Chief Mike Smith says he could get into a drawn-out affair with city council over the $892,000 bill the city has sent his Kwanlin Dun First Nation.

But he prefers to put the matter behind them.

There's too much going on for the first nation to get bogged down over an amount of money which is relatively insignificant in the scheme of things, Smith explained in an interview with the Star this week.

Everything considered, said the chief, the first nation has more than $100 million in proposals somewhere in the hopper, after you count Kwanlin Dun's cultural centre on the waterfront; its involvement with the multmillion-dollar initiative to build a new jail, and the possibility of an adjoining healing centre.

There are the different proposals to build residential subdivisions on first nation lands for the open market, the chief continued, and the possibility of getting into the building supply business with an existing big-box franchise interested in coming to the Yukon.

All that is complemented by any number of projects under the economic development provisions of Kwanlin Dun's land claim settlement.

"There is a lot on the table," said Smith, who was accompanied by Tom Beaudoin, the first nation's director of heritage, lands and resources. "We do not need all this negativeness."

Earlier this month, concerns were raised by Coun. Doug Graham about Kwanlin Dun being in arrears on an $892,000 bill owed to the city for infrastructure work completed on the waterfront.

The work was completed in 2006 to prepare for development of the first nation's cultural centre.

Graham also suggested the first nation should pay the regular rate of interest applied to outstanding fees owed to the city, accounting for an additional $249,760.

Smith said Kwanlin Dun has written the city indicating it is willing to pay the $892,000, once the city provides a letter indicating the work is complete and no interest will be applied.

A lawyer by trade, Smith points out there is no mention - none whatsoever - of interest payments in the contribution agreement between the city and first nation for the waterfront work.

Furthermore, the chief continued, one could argue the 2004 agreement doesn't even exist, as the work agreed to initially was not the end product.

Instead, the first nation wants to put the matter to bed, and will pay the city the $892,000 once it receives the letter dismissing interest, he said.

"Nothing can happen without good faith-cooperation," the chief said of the overall waterfront initiative involving numerous governments. "If any one of the parties gets mad, the whole waterfront project would be in jeopardy."

Beaudoin said he was upset to see the matter of the $892,000 get dragged into the public forum, particularly after what he felt was a private government-to-government meeting with the city to discuss the matter.

It was, he believes now, an attempt to purposely discredit and embarrass the first nation.

He said he met with city officials before Christmas to discuss their recent letter reminding Kwanlin Dun of the bill, and the requirement to pay $249,760 in interest.

City officials were told Kwanlin Dun was prepared to pay the $892,000 as soon as it received a letter confirming there would be no interest charged, he said.

The contribution agreement, he too emphasized, says nothing about interest.

The contribution agreement was also meant to evolve into an official four-party development agreement among the city, Kwanlin Dun, the Ta'an Kwach'an Council and the Yukon government but was never signed off, Beaudoin pointed out.

He said the first nation has not yet received the letter from the city dismissing the interest fees.

Why the Kwanlin Dun didn't pay the $892,000 when it received the bill in November 2006, Beaudoin doesn't recall specifically.

He suspects it was simply buried by a list of other priorities, and just didn't hit the top of the agenda.

The last few years, Beaudoin said, have been extremely busy for the first nation.

The waterfront project alone provided a stack of challenges and considerations, from the overall design and the First Avenue extension to provisions for the trolley, soil remediation, Shipyards Park, the train shed's move, the relocation of overhead power lines and on and on.

All that came at a time when the first nation was immersed in its own newly-acquired self-governing responsibilities, while dealing with the frustration and desire to get its cultural centre back on track, after a couple of major setbacks for the project.

But Smith is hopeful the cultural centre could begin to take shape in the very near future.

The initial push to advance the project in the early part of the decade ground to a halt when the federal program the first nation was advised to apply under for funding support was suddenly cancelled after the application was sent in, Smith explained.

He said a second attempt to secure financing failed when officials described the project as falling just outside the parameters of the new funding source.

It's been somewhat frustrating, if not expensive, to advance the project, the commitment to which was a big part of the land claim settlement for the first nation, Smith said.

To date, the chief explained, the first nation has all but exhausted the $1.25 million it received from the Yukon government as an advance on the settlement to plan for the cultural centre.

The first nation's newest proposal has been given verbal approval by territorial officials, though it still needs to go through a formal committee review, Smith explained. Ultimately, he pointed out, it will need approval at the territorial political level, before an application for funding can be forwarded to Ottawa.

"We think it will work," the chief said. "We think Kwanlin Dun can provide a very public facility on the waterfront.

"It is still subject to ongoing discussions on how that project will proceed."

It's expected the parties will apply to the federal fund that requires each of the parties - Kwanlin Dun, the territorial government and Ottawa - to each pay one third of the cost.

The centre will not only tell the story of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, but will tell the story of all the Yukon, and all of its first nations, said Smith. It will be, he insisted, a powerful magnet for visitors to the territory.

But until there is a formal and full commitment to the existing proposal, the first nation cannot justify spending any more money on design and planning, Smith said.

He said there will be a need to revisit some aspects of the design concept and such, given the original concept is now five years old and may have to change somewhat. The estimated cost, for instance, has gone up from $12 million to about $18 million, Beaudoin said.

That being said, however, the chief still wants to break ground next year with initial construction work on the 1.7 hectare site located at what was the old Motorways trucking property.

It's been long enough, Smith said, referring to the various setbacks.

The information package circulated by the first nation prior to the vote on its land claim package said construction of the cultural centre could begin as early as 2004, if the settlement was accepted by then.

The land claim agreement was approved in November 2004, and was officially signed off on Feb. 21, 2005.

Aside from providing space for artistic pursuits and training, it's also expected the centre will also provide commercial office and retail space as a means of generating revenue.