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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - On Monday, city councillor Bob Brooks asked how long it would be before residents could start moving into the Bailey House.

Director of public safety Dennis Marchiori said the occupancy permit - or final approval of mechanical and electrical systems - was awaiting processing, which could have been completed as early as midday yesterday.

Once the permit is complete, Mayor Gord Van Tighem said it will be up to the owner and operator - the Salvation Army - to move people in.

On Monday afternoon, Ravan Bedingfield, co-ordinator of the Bailey House, said the Salvation Army was waiting for the permit and some minor work on the front door security system to be installed before opening the doors.

"We have to wait for the door, otherwise there is no control," she said, adding she hoped people could start moving in by the end of this week, or early next week.

Bedingfield said 30 tenants had been approved to live in the transitional home for men. "Also, both of our handicap rooms are filled," she said.

The Bailey House is a 32-room transitional home for men. The home's grand opening was held in mid-December but tenants have had to wait for mechanical systems and paperwork to get done before they could move in. The thrift store will open next Wednesday.

Designing Yk

From April 27 to May 1, the city will host a design conference at the Explorer Hotel, where interested parties will be able to provide input on how they want neighbourhoods to look, how to connect the city to trails and pathways and even how to improve the road network.

"That's a big event that we have coming up," said Jeffrey Humble, director of planning and lands.

The five-day conference will look at the downtown, Old Town, Old Airport Road and the Con Mine and Tin Can Hill areas of the city, with presentations given by transportation, urban design and archaeological preservation consultants from the south.

"This is really getting down to the design process," he said.

Invitations for the conference will be sent out next week, when a schedule of events will also be released.

Policing committee needs rekindling: Wind

Coun. David Wind asked administration to come up with ways to "rekindle the enthusiasm" in the Yellowknife Area Policing Advisory Committee.

"This committee is struggling a bit in terms of interest and in terms of just exactly what it is that they are in a position to do to affect policing in Yellowknife," he said. "Toward the end of last year, we had two meetings that kind of couldn't conduct business because of a lack of quorum."

Wind said items have come up during meetings that involve making recommendations to municipal enforcement, but the committee is not mandated to make recommendations to them, only to the RCMP. He also said he thought the promotion of Yellowknife drug-free zones was lagging and a sub-committee could be formed to advance the initiative.

The committee was established on March 14, 2005 and is mandated to provide recommendations to the RCMP to assist them in policing within Yellowknife.