Village looks for new building
Moving ahead with one-option list for relocation
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 21, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The Village of Fort Simpson has a one-option list for a new municipal affairs office location.
Fort Simpson Mayor Sean Whelly said housing municipal affairs in the Village Information Centre was never meant to be permanent. The village is looking to move into a new building next year. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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"That's the way that I'm looking at it right now," said Deputy Mayor Stella Nadia about the village entertaining only one option for relocation.
Municipal affairs are currently conducted in the Village Information Centre, but the town hopes to move into a currently nonexistent building in the field across from Parks Canada next year.
Nogha Enterprises is looking to build an office complex in that field, and Mayor Sean Whelly thinks some of the consideration for that hinges on the village signing on as one of the big leasers.
At a special council meeting last week, the village drafted a resolution to offer its current building to the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) and move into the Nogha building in March 2016.
Nadia expressed concern at the meeting that the village should look into more options for its new home.
"I would like to see others," she said later. "When this becomes public, I would like to see if there's other interest out there."
Whelly also expressed interest in having other options come forward, particularly now that the issue is becoming more public.
"I think the councillors were saying that from all that they were aware of this was the best space, so they're just sort of proceeding on the assumption that either that will work for them or there are no other viable options," he said.
He said Nogha asked the village to become a leaser.
"We're evaluating their proposal on its own but we don't see any other alternatives that would cover off (the things we need to have)," said Whelly.
The village's resolution includes creating a steering committee of councillors to meet with the Nogha group and iron out some of the village's concerns about what it needs.
Reasons for moving to the new space include better parking, a more professional office space and allowing the tourism part of the current building to operate uninterrupted.
The village estimates that moving into the new office space would cost an extra $10,000 per year plus $20,000 in one-time moving expenses.
"Could that be slightly optimistic? It's possible," said Whelly.
On the other hand, he said, increased taxes from the new office building could offset some of that cost.
Part of the village's hope is that the new building would attract more territorial government workers to the village.
Whelly also cited closer collaboration with Liidlii Kue First Nation as a benefit of the new building.
The band might lease space in the building and that would help the two government organizations come closer together as a band-village union looms on the horizon.
Whelly wants ITI to operate the Village Information Centre as a full tourism resource for the region.
Nothing is set in stone yet, and all of these decisions hang on each other.
Nogha is waiting for its financing and lease commitments to get in place and the village is waiting to find out if ITI will take over the information centre.
"We can't make a commitment until we know what's happening with (the Village Information Centre)," said Whelly.
