Dawson City prepares for lagoon vote and byelection

Residents in Dawson City, Yukon, will have two ballots to cast Thursday when the town holds a council byelection and a referendum on thelocation of a sewage treatment lagoon.

The referendum was ordered by residents opposed to the location currently proposed near the entrance to town, as many argued that the site is too close to First Nations housing and the local underground drinking water source.

The vote will ask residents if they want to order the town to stop construction of the lagoon at the current location.

"A view of having a sewage lagoon right in the middle of town, that's not looking to the future," said Rick Reimer, one of two candidates vying for a vacant council spot in Thursday's byelection.

"That's looking to get to please some people Environment Canada, [Department of] Fisheries, and the judge. That's not pleasing the community."

Dawson City has been under a court order to build the $17-million sewage treatment facility since 2003, when it was fined for dumping raw sewage into the Yukon River.

Reimer said the town's pressure to build a sewage lagoon at the current site is shortsighted for a community with no land left to develop.

The other candidate, Stephen Johnson, said the currently proposed location is safe for the community. At the same time, he said he'd like to hear more about a proposal from the local Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, which has offered to provide some of its own undeveloped land across the Klondike River.

"Doing your homework and taking necessary time at perhaps a slightly elevated cost is absolutely the way to go. And gosh, what a great spot to develop lots," Johnson said.

If residents vote in favour of blocking the current lagoon location, it would further delay the town's compliance with the territorial court's order to build the facility.

But both candidates said they believe it could force Yukon government engineers to find a solution that Dawsonites can live with.