The volunteer committee trying to ensure the long-term viability and expansion of the Osoyoos Airport has asked Town of Osoyoos council to help pay 50 per cent of the costs for a consultant to prepare a detailed business plan looking at all options – including permanent closure – of the facility.

Glen Harris, a member of the Osoyoos Airport Development Society, said volunteer members with the society have unanimously agreed professional consultants should be hired to prepare a detailed business plan that would provide all options relating to the future of the Osoyoos Airport.

Harris was joined at last Monday’s town council meeting by founding members Tom McHale, the owner of Gemstone Logistics, a company that transports workers from across B.C. and many parts of Canada to the oil fields in Alberta; Ingrid Jarrett, the business manager at the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos; Dr. Jason Bartsch, a longtime Osoyoos dentist; and Diana Thomas; a veteran business owner from Oliver.

Last fall, town council tabled a motion to consider repurposing the airport lands for industrial use, with the reasoning that the airport is underutilized and does not properly serve as an economic driver for the community.

More than $500,000 of provincial funding has been spent since 2006 to pave the runway and reconstruct the intersection of Hwy. 3 and installation of services to the airport lands.

The development society has stated Osoyoos Airport can only become viable economically by extending the existing runway and providing basic facilities such as improved lighting, fencing and tie-downs for aircraft owners.

Society members have already initiated discussions between the longtime owners of the land where the Osoyoos Airport currently sits and property north of the site that would need to be purchased for expansion, said Harris.

The society now realizes preparing a professional business plan on its own was not the best course of action and the time has come for professional consultants with experience in preparing business plans for small town airports to get involved, said Harris.

Two qualified consulting companies have been identified and are prepared to provide a detailed business plan within a two-month time frame at a cost of between $25,000 and $30,000, he said.

The society remains convinced the Osoyoos Airport can succeed not as a commercial airport, but one that provides air services to small business owners, small plane owners and small charter companies looking to bring tourists to wine country, said Harris.

A detailed business plan would provide numerous options, including one to close the facility if the consultant determines the airport can’t become economically viable, said Harris.

“We would like the town to invest in this” business plan and provide 50 per cent of the funding, he said.

McHale has already invested more than $40,000 of his own money in an attempt to keep Osoyoos Airport open and another $20,000 of private funding has been spent over the past five years, said Harris.

The new Town of Osoyoos marina was built through a private-public partnership between the town and Watermark Beach Resort and has quickly become a valuable community asset, he said.

“We would like to do the same with our asset up the hill at the airport,” he said.

Coun. C. J. Rhodes said one assessment review indicated it would take up to $5 million to properly upgrade Osoyoos Airport.

“Those costs are staggering for a community our size … for us, those are just mindboggling figures,” he said.

McHale interjected and said those figures were “looking 10 years down the road” after the most significant upgrades were completed and the airport had proven itself to be economically viable and successful.

The most significant upgrades needed to move forward include expansion of the current runway and significant upgrades to lighting, fencing and tie-downs, but those costs are more in the $1.5-million range, said McHale.

With the exception of $5,000 for one study, local taxpayers haven’t had to pay anything for proposed expansion of the Osoyoos Airport, said Harris, “but to move forward, you (council) are going to have to invest” in some of the costs for expansion, he said.

There would be numerous private partners and business owners willing to donate funding to complete the needed renovations if the business plan convinces council an expansion of the Osoyoos Airport should move forward, he said.

There are also numerous grants and funding avenues available through the senior levels of government for small airports in this country, he said.

Management with Osoyoos Home Hardware has purchased several large chunks of land adjacent to the Osoyoos Airport and were expected to build a new large retail outlet at this location, however, those plans were scrapped several months ago when it was announced the economic climate was not right to proceed with construction.

Council agreed to have chief administrative officer Barry Romanko prepare a staff report before they make a decision on whether or not they are willing to spend $15,000 for the consultant to prepare a detailed business plan relating to possible airport expansion.

It’s expected council will make a decision on this matter at its next meeting in early September.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times