Quality of life, air, water, scenic views and business opportunities ranked among the concerns before city council Monday evening at a McLean Lake quarry public hearing.

In packed council chambers, the city's elected officials listened for more than an hour to concerns of area residents, the Yukon Conservation Society and the owner of Territorial Contracting Ltd., Ron Newsome.

Territorial Contracting began looking into the McLean Lake property behind the Sleeping Giant Hill more than 10 years ago to move its concrete batch plant and quarry operations.

Newsome's company currently operates at Ear Lake.

The proposal went through an environmental assessment under the Yukon Environmental Assessment Act, now replaced by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (YESAA).

Newsome hired Access Consulting to perform the environmental review on his behalf.

Earlier this year, council contracted Gartner Lee to perform a review of the work provided by Access to the government to ensure all legislated requirements of the day had been met.

Speaking to council, McLean Lake resident Randy Hall said he lives 400 metres away from the proposed development and has concerns that the industrial activity would affect him.

'I live downwind, downstream and approximately 10 metres lower in elevation.

'We live downstream and feel the environment could be threatened,' Hall said.

Fellow McLean Lake advocate Skeeter Miller-Wright said he also opposes the project and feels the city has not completed all the review work it said it would do.

He said he had received confirmation from the independent consultant recently hired by the city that the consultant was not hired to determine whether the results of Access's environmental assessment were complete and accurate.

Coun. Doug Graham responded to Miller-Wright, adding that he was talking about a previous council order that had since been amended excluding the need to assess the accuracy of Access's submissions to the Yukon government.

Karen Baltgailis, the conservation society's executive director, told council her organization too has concerns with Newsome's proposal.

'This environment needs to be protected,' she said. 'This proposed development is a lot closer than the other quarries.' She was referring to the 11 quarry leases and eight active quarries in the area.

Bob Kuiper, a Crestview resident with property in the McLean Lake area, said he too is opposed to Territorial Contracting's proposal.

He called on the city to respect the Official Community Plan (OCP) and perform more environmental studies and more public consultation.

'(Access) did a desktop study. The consultant did not perform the hydrological studies called for in the OCP.'

Kuiper also said he doesn't agree with Newsome seeking title for the land for his concrete batch plant.

'Quarry activities are supposed to be intermediary. Clearly, this proposal is permanent.'

Kuiper said he also feels it would encourage more businesses to enter the area.

Newsome told council he had selected the site for his business carefully. He vowed to act in an environmentally responsible manner, the same way he's operating at Ear Lake.

He said he chose the area because it has significant resources and that the location is close to market.

He said the new plant would be environmentally friendly and that he didn't anticipate it would affect water quality.

The report for the public hearing will be presented to council in two weeks.

See letter, p. 11.