The Osoyoos Airport currently has no tie-downs or other amenities for aviation and the Town of Osoyoos has no statistics on the number of planes that use it. It is, however, a popular facility for drag racing held by the Wine Country Racing Association five times each year. (File photo)
A local group is seeking the expansion of Osoyoos Airport and they presented council with a draft consultant’s report Monday that makes the business case for it.
Glen Harris, chair of the Osoyoos Airport Development Society, appeared at council’s committee of the whole meeting on Monday along with other members of his group and consultants from InterVISTAS, the company that prepared the report.
The report presents an expanded Osoyoos Airport as “a gateway to the future economic development and enhances services for the people of Osoyoos and surrounding areas.”
The report notes that there is currently no aviation infrastructure at the airport and that aircraft tie-downs that were there in the past have been removed.
It points to “general aviation,” the use by non-scheduled aircraft, as the key to a viable airport that would provide economic spinoffs to the local community.
The report, paid for with a grant from the Osoyoos Credit Union, presents several scenarios for expanding the runway to the north and south to give it the capacity to handle larger planes.
The current runway is 2,477 feet, which limits its use to smaller planes. A runway of 3,300 to 4,800 feet would allow larger planes up to the 50-seat Dash 8 300, while a runway greater than 4,800 feet would allow planes including the 78-seat Dash 8 Q400.
The report makes little mention of the Oliver Municipal Airport, less than 20 kilometres away, which has a 3,200-foot runway, hangars, fuel, and maintenance facilities.
The report suggests a short-term expansion option that would involve extending the runway by 500 feet to the south.
This would allow a greater variety of small general aviation.
A second option involves extending the runway both to the north and south. The northern expansion would require purchase of agricultural land, which would need to be removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).
A third option involves extending the runway only to the north, but for a longer distance.
“If scheduled passenger service is the objective, Development Option 3 is recommended,” said the report. “Option 3 may only be feasible in the long-term as more than 40 acres would need to be acquired, likely requiring several years of investment and further planning.”
The consultants from InterVISTAS sought views from a number of stakeholder groups in the spring, including at a session in May at the Sonora Community Centre. Among the groups consulted were the Town of Osoyoos and council, the Osoyoos Indian Band, groups and businesses involved in tourism, economic development and local attractions, as well as public services such as the RCMP and federal and provincial governments.
Council was not asked to make any decision at Monday’s meeting, though council members posed several questions.
Councillor C.J. Rhodes asked about the costs of extending the runway to the north, noting that when this was looked at in the past, the cost of land purchases alone were “well into the millions of dollars.”
He asked if that part of the report “is wasted energy.”
He was told that the expansion would involve purchase of a 25-acre property and that some of that land could be sold for industrial use, recovering some of the cost.
The Agricultural Land Commission might allow the land to be taken out of the ALR if there is a land swap, since the airport would benefit community development.
Councillor Mike Campol asked Harris to address the community perception, “often steeped with misinformation or lack of information” that there would be significant funding of a major project that would benefit only a few, and the perception that these are the elite.
Harris responded that this view is incorrect. He said he became involved in airport development because he sees air access as a way to extend the shoulder season for visitors to Osoyoos.
“If there was more business for the community, whether that be business retreats, corporate retreats, that are staying in our convention hotels, you’d have more full-time staff positions,” he said, suggesting this would attract families and help to keep Osoyoos schools viable.
“I see air access helping to develop this community into a four-season community rather than a two-season community and that is the key driver for me,” said Harris.
He suggested that Mount Baldy doesn’t currently have enough of a user base to develop to its potential, but air access would help it do better.
Mount Baldy is approximately 60 km from Osoyoos Airport and 40 km from Oliver Municipal Airport.
In November 2014, the newly elected current council supported a recommendation from the outgoing council to explore “a more practical use for an aircraft facility that now serves a limited number of recreational aircraft and a drag strip for local racing enthusiasts.”
Instead, the councils proposed using the land for industrial expansion.
The following year, the current council rescinded that decision.
Asked last week for statistics on current use of the airport by aviation, Barry Romanko, Town of Osoyoos chief administrative officer, responded: “We don’t keep any type of stats on the airport.”
The Wine Country Racing Association uses the airport runway for drag races five times a year.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
