The city will pay up to $15,000 to find out how government money and various grants that went to the Great Northern Ski Society (GNSS) was spent.

Council voted 6-1 Monday evening to go ahead with the report that would be done by a third party auditor with a maximum of $15,000 to be spent on the report.

Coun. Kirk Cameron was the lone vote against the motion, brought forward by Mayor Dan Curtis, arguing the city's efforts should be spent on assisting the Friends of Mount Sima in its efforts to have the ski hill open for winter.

The GNSS, which has operated Mount Sima since it opened in the 1990s, closed the hill last July, its second summer operating an adventure park, amid financial strains after the city refused repeated requests for funding to keep the hill going.

The city did fund close to $200,000 to pay off the debt on the chairlift with the title for the lift being transferred to the city, with the Yukon government funnelling about the same amount through the city to pay off local creditors.

The GNSS has been focused on paying off debt and dissolving its society.

Meanwhile, the Friends Of Sima group has formed with a focus on reopening the hill for the winter season.

After council's most recent 4-2 vote against funding (Cameron and Coun. John Streicker being in favour of the funding), Softball Yukon announced it would provide the Friends Of Sima with a $20,000 donation and a $50,000 bridge loan, with the group continuing its efforts to raise money through a pledge drive for season pass purchases.

At last night's council meeting, Cameron told his colleagues he was having trouble understanding how this report would help the Friends Of Sima get things up and running for the winter.

The GNSS books are available and the city had two staffers on the GNSS board, he pointed out.

This kind of study could end up being a "distraction” from the focus that should be given to the hill reopening, Cameron said.

As Curtis argued though, and other council members agreed, the study will provide information that could help ensure the hill's future operators can learn from this experience.

The mayor repeated several times that the study "is not a witch-hunt”, but rather proposed as a way to help the hill operate years into the future.

He noted one of the biggest questions he has, for example, is why nearly $200,000 was needed to pay off the chairlift when capital funding in the millions was coming from government sources.

Coun. Mike Gladish suggested that there are often matching funds that have to be put forward by the receiver (in this case, the GNSS) of such funds.

That could explain why there was still money owed on the lift, Gladish said, also noting he would like to see the issue looked at.

Other council members agreed the information could prove beneficial for the hill in the future.

Coun. Betty Irwin was on the previous council when it voted to provide funding for the lift (though she voted against the funding at that time).

Last night, she noted her reservations at that time in stating her support for the study.

The city, in the future, should look carefully at the way such processes are conducted, Irwin said.

Curtis had initially suggested a full audit be done on GNSS's books. When he learned of the significant cost of that, he proposed the specified procedures report that will now go ahead.

The report will get the information the city wants without the higher cost, he said.

As it was summed up in the administrative report to council: "Once these things are known, measures can be put in place to ensure that the same pitfalls can be avoided in the future and that there is more clarity and accountability for Mount Sima's future operations.”

Before voting to go ahead with the study, Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu also commended Softball Yukon for providing financial support to the Friends Of Sima.

She noted her hope that the Softball group will also share its knowledge on how to effectively fund-raise.

"It's beyond amazing as far as I'm concerned,” she said, with Irwin later summing up how to effectively fund-raise.

"Bingo, that's fund-raising,” Irwin said.

Following the pledge drive, fund-raising is underway by the Friends Of Sima, who are asking those who pledged to buy a pass to pay up before Oct. 20 in an effort to get the hill open.

Payments can be made online at www.mountsima.com or by cash, cheque or credit card at Sport Yukon (4061 Fourth Ave.) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

If there aren't enough pledges collected to reopen the hill, refunds will be provided, the Friends noted on the Mt. Sima Facebook page.