Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (July 19/02) - An Inuvik contractor says he needs a better source of gravel or else he's going to lose business.

Kurt Wainman, co-owner of Northwind Industries, recently told town council to review their policy on gravel pit permits.

He said a competitor has four gravel pits to haul from, but Northwind only has two and one is unusable.

"We've got an area that's full of water, mud and crap," Wainman said. "It's no good to us."

"If you can't get any good gravel, you can't get work -- it hurts business tremendously," he added.

Wainman said they have a second pit out on Navy Road that's better than the one near the dump, but they need more for an up-coming contract.

"We have a fair-sized job coming up, but we're probably going to lose it, if we can't get some gravel," he said.

Town manager Jerry Veltman said the matter will be turned over to the public works committee.

The town's policy on gravel permits allows the previous year's permit holder to have first option on renewing the permit in following years.

"We're just following the same procedure as they have been for years," Veltman said. "Just because there is a new guy on the block trying to get his way into the pit, he's going to have to wait his turn to get at the better parts of it."

As the pit is shrinking, Veltman said the town may soon decide to crush and sell the gravel themselves from a single pile, rather than allow contractors into the pit.

"The town would control the pit and the contractors would come in and purchase however many truckloads they need," he said. "That's not planned until next year or the year after."