The mayor is angry and a local community group is calling for the ombudsman after miscommunication sparked a city-led investigation into a McLean Lake quarry proposal without the consent of council.

Speaking to members of council Monday evening, McLean Lake Residents' Association members Bob Kuiper and Skeeter Miller-Wright said they were upset and surprised to learn that promises by city council were not kept.

The residents maintain they were told they would be consulted on a review of the environmental consulting work done on the Sleeping Giant Hill quarry proposal near McLean Lake.

Miller-Wright said he had been assured by Mayor Ernie Bourassa that no investigation into the environmental work done by Access Consulting, on behalf of Territorial Contracting Ltd., would be started without citizen input into the process.

'I would like to say that I have a concern over the process.

'In a letter, the city said it would be an open process and the terms of reference would be available in a draft form,' Miller-Wright said.

'I then received a string of e-mails that a contract had been signed (with Gartner Lee consultants) and that the terms of reference had been made.'

He said he was surprised to find out that none of the recommendations made by McLean Lake residents were included in the investigation's terms of reference, which is being conducted by the Gartner Lee environmental consulting group.

'None of our terms were included, none of them.'

Earlier this year, council delayed deciding on whether to permit Territorial Contracting to relocate its concrete batch plant and quarry operation from Ear Lake to McLean Lake.

Council's decision earlier this year followed concerns from city residents regarding: a perceived flawed environmental assessment by Access Consulting on the proposal; pollution and noise concerns; concerns over property values; and concerns by the Kwanlin Dun First Nation that the proposal would negatively affect its land claim parcels in the area.

According to a May 3 letter from Kirk Cameron, of Gartner Lee, to city planning manager Lesley Cabbot, the consultants had two terms of reference in their review, which was estimated to cost $9,290.

According to the letter, Gartner Lee's terms of reference were to see if all legislated requirements were adhered to in the original environmental assessment performed for Territorial Contracting, including:

• determining if the original assessment by Access Consulting met all the requirements of the Yukon Environmental Assessment Act, which has now been replaced by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act;

• to see if the process that was followed was consistent with legislated requirements and other relevant laws, including bylaws, that apply to regulatory approvals.

Miller-Wright pointed out to council that there was a very important element missing from Gartner Lee's current terms of reference.

'Was (Access Consulting's) assessment complete and accurate? Accuracy is very important.'

The fact that the city did not advertise in last Friday's paper that McLean Lake was on the agenda and that he was not contacted until hours before the meeting was also upsetting, Miller-Wright added.

'On the one hand, I'm quite upset, and on the other, I'm very grateful.'

Kuiper added that they were pleased with previous discussions with the mayor and were confident that the mayor was as surprised with the situation as they were.

'The mayor has made a commitment to an open process and we appreciate how upset he was when he learned that that is not the case.'

He said he's not sure that another consulting firm was the right party to do the investigation and suggested either a multi-party committee look into the matter or the Yukon's ombudsman, Hank Moorlag, be asked to do it.

'We feel we should use the ombudsman instead of a consultant,' he said. 'The ombudsman can deal with municipal issues.'

According to information published on the Office of the Ombudsman's website, the ombudsman has the authority to investigate:

• Crown corporations and independent authorities or boards;

• public schools and Yukon College;

• hospitals, local and regional health bodies;

• governing bodies of professional and occupational associations;

• municipalities and Yukon first nation governments (by their request only).

Speaking to members of council and city administration, Bourassa said he was upset that administration was engaging in the review without the consent of council.

'I am more than a little perturbed, to say the least.

'We've consistently told (interested citizens) that no review was underway. To find out that the planning department had begun this review is very upsetting,' the mayor said.

'I want our staff to understand that this is clearly not acceptable; council needs to be consulted before things happen, not after.'

Responding to the mayor's concerns, city manager Dennis Shewfelt said the problem was due to a lack of communication.

'I think we collectively suffer from (a lack of) communication between the planning department and senior management,' Shewfelt said, explaining that it was miscommunication that caused the investigation to be started.

'My apologies to council for this.'