Taxpayers have a right to see the out-of-court settlement reached between the city and the residents of Takhini North, says city councillor Doug Graham.

"We are spending their money, and they have a right to know what we are spending it on,” Graham told his fellow councillors and Mayor Bev Buckway during Monday night's council meeting.

There is a confidentiality requirement in the settlement preventing the city and the two other parties to the agreement from releasing the details.

Council agreed to back Graham's request to at least ask the city's lawyer to speak with the other parties to see if they will agree to lift the confidentiality provision.

And one of the Takhini North residents directly involved in the legal fight against city hall said she and the other residents would also like to see the agreement public.

"It was never the residents that wanted the confidentiality agreement,” Patricia Cunning said in an interview this morning. "We are completely open to have the agreement open to the public.

"That would be our preference. I mean, it's a public deal, and it's public money.”

Asked why the city would accept a condition of confidentiality, the mayor said it was part of the settlement package.

Residents of Takhini North were suing the city for negligence for not ensuring the subdivision's underground infrastructure was up to standards when the federal government sold it to a private developer in the late 1990s.

The private developer subsequently sold off the duplexes to individual homeowners.

When the city planned underground and surface upgrades to the subdivision, it suggested residents would have to pay more than the normal local improvement rate because of the substandard water system supplying the 82 individual residents.

The residents argued the federal government was required to do the necessary upgrades before selling off other parts of the Takhini subdivision and Valleyview.

The city, however, allowed the transfer of Takhini North without ensuring necessary upgrades to the infrastructure were made.

Legal proceedings have been underway for well over a year now, on three fronts.

Cunning was pursuing an individual action for $25,000 in the Yukon small claims court.

Another 73 Takhini North residents were pursuing a class action suit against the city in Yukon Supreme Court.

As well, a couple of residents were suing their individual lawyers for failing to notice or point out the hidden liabilities during the purchase process.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt said the agreement wipes away legal actions.

It is a deal among the city, the Takhini North Residents Association and the Canadian Legal Insurance Association, which was represented in this case by the Alberta Lawyers Legal Association, he added.

Shewfelt said he understands that when lawyers are named in a legal action, they are generally represented by their insurance company.

Ann Kirker, a lawyer for the Alberta association, said today from Calgary she has not yet been made aware of any of the discussion from city council last night, adding that's all she could say for now.