Yellowknife, N.W.T. - City council is moving ahead with a plan to pursue a floatplane dock and small boat marina on Back Bay.

In a special meeting held yesterday, council voted 5-2 in favour of supporting the fifth and final recommendation from the Yellowknife Harbour Planning Committee, but there were still plenty of questions and concerns from residents.

For instance, one resident of Morrison Drive, Louise Dundas-Matthews, said the city has not done a good job of allowing people a chance to speak on the matter.

“The residents that will be most impacted by this decision have not been given adequate consultation opportunities and in my mind, that’s a real concern,” she said.

To help with that, councillor Shelagh Montgomery submitted an amendment to allow for more consultation, which was passed, 6-1.

As well, Dundas-Matthews said she could support the project, but with one caveat.

“On the understanding that this is a one-time project, that there is no intention of expanding that dock further into the water or along up to Otto Drive,” she said.

She also wanted councillors to remember that in the end, they're dealing with a residential area.

But not everyone who's against the project lives in the area.

Long-time Yellowknife resident Mike Byrne made a presentation to a special meeting of city council yesterday to chide councillors for a perceived poor use of taxpayers’ dollars.

Byrne said in his opinion, the project is using a public grant from the GNWT to fund a private parking lot for a select few.

“That is essentially what this project is,” he said. “There is nothing public about it, except the expenditure of funds and resources. Those are territorial tax dollars that this grant is being provided under.”

Byrne also said the project has been poorly conceived, has been done in a hasty fashion and has not been given proper due process.

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