By Sebastian Kanally
The Town of Oliver has decided to pass on the opportunity to apply for a grant for up to $1.5 million for improvements to the Oliver Airport as “we don’t have the money”.
A report presented to council detailed a plan to apply for BC Air Access Program Grants to pay for up to 80 per cent of the cost of a proposed project for the airport.
The estimated cost for the entire suggested plan is $1.83 million with the provincial grant providing up to 85 per cent of the cost, which would still leave the town with a cost of between $220,000 – $500,000.
During the discussion, councillor David Mattes explained “the reality is we don’t have the money, pure and simple.”
The proposed project includes various items split into two categories. The first category includes items that should be fixed as identified in the Hazard Identification Report. These include items such as aviation obstruction lighting on the airside and groundside, Fortis pole replacement, and the security gate. Together these come to $55,000.
Wayne Anderson, chief administrative officer for the town explained that the security gate is an area of concern identified in this category. He explained that the current gate is a “powered swing gate, it’s not a sliding gate. So that’s opened up in the morning and left open all day. So there is no security between ground and air.”
There are substantial cracks in the runway that have become wide enough to make it increasingly difficult to fix without repaving the entire runway.
Included in the budget would be installing a sliding gate that would open and close as people enter and leave the area at a cost of $20,000.
The second category of improvements are ones identified in the Airport Master Plan. These are items such as runway repaving and rotory hangar development and installing wastewater infrastructure for BC Wildfire’s use of the airport.
The most expensive item is the runway repaving. Anderson noted that substantial cracks in the runway have made it increasingly difficult to fix without repaving the entire runway. The cost of repaving the runway is $1.43 million.
When considering the proposed project, Mattes said that not only does the town not have the money, he is reluctant to make any decisions until the Airport Master Plan is completed. He explained “I wouldn’t really want to commit the town to taking action in any particular area until we look at all the needs of the airport as a whole. Rather than attacking before we have the masterplan.”
The Airport Master Plan was developed in 2012, but the town is currently developing a new strategic plan to “identify opportunities for the airport to be used to its full potential.”
Councillor Terry Schafer and Mayor Martin Johansen agreed with Mattes’ points. Johansen also added that council could discuss these projects further during budget deliberations to see whether they can put some money aside to go towards various grant applications for the airport.
