions), they will want to stay consistent," said Gilday.

But Mrdjenovich is not getting his hopes up.

"It's still not over yet," he said.

"Monday night we'll find out what will really happen."