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Two throw hats in for Aklavik mayor Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison Northern News Services Published Monday, December 5, 2011
Arny Steinwand, who ran for a seat on hamlet council in 2007, will be his only challenger. In addition to the mayoral race, five residents will be competing for four council seats. Incumbent councillors Eddie Greenland, Kathy Greenland, Anna Lee McLeod and Dave McLeod will try to defend their seats against Richard Papik. Storr said his main goals, if elected, will be to continue work on the gravel access road, the new garbage dump, the community's roads and youth facilities. He estimates $1 million has already been spent on the 24-km gravel access road, and said the next step is to complete a geotechnical study this winter. "The progress has been kind of slow in the last little bit," he said. "We have one bridge that needs to go in, and that's kind of where it's hung up right now." The dump has already seen significant improvements, he said, although work still needs to be done. "It went from probably being one of the worst dumps in the territory to probably being one of the top ones," he said. Last year the hamlet spent approximately $700,000 to install new rubber flooring in the Sittichinli Recreation Centre arena, so the facility can be used to host events in the summer and now requires less water to flood the ice in the winter, he said. If elected, Storr said he would look to do even more upgrades at the recreation centre, as well as the youth centre and pool. He admitted the next term would likely be marked by an economic slowdown, and promised to try to award as many contracts as possible to local businesses. "Companies from Inuvik come in and they underbid local contractors, so that's something we kind of have to stay away from, because (local contractors) also hire all the people from the community, so the community benefits in the end," he said. "I have a lot of years of experience, being on council. I was born and raised in the community. My family and all my ancestors have been raised and brought up here," Storr said, when asked what makes him a good mayoral candidate. "I live here and, I think, for the community I'm a hard worker, self-motivated, and I know how government operates to get things done." Storr's past experience includes seven years as senior administrative officer, when Aklavik was first incorporated, and decades on council. Arny Steinwand was not available for comment.
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