Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Apr 09/04) - Village Council wants to discuss its territorial budget cuts and the possibility of reverting to hamlet status with Henry Zoe, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA). Zoe is being invited to attend the next village council meeting on April 19.

The village was informed on March 15 that an additional $311,000 was being slashed from its 2004 budget. That news comes on the heels of a $210,000 cut announced last November. In total, the municipal budget has been reduced to $892,000. Based on the draft budget, that would leave Fort Simpson with a $117,881 shortfall. However, senior administrative officer Bernice Swanson said MACA Deputy Minister Debbie Delancy indicated that her department could help erase that deficit.

Councillor Owen Rowe was outraged.

"I want to see not just promises because it's not going to help our bank account," he told Swanson. "The only time they (MACA) help us is if we're in dire straits."

You've been served

Schools in Fort Simpson are being given 60 days notice that the agreement for use of the village's recreation facilities is being terminated.

The contract permitted the elementary and secondary schools to use the rec centre for free. Now the village is considering a $5,000 monthly charge to the Dehcho Divisional Board of Education to recoup heating costs.

In return for gratis student use of the facility, there was a "gentleman's agreement" that the government would provide the recreation centre with complementary steam heat, according to Coun. Rowe.

That deal held from 1987 until 1995 when the government began sending a yearly $50,000 bill to the village for heating costs. The village balked at paying, but the GNWT began to collect a few years ago by holding back cheques.

Rowe is adamant that the Department of Public Works severed the terms.

"You can go to court on a handshake," he said of the deal, which cannot be verified on paper.

He stressed that council is not out to make the students pay. He noted that the Dehcho Divisional Board has a $1 million surplus from which it can draw.

If the Department of Education decides to cut back on usage of the rec centre, then the village can save money by reducing staff hours, Rowe suggested.

Asbestos debate

Asbestos and mould in the water treatment plant may be covered up as an interim measure until it is removed completely within the next four years, according to senior administrative officer Bernice Swanson.

Two representatives from the Workers' Compensation Board visited last week and approved of the village's plan, she said.

Councillor Rowe wanted to know why the asbestos isn't being removed.

Swanson replied that removal is a "big project" that will require extra funding from the territorial and federal governments. She added that the present situation poses very little danger to the water treatment plant employees' health.

Rowe countered, "Any danger is too much. I'd hate to be the guy in there."

He also noted that counting on additional government funding often results in projects dragging on for many years.