Whitehorse property owners looking to put in a ground water well will soon benefit from a territorial loan program.

Council unanimously passed a motion last week that the city sign off on an agreement with the territory that would give Whitehorse residents access to the Yukon government’s Domestic Water Well Program.

The program provides a loan for new wells or improvements to existing ground water wells on residential properties. It has been available in rural areas around the territory since 2004.

As Valerie Anderson, the city’s acting director of corporate services, stated in an earlier report to council, legislative changes in recent years allow for municipalities to administer the loans that would ultimately be approved by the territory.

Last Monday’s vote made Whitehorse the first municipality opting to make the program available to property owners, though it did not come without extensive discussion by council members prior to the vote.

The question of default loans continued to come up. While city staff confirmed it would be up to the city to pursue collection on default loans, as Coun. Betty Irwin argued given that the loan would be administered through a local improvement charge attached to property taxes, it’s not likely there would be many cases of defaulting.

“I think it’s a good program,” Irwin said.

Deputy mayor Mike Gladish was quick to cite the city’s efforts towards sustainability, including moving toward denser residential areas that feature more residential units in smaller spaces.

“In a way, it’s (the well program) facilitating country residential, lower-density development,” he argued.

As both Irwin and Coun. John Streicker argued though, the program does not open up any land for country residential development.

Rather, it has the potential to see wells developed on land already established, which could mean less water being delivered by truck to those areas.

“That’s more sustainable, in my view,” Streicker said.

The argument appeared to be enough to win over Gladish, who voted with the rest of council in favour of signing onto the agreement with the territory.

While the city had looked at offering its own loan program for wells in the past, as city staff informed council, the city didn’t have the resources to do so then.

This allows property owners to benefit from a loan program for wells, without the city having to dole out the loan amount.

Loan recipients will have to pay a one-time administrative charge that cannot, under the agreement, exceed $500.

At a meeting of council in late April, Anderson noted the city also administers the territory’s Home Owners Grant and while it would be difficult to tally up the full administrative cost of the program it would add up to a lot.

As she pointed out, city staff are involved in mailing out information about it.

Cashiers must answer questions and verify the form is filled out properly for more than 7,000 properties in the city whose owners may claim the grant.

And then there are the phone calls to be fielded when a grant is turned down by the territory and any anomalies that come along.

Loans will be for five, 10 or 15 years, with the loan payment being added to the annual property tax bill. The city will then remit the loan payment collected to the Yukon government.

Anderson said she will follow up on that question before it comes back to council next week.

Veteran Coun. Dave Stockdale, meanwhile, recalled looking at the same issue in years past, noting that council had opted then not to pursue the matter.

Anderson replied by noting the city had explored the possibility of having its own water well program three times previously.

The difference this time around is it’s a Yukon government program the city would simply administer, rather than running its own program, she said.