Hayes Faces the Rumour Mill

by Dan Davidson

When you’re in a position of political power and the rumours begin to fly it could be either a sign of acceptance or a sign that the honeymoon is over. Either way it can be frustrating and Trustee Ray Hayes showed that frustration at the September 3 public meeting.

“I have not gone camping with Don Smith,” Hayes said shortly after the meeting opened.

Hayes was reacting to stories that he and Smith, the owner of TSL Contracting, with whom the town has been in dispute with regards to its recreation centre deficiencies, were, to use his phrase “camping buddies” and that Smith was getting special consideration for that reason.

“I have known Don Smith in a professional relationship since I was deputy minister of government services. I dealt with him there and I deal with him here the same way.

“I did go on the river with him one night, where we had a serious business discussion over ... the legal fees issue of the arbitration. We did not come to an agreement and the award is being dealt with by the lawyers ... representing TSL and the City of Dawson.”

In the arbitration case between the two parties Smith sought nearly $4 million in damages, according to former councillor Byrun Shandler. At one point the town offered to settle for $1.2 million, but Smith refused and was eventually awarded just under

The trustee’s advisory committee includes Corrine Gaudet, Kevin Hewer, Helmut Schoener and Bill Bowie. Ray Hayes is in the centre and Kelly Miller was not able to attend. Photo by Dan Davidson

$700,000, with an additional sum for interest bringing the payment up to just under $1 million. The question of who pays what portion of the legal fees is still under discussion.

At one point the town was prepared to challenge the arbitrator’s ruling due to what its lawyers claimed were substantial errors in law amounting to about $375,000. Soon after taking over the town’s management, Hayes activated that lawsuit in order to keep it current, but later decided that it was too risky a venture in terms of its possible returns, and dropped it.

He has explained in the past that the town had no money to cover the legal fees needed to pursue it, but he admitted to the crowd last night that his independent decision to drop the case was underlined by an order from Minister of Community Services Glenn Hart to do so.

Shandler did not question this decision, which he felt was probably correct in light of the risk, but he was joined by Downtown Hotel owner Dick Van Nostrand in objecting to any thought of paying legal fees in light of the town’s earlier offer to settle and the major deficiencies in the roof of the recreation centre, which could cost up to $1 million to set right.

On the recreation centre, Hayes reiterated that he intends it should be open this winter. He stressed that there is a court case pending with the architects, Ferguson Simek Clark, over problems in the building. He expressed the hope that the two firms which designed and built the structure might be constrained to fix the problems, but he added that short term solutions will have to be found sooner than that in order to keep using the building.

Parks Strikers See the Sites in Dawson

by Dan Davidson

Parks Canada employees had much less pleasant weather for their roving picket line in Dawson today, but no less spirit for the protest.

Byrun Shandler noted that one nice thing about picketing in Dawson was that that were lots of places to do it and that helped to keep the day from being too boring. Picketing will take place at the Visitors Reception Centre,

Striking Parks workers begin their day. Photo by Dan Davidson

the Palace Grand Theatre, the Robert Service Cabin, the SS Keno and Dredge #4, as well as at Parks administrative buildings in town.

Still, under grey skies with a threat of drizzle and a ten degree temperature strikers would rather be working, as Louise Ranger put it.

Ranger was sporting a t-shirt she inherited from her brother, a steelworker. It had a picture of a rearing cobra on the front with the legend, “If provoked ... will strike.”

Across the street in front of the Bank of British North America, interpreter Barb Forsythe chatted with Tom Byrne, who used to be Parks’ voice of Robert Service at the Eighth Avenue cabin, but nowadays holds forth with an independent show at the Westmark.

Along Second Avenue and Queen Street drivers paused to honk their horn in support as they slowed down to pass the picketers.

Recreation Centre May Be Open this Winter

by Dan Davidson

While it may not be a sure thing, Ray Hayes is hoping that Dawson’s Recreation Centre will be open for the

Recreation Centre. Photo by Dan Davidson.

winter. Dawson’s government appointed trustee says that, rumours to the contrary, the town has not given up on solving the roof problems which led to the temporary closure of the centre in March when the roof purlins were discovered to be twisting.

As a result of a new engineering report from the structural firm of Fast and Epp, the town now knows a bit more about what happened to cause the damage, though it can’t be sure just why.

The town’s concerns about the roof leaking go back to 2003, and an engineering report produced in June of that year confirmed that there was a problem.

Fast and Epp’s first report, in April 2004, indicated that the roof might have been constructed to a standard too low to bear the snow load, but the latest report has reversed that assessment.

The roof system is strong enough to bear a snow load, but it’s leaking so badly that both the insulation and other materials under the metal roof are getting saturated and freezing, creating a weight that the inner portions of the roof were not engineered to carry.

Hayes told his advisory committee on August 17 that the town was seeking the services of a “roof envelope specialist” to determine the extent of the damage and the cost to fix it.

As of September 1 the town has not been able to schedule an examination by the recommended firm, but Hayes says he is pushing the issue and intends, if possible, to have the occupancy permit extended beyond the end of September.

Preliminary estimates of what it would cost to fix the problem, which advisory