City taxpayers could be absorbing the tickets bylaw officers handed out to cyclists breaking the bicycle bylaw on Two Mile Hill last Wednesday.

At Monday evening's city council meeting, Coun. Dave Stockdale said he will bring forward a recommendation that council pay off the tickets through its public relations fund.

Last Wednesday morning, the city's bylaw department began a two-week campaign to get cyclists on Two Mile Hill to comply with the bicycle bylaw, which doesn't allow cycling on sidewalks and requires riders to wear helmets.

It also states that where there is a designated adjacent bike path, cyclists must use it. The only road with an adjacent bike path is Two Mile Hill.

After receiving complaints about cyclists riding along the Two Mile Hill sidewalk, bylaw officers began their campaign of enforcing the bylaw on Two Mile Hill.

The first day of the campaign came last Wednesday when the city was also hosting Clean Air Day. That event encourages residents to lower greenhouse gas emissions by using alternative forms of transportation such as transit, cycling or walking.

In an administrative report which went to council last night, it was noted the campaign was not co-ordinated as well as it could have been with the Commuter Challenge, the challenge among communities to reduce greenhouse gases. The city is reviewing its internal communications.

Veteran cyclist Bill Slater, who was issued a ticket last Wednesday, told council last night the idea of a 'commuter challenge' may have been misinterpreted so that it was more of a challenge for commuters using alternative transportation to get downtown.

Stockdale suggested that had the bylaw department known about Clean Air Day, it wouldn't have begun issuing tickets that day.

Although he'd initially considered bringing forward a motion that the city only pay the tickets for cyclists caught without a helmet, he opted to include everyone who was ticketed for breaking the bylaw on Clean Air Day. He said he had originally thought bylaw officers were also enforcing the bylaw downtown.

Coun. Yvonne Harris was the only other council member to confirm she will vote in favour of Stockdale's recommendation.

Coun. Mel Stehelin noted he's sympathetic to the plight of those who dug out their bikes to participate in Clean Air Day only to receive a ticket. However, he'll wait to see the way the motion is worded before he decides how he will vote, he said.

Harris said she supports enforcing the city's bylaws, but said the city missed an opportunity to educate the public. She said Bylaw could have had officers at the pancake breakfast the city hosted informing cyclists of the regulations in the bylaw.

Harris also suggested the bike trail on Two Mile Hill can be dangerous because it's difficult to make the turns at the switchbacks; however, in the downtown core, cyclists should be staying on the road.

'We certainly don't want cyclists on sidewalks in our downtown,' she said.

Meanwhile, Coun. Bev Buckway and Mayor Ernie Bourassa have no plans to support Stockdale's motion.

Buckway noted she had passed on a complaint she received from a resident to Bylaw prior to the enforcement campaign.

Whether or not she agrees with the bylaw, she noted, it still has to be followed.

'We ask bylaw officers to go on the front line for us,' she said.

If council waived or paid the tickets, it would be sending a message that council doesn't support its staff, she said.

'It's the law, and people have to follow the law,' Bourassa said.

Either cyclists were on the path or they weren't, and either they were wearing a helmet or they weren't, he said.

Bourassa also said while many cyclists have complained of the trails' switchback turns, the city will build a straight path on the south side of the hill for cyclists later this year.

He suggested Slater's idea of paving the north side trail so cyclists could travel straight down the hill could be a possibility when the city develops the south side trail.

'I think it can be easy,' he said.

Slater pointed out in his presentation to council that people will continue to use the north side path to get to Industrial Road.

Cyclists wouldn't ride on the sidewalk if there was a path that was straight, he said.

Slater cycles to work because it provides a fast commute using alternative transportation. If he wanted to go slowly, he'd walk to work, he said.

On a bike, he doesn't need switchbacks to slow down because he has brakes on his bike that can slow him down if that's needed, he said.

The cyclist has previously wiped out turning on the trail.

Marion Bos, another delegate, said the city needs to start treating bicycles as non-motorized vehicles rather than children's toys.

'Cyclists are treated as incompetent children,' she said.

Bicycles should be following the same rules of the road that vehicle drivers do, she believes. That's even if it means motorized vehicles are forced to slow down on places like the Robert Campbell Bridge going in and out of Riverdale.

The city forces cyclists to make what would normally be a novice mistake like biking on the wrong side of the road on Two Mile Hill.

Buckway asked Bos what she thought of children cycling down Two Mile Hill. Bos said she'd been talking about adults who commute using a bicycle.

Young children and their parents could continue to use the path, she said.

It was noted in the administrative report last night that when the territorial government built the Two Mile Hill bike path, a number of open houses were held on the path's design.

Council will vote on whether to pay off the tickets next week. City administration is also taking some steps on the issue. Among those are:

• a greater emphasis on interdepartmental communication;

• e-mailing enforcement campaign details throughout the city departments so administration can co-ordinate efforts;

• Bylaw Services supporting education and training programs over the next month in local schools; and

• continuing with plans for the south side bike path on Two Mile Hill.

Enforcing the bylaw will continue though, it was noted.

'Cyclists riding on sidewalks are a serious safety concern in Whitehorse, mostly in the downtown area but lately, more so on Two Mile Hill,' the administrative report reads.

Council could request a stay of proceedings in court. However, it was pointed out that political interference has been frowned on by the courts in the past.

'The courts have suggested that political involvement should occur in the drafting of the law, rather than its administration,' the report reads.

By paying the fines for those who received tickets, it was suggested the city could send an enforcement message while balancing public relations in promoting alternative transportation on Clean Air Day.

Councillors Dave Austin and Doug Graham were absent from last night's meeting.