Some departments may move to offices in fisheries building

The City of Iqaluit wants to lease a new building in Tundra Valley to expand and reorganize its offices.

It's negotiating a lease on building 2425, which was once occupied by SNC-Lavalin Engineers and Construction, and formerly by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but now sits empty.

"We have a couple of new employees coming in the new year, and right now we have nowhere to put them," the chief administrative officer, John Hussey, told the city's finance committee of the whole when they met just before Christmas.

The city is hiring a new director of public works, an economic development officer and a sustainability officer.

Hussey proposed vacating the current facilities in the so-called "Subway building," number 961, and the engineering facility near the end of federal road, and consolidating operations staff and equipment in the new building.

This would include bylaw officers, all of public works (including the equipment), engineering and lands.

"That way, we could centralize the administrative side together here," Hussey said, referring to the main council offices above the Arnaitok Arena.

The finance committee asked Hussey to continue negotiating costs for both the lease on the new building and on ending the leases at the subway building and engineering building 1554D on federal road.

The preliminary asking price would cost the city $130,000 a year for the rearranged facilities. The committee wants to get that figure down to about $80,000 before finalizing the deal. The city is also considering other options, Hussey said later.

This move would "hold us over for one to three years," Hussey suggested, "until we get our feet on the ground for a new city hall."