Whitehorse prepares to hand out thousands in grants
The city will dole out cash to a long list of local groups after Whitehorse city council approved both special events grants for 2020 as well as its annual fall recreation grants on Oct. 28.
The city plans to provide a total of $50,000 in cash as well as in-kind help valued at $28,623 to 15 organizations hosting special events or festivals next year.
The special events cash grants range from $800 for the All-City Band Society’s Music for a Winter’s Eve in December 2020 to $6,000 each for the Yukon Quest sled dog race next February and the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Festival also in February. Both the Quest and Rendezvous are also slated to receive in-kind services valued at $6,407 for the Quest and $11,782 for Rendezvous.
Meanwhile, the recreation grants will provide more than $38,000 to 11 organizations ranging from $1,200 for a workshop being hosted by the Scottish Country Dance Society to $7,500 to the Yukon Art Society for arts and crafts programs.
Whitehorse agrees to fund geological assessment
A contract worth $57,307 will be awarded to Morrison Hershfield after Whitehorse city council gave its approval on Oct. 28 for a hydro geological assessment at the Livingstone Trail Environmental Control Facility.
The assessment is part of the requirements of the city’s water licence.
“The scope of this work includes a desktop study using the existing data, development of a three-dimensional groundwater model, analysis and reporting and determining if additional investigation is required to collect more data to inform an assessment that will meet the requirements of the conditions in the water license,” city engineer Taylor Eshpeter stated in an Oct. 22 report to council.
Morrison Hershfield was one of five firms to submit a proposal for the work. It came out with the highest score in a review that evaluated the project team, past experience, methodology and approach, schedule, fees and local preference.
Whitehorse council approves committee appointments
With Whitehorse city council members marking the end of their first of three years in this term, members approved city appointments for a variety of committees and organizations for the coming year.
The appointments, approved Oct. 28, will see councillors Jocelyn Curteanu, Steve Roddick and Jan Stick represent council on the Association of Yukon Communities, with Coun. Samson Hartland serving on the Arctic Winter Games 2020 Host Society, Mayor Dan Curtis serving on Crime Stoppers, and Coun. Laura Cabott representing council on the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce.
All of mayor and council will be on the city budget committee and the city manager’s evaluation committee with the mayor and whoever is serving as deputy mayor appointed to the city’s emergency measures commission.
City councillors take turns serving as deputy mayor for two month periods and that schedule was also confirmed for the coming year with Hartland taking the role beginning Nov. 1. Following Hartland will be Roddick, Boyd, Cabott, Curteanu and Stick.
Cabott will serve as deputy reserve mayor from Nov. 1 to April 30 with Boyd in the role from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2020.
City staff are also appointed to various committees for the coming year with the city manager and director of community and recreation services to serve on the Arctic Winter Games Host Society; the director of development services on the Planning Group on Homelessness; director of corporate services and manager of financial services on the reciprocal insurance exchange; environmental coordinator on the Yukon Energy Partners group; and planning and sustainability services manager serving on the Yukon Housing Action Plan committee.
Whitehorse council sets its schedule
Whitehorse city council approved its meeting schedule for 2020 on Oct. 28.
The meetings are typically held the first four Mondays each month unless the Monday is a holiday. In those cases the weekly sessions are moved to Tuesday. There are not meetings for the fifth Monday in a month when that happens, unless there is a scheduling change.
There are also certain times of the year breaks are taken such as over Christmas or the schedule is shifted for events.
The schedule adopted for 2020 incorporated those events with council approving changes for March, June, August and December.
The March schedule will see the meeting normally scheduled for March 16 moved to March 23, with that meeting moved to the fifth Monday of the month (March 30) to accommodate the 2020 Arctic Winter Games being hosted in Whitehorse.
In June, a similar scheduling change was made with the June 8 meeting moved to June 15. That then moves the June 23 meeting to the fifth Monday of the month, June 29 to accommodate council members planning to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, which runs from June 4 to June 7 in Toronto.
The last two meetings in August are cancelled for the annual summer break.
Finally at the end of 2020, the Dec. 7 meeting has been moved to Nov. 30, the fifth Monday in November with the Dec. 14 meeting moved up to Dec. 7.
There would be no scheduled meetings after that for the year as council takes its annual winter recess.
