Council has voted to move forward with a proposed First Nations Heritage Park.
Council voted 4-3 Monday in favour of the original resolution to donate two lots of land in the southeast quadrant to the Battlefords First Nations Heritage Park Corporation as the city's contribution to the project, subject to several conditions.
The conditions were: sale of land "as is, where is;" the property be used as a heritage park; that BFNHPC be responsible for the cost of all services that are required for the property; that prior to the transfer of lands, BFNHPC engage the services of a certified appraiser to perform an appraisal on the property that will be shared with the City within five working days of the completion of the appraisal report; and that BFNHPC will pay the property taxes on the land and improvements or a service fee equal to taxation if urban reserve status is obtained.
While the final vote was close, in reality councillors were largely supportive of the First Nations Heritage Park land donation and the real issue was whether to accept the original resolution or make changes to it.
The condition for the sale of land "as is, where is" was discussed at length, with a number of councillors concerned about the wording.
Councillor Trent Houk took issue with the wording, pointing out there was a land donation, not a land sale. He also wanted to see the land drainage issue addressed in the resolution as well, though City Manager Jim Toye did assure council that would be addressed in the final agreement.
There was considerable discussion about whether to amend the resolution to include wording that would make the deal subject to an agreement being obtained with the Battlefords First Nations Heritage Park Corporation.
Councillor Don Buglas indicated he would support amending the resolution, expressing concerns about the conditions outlined.
"This isn't stating what's the intent," said Buglas of the original resolution, who added he thought the heritage park was a "great idea." Buglas appeared most interested in council coming to some sort of consensus on resolution wording that would give full support to the heritage park donation.
Houk, on the other hand, wanted to go even further than amendments, and suggested the whole resolution be defeated and a new resolution brought forward addressing the concerns.
In the end Buglas, Houk and Councillor Brad Pattinson voted in the minority against the original land donation resolution. The other four members of council voted in favour, and the original resolution passed, intact, without amendments.
After the vote, Buglas expressed his desire for the documentation to come forward clearly delineating and laying out the direction, "just so there is a comfort level so proper support can be put behind the project."
The next step is for the land donation agreement to be drawn up with the Battlefords First Nations Heritage Park Corporation and for that to come back to council.
The issue of the land donation to the First Nations Heritage Park has been a long and drawn-out issue for council over the past few months. The proposed heritage park has been promoted by backers as a potential major tourist venue for North Battleford that would include the construction of the world's largest closed-in teepee and several aboriginal-themed attractions.
The City was being asked to partner in the project as a show of support. A land donation was sought as the City's in-kind contribution to the project to help the backers obtain funding from other levels of government.
But the land donation aspect of the proposal proved controversial among members of the public who objected to giving away land, recently appraised at $1.2 million, to the heritage park.
Councillor Grace Lang, who had acknowledged hearing opposition to the proposed deal at an earlier council meeting, nevertheless voted in favour of the resolution approving the land donation.
She responded to critics by saying the donation would ultimately benefit the City and bring in tax revenue.
Lang also addressed critics who had claimed First Nations would not pay taxes on the property once it is donated.
"I think that is a mistaken view out there," said Lang, who said First Nations do contribute to paying taxes.
"There is money to be made back" said Lang, who made the point that the City wasn't going to collect taxes from the current empty lot.
"Right now, that land is making us nothing," she said.
