Mountain View County councillors have given first reading to Bylaw 22-12 for the establishment of a Mountain View County airport advisory committee to replace the current airport management committee.
The vote came during last week's regularly scheduled council meeting.
"It would be advisory as opposed to a management committee,î said Reeve Bruce Beattie. "It is a recognition that we don't believe that the current structure is operating correctly. We either have to fix what we currently have or we adopt this.
"This could be amended to be a management committee, as opposed to an advisory committee. We are already in discussion about what the reporting function would be and what would the responsibilities be. There's lots of work to be done.
"The airports are functioning and they are meeting all the standards. We are putting over $100,000 a year into the airports and they are supposed to be self-sufficient. So how do we make them sustainable? They are not sustainable at this time. We need to change the management so they are sustainable. The key message is we have to do something.î
Before the draft bylaw receives second reading the county will be consulting with management committee members, airport hangar owners and others, he said.
"We are looking for a recommendation to come from the current airport management committee prior to making a decision on this,î he said.
The next management committee meeting is scheduled for Jan. 24 when the matter of the draft bylaw is expected to be discussed.
Several members of the management committee appeared before council at last week's meeting. They called for further discussions on the matter.
"My suggestion is we send this back to the airport committee,î said member Ed Shaw, who is also president of the Olds-Didsbury Flying Club. "The airports are a valuable asset to the county and its constituents. Currently this asset is not being utilized to its maximum and as a result we are wasting taxpayers' resources.
"We need to hold the committee's feet to the fire and make them more responsible, but we also have to have more support from administration and a more direct line to the council.î
Committee member Colin Minty, who is the president of the Sundre Flying Club, called on council to "reconsider passing this bylaw in first reading until a full legal review has been completed and council is confident that the county will not be libel for any expenses incurred by passing this bylaw.î
The bylaw establishing the airport management committee (No. 12-06) was passed in 2007.
Minty said: "Establishing the management committee under Bylaw 12-06 sets a precedent and confirms the spirit of the agreement signed by Mountain View County. With the introduction of the new Bylaw 22-12 it will potentially violate this legal agreement and leave Mountain View County exposed to legal action by the Olds-Didsbury Airport Hangar Owners and will incur additional expense to the taxpayers.î
Coun. Al Kemmere said he would like to see a public workshop held to discuss the airport issue.
The new advisory committee would be made up of eight members: two members of council and six citizens at large from MVC with a "demonstrated interest that the airport is a valuable asset of the community.î
The committee's duties would include providing recommendations, including regarding the day-to-day operation of the airport, the establishment of fees and rates to cover the costs of annual operations, regarding the maintenance of the airport and its facilities in an acceptable condition, and to "encourage the development of the airport in order to maximize the use of the facilities, according to the approved area structure plan (for the area where each airport is located).î
An administration airport management team would be formed to "encourage development of the airports in order to maximize the use of the facilities, according to the approved area structure plan.î
The county council would be responsible to approve annual operating budgets, approve any capital budgets for improvement and major repairs, and to "provide support persons as required, within budget including management, operational and technical expertise.î
Administration utilized the following "guiding principlesî set out by the policies and priorities committee in preparing the proposed bylaw:
ï Under council the new committee is to be an advisory body to administration and operations services is to be responsible for managing airport operations as per the guiding principles, bylaw and budget in accordance with existing MVC asset protocols.
ï Airports must remain sustainable as defined by council.
ï Further development at Olds/Didsbury Airport will be considered as part of the five- to 10-year development plans and focus will be on selling existing lots. The Sundre Airport focus will be on completing the subdivision process and encouraging ownership of newly created lots.
ï The airports will remain registered airports.
