SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City councillor David McCann is wondering whether there should be an official City of Yellowknife Facebook or Twitter account following last weekend's fire at the dump.

McCann's suggestion came as council discussed how best to sound a citywide alarm about fires and other big events in the city during a committee meeting Tuesday.

The city's website had not bee updated with information on the dump fire.

McCann wanted to know how feasible it would be to do Twitter updates, as there were people in Yellowknife uploading photos of the blaze on social networking sites.

Many councillors said they have personal Facebook pages but no one volunteered to take on the new account.

Con Mine heats up

Heat from Con Mine has the potential to heat the city's downtown core, reports a consulting firm hired by the city to explore the mine's thermal energy capability.

The Ottawa-based firm made a remote presentation to the city's planning and development committee on Tuesday.

Mark Henry, the city's energy co-ordinator, said the process could take between two and three years to set up but said the local energy source is a more efficient and cost-effective way to heat Yellowknife than fuel.

"It's a matter of how quickly we can put down the piping and connect to the buildings," he said.

Similar projects in Europe and Springhill, N.S., have used thermal energy from closed mines to heat buildings.

The planning remains in the early stages and the city plans to submit a funding proposal to Natural Resources next week.

New homes on Bagon block

A local developer wants to build around 20 duplexes on five hectares of bedrock in an area between Hordal Road and Bagon Drive.

Matthew Spence of Northern Projects presented pictures of flat-roofed homes to city council's planning and development committee on Tuesday.

Spence said the split-level homes would be built around the area's rock formations and the different rooflines could have an aesthetic appeal.

"We're trying to be innovative and trying to keep the costs under control because as soon as you start blasting rock, costs get out of control," he said.

There would be between 36 and 40 modular units, and each would be between 1,200 and 1,400 square feet.

Council will vote on the project at their meeting Monday night.