FARO What to do with the huge resource of warm water beneath Haines Junction is front and centre for the community of almost 800 residents.

The ability to escape a forest fire is among the foremost concerns for the estimated 185 people who live in Tagish.

And the ongoing work on Faro's golf course that snakes through the town's core is the centre of pride for a community on the rebound.

Reports on concerns and accomplishments by community leaders from around the territory during the past weekend's annual general meeting of the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) were as varied as the communities themselves are.

From Dawson City, the issue of a fall election was what community leaders wanted to hear about. From Carcross, there is a pressing desire to move from under the thumb of the Yukon government and achieve greater self-determination.

Carcross representative Linda Pringle told delegates attending the meeting in Faro that Carcross is one of the oldest communities in the Yukon, yet has no real representation.

While there's been a local advisory body in place since 1992, there is a want for something more, for a locally-elected voice that's not vetted by the Yukon government, Pringle explained.

'At the moment, self-determination is our greatest concern, and that is what we are working toward.'

The community, she said, wants to become an incorporated municipality at some point.

Pringle said her community of 450 people right now has very little say about what happens in their neighbourhood.

Carcross, she quipped, had its 1991 fire truck recently replaced with a 2002 model.

Pringle said it was good to get a newer truck, but for the fact that the 2002 model came from the Marsh Lake community, which just upgraded to the 2005 model.

Teslin Mayor Clara Jules said her community has spent the last year focused on improving recreational facilities, building a ball park, a playground and a dock, and will be receiving artificial ice for their arena for the upcoming season.

A recognized municipality for the past 20 years, Teslin is now working on an agreement with the Teslin Tlingit Council to advance other municipal infrastructure programs for its 420 residents, she told delegates.

Jules said there is also an initiative to improve the emergency response system in Teslin.

In Haines Junction, the community is dealing with everything from a proposal to allocate one per cent of its annual budget to fund a permanent art collection, to what to do with a vast resource of warm water, Coun. Mike Crawshay told AYC delegates.

He said a consultant's report has indicated the warm water well could be used to heat a few municipal buildings, or it could heat the whole town.

'The warm water well study is complete,' Crawshay said. 'The next phase is what do you want to do with this large supply of water? Do you want to heat municipal buildings, do you want to heat the whole town or look at bottled water?

'There is enough warm water to heat every building in Haines Junction but it is going to cost $10 million or $12 million.'

Back in Tagish, residents are more and more concerned about their desire for a second access road into the subdivision, Ethel Tizya, a director of the Tagish Community Association, said during her summary of Tagish affairs over the last year.

Tizya said there is a growing fear among Tagish residents that a wildfire could easily shut down the only road in and out of the community.

There is also a desire to beef up emergency response capability year-round, she said. With no back-up generators in either the community centre or the fire hall, she noted, both buildings were rendered useless as places to gather during two lengthy power outages last fall, one lasting 32 hours.

And with a growing number of seniors among the Tagish population, it's time to look at services for seniors who choose to live the rural lifestyle, she said.

Tizya said it's also time to look at the issue of a local school for the community, as the number of school-aged children will continue to grow, and given that the number of Tagish children attending school in Carcross outnumber Carcross children.

There must also be an affordable water supply, provided fairly and equitably, as the Yukon government policy for the delivery of water varies from community to community, she said.

In Whitehorse, there are several new projects underway and several old ones continuing, such as the construction of the new multiplex nearing completion, Whitehorse Coun. Bev Buckway told the delegation.

She said further development of Shipyards Park is underway, and significant upgrades to the skateboard park are planned.

The bridge across the Yukon River linking the Millennium Trail should be complete in July. Meanwhile, the new stairway on Puckett's Gulch is already generating more foot and bicycle traffic between Black Street and the Hillcrest area, Buckway said.

Coun. Jan Stick said the city will also move ahead this summer with its initiative to reconfigure Fourth Avenue into two singles lanes with a centre turning lane and bicycle paths on each side.

Ray Hayes, the government-appointed trustee for Dawson City, told the AYC delegates the community is working with the government to examine more affordable options for a new sewage lagoon system.

The municipality is also looking at ways to extend the life of the ice sheet inside the new arena because it tends to melt sooner than desired, he said. The arena's artificial ice system had to be dismantled during construction because of ground conditions that were not taken into account during design.

'We are working hard to try to put together a financial plan for the next four or five years, something that is realistic, given the financial resources we have,' he said.

Maintaining the provision of cable TV in the community is also a priority, he added. There are some local residents who could not hook up to satellite services even if they wanted to because of topographical conditions.

The territorial government fired ex-Dawson mayor Glen Everitt and his former council in April 2004. The goal is to have a fall election to replace Hayes with a new council. While Hayes has discussed tentative dates with the government, he told the delegates, he is not at liberty to disclose them.

Carmacks Mayor Mick Larkin noted that of the $10-million cost for the new Carmacks school, there is $5.4 million in this year's territorial budget to begin the work.

Over the next four or five years, it's expected the community will spend $15 million from Canadian strategic infrastructure funding on a new water distribution system and waste water treatment plant, he said.

Larkin told delegates it's expected the government will soon be issuing a request for proposals for the new treatment system for the community of 400.

As was reported by other community leaders, the Carmacks mayor described the local Firesmart program as a huge success, keeping six local residents working all winter.

The substance abuse committee in Carmacks has also made significant strides, Larkin said.

'We do not like to talk about it much, but public drunkenness has decreased, and we are very happy about it.'

Mayo Mayor Scott Bolton said his community of 390 has been busy trying to attract new business investment.

A new lumber yard is starting up in Mayo. As well, there will be some environmental problems cleaned up in conjunction with the initiative, Bolton said.

He suggested to delegates that penalties for those who commit crime in the community do not amount to holding people accoutable for their actions. Community leaders have been working with the Department of Justice to address their concerns.

'We have had enough,' he said matter-of-factly.

Bolton said work on the community's waterfront will go ahead later this summer or next year. Tourism-related initiatives are also proceeding, and the Firesmart program was a benefit to Mayo, he added.

And in the host town of Faro, things are good, Mayor Phyl Forbes told delegates.

She offered her thanks and kudos to those community volunteers who have worked non-stop to see the community dream of a golf course snaking through the downtown realized.

'It has been the dream of many councils and past Faroites,' Forbes said.

Also a success, Forbes added, was the community's initiative to organize the first Sheep and Crane Festival in May 2004, and again earlier this month to witness the migration north of some 40,000 sandhill cranes, while visiting to local areas to view Fannin mountain sheep.

The community's massive lead-zinc mine, which opened in 1969, closed for good in 1998.