The Town of Hay River is beginning the process to award the next licence for a Chase the Ace lottery.
Judy Goucher, the senior administrative officer (SAO) with the town, said applications for a licence will be accepted until Dec. 15.
"I'll then go through and do the analysis in accordance with the bylaw, and we'll likely be ready to issue a new licence early in the new year," Goucher said.
The town has had one application on file since last year from an unidentified organization.
"And we have had other people pick up the packages, so we may very well end up with more than one by the time it comes to assess," said Goucher.
The 2018 Arctic Winter Games (AWG) Host Society was the second organization to run the lottery after the Hay River Curling Club last year.
The AWG Host Society's Chase the Ace came to an end on Dec. 1 after 12 weeks when someone drew the ace.
Goucher said, even if there is one applicant, that organization would still have to meet the qualifications under the Chase the Ace Bylaw.
The SAO also noted there is nothing in the bylaw preventing a previous licence-holder from applying for a new licence, not even the AWG Host Society which held the last licence.
"Anyone can apply," she said, explaining one of the criteria is when an organization last held a Chase the Ace licence.
The SAO explained that, depending on how many applications make it through the ranking system, whether or not an organization previously held a licence would come into play at that time.
"If they were all equal and we had someone who had recently had a licence versus someone who had not, then the licence would go to the organization that had not recently had a licence," she said.
According to the bylaw, the factors that "may impact" the awarding of a licence include the length of time an organization has been on the list for a Chase the Ace licence and whether an applicant held a licence in the previous three years.