Mountain View County (MVC) council has instructed administration to examine the possible economic impacts of a proposed extension of the Olds-Didsbury Airport runway.
The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The airport is owned by the county and operated by the Olds-Didsbury Flying Association.
The association has been examining the possibility of extending the main runway at the airport from 3,600 feet to 4,200 feet at an estimated cost of $511,000.
Association member Greg Neufeld told council extending the runway could allow larger aircraft to use the facility, located between Olds and Didsbury off Highway 2A.
Reeve Bruce Beattie said,“We want to look at some sort of a business case to make sure that for the dollars we are putting in, there is a return for the investment.
"We are trying to look at the economic impact. We are doing some work to determine what that might be and that might also tie into the discussion around expanding the runway.
He said the airport is a “positive economic driver and we recognize that as council.”
Deputy Reeve Angela Aalbers said the county needs to examine what economic spinoffs an extended runway might have for the community.
“For the 2019 budget consideration, it might be good to see a project come forward where we can actually hire a company that can go out and look at the businesses to see what kind of a need there is. I’d like to see that sort of information be brought forward,” said Aalbers.
Coun. Greg Harris said he agrees with Aalbers’ comments.
“I’m not opposed to airport development, but I’m just skeptical right now because I have not seen enough detail or evidence; it’s more conjecture and second-hand. We need something more substantive," said Harris.
Aalbers put forward a motion that “council direct administration to use the Sundre Airport development plan as a model to bring back a project sheet for economic development study for the Olds-Didsbury Airport for the 2019 budget deliberations.”
The motion passed on Nov. 14. Deliberations for the 2019 MVC budget are now underway.
