City council has signed off on a recommendation to start the process to sell the Owen Sound Billy Bishop Regional Airport.
Council resolved in a 5-2 recorded vote at its meeting Monday night to pass the airport sale proposal as presented by staff. The first step in the process will include the city inviting public comment about its intention to declare the airport surplus and dispose of it.
Coun. Richard Thomas moved the motion. He said it is time the taxpayers of Owen Sound stop subsidizing a facility from which they gain so little.
“The dream of economic development accompanying the airport from 29 years ago has just never materialized,” Thomas said. “I hope that as we move forward and we have the opportunity for public input, I’m not just hearing from the users of the airport but (also) hearing from the citizens of Owen Sound who are footing the bill for the users of the airport.”
Along with Coun. Thomas, Deputy Mayor Brian O’Leary, Coun. John Tamming, Coun. Scott Greig and Coun. Brock Hamley voted in favour of the plan to start the process to sell the airport. Coun. Carol Merton and Coun. Marion Koepke were opposed. Mayor Ian Boddy and Coun. Travis Dodd were absent from Monday’s meeting.
The Owen Sound Billy Bishop Airport was built in 1991 and has operated as a municipal asset since 1993. It is located along Highway 26, east of Owen Sound, in the Municipality of Meaford.
The average operating cost on an annual basis to the Owen Sound ratepayer to keep the airport running has increased from $100,000 annually in 2010, to around $235,000 by 2020, City Manager Tim Simmonds said in his report to council.
Simmonds told councillors at Monday’s meeting Owen Sound has documented through its budget process a $30-million city-wide capital infrastructure gap, which does not include the impact of new major operating contracts coming forward in the next 24 months such as waste management and transit.
“Therefore this special purpose infrastructure would be much better served as a private operation. And perhaps best owned and operated by individuals such as the hangar owners, as they have a wealth of experience with airport operations,” Simmonds said. “The proposal to sell the airport is not about Covid or landing fees. The operations of the airport have been in deficit for years.”
Simmonds’ report to council explained the introduction of a $35 landing fee at the airport has not been successful in generating revenue to offset increasing costs of operations. City staff also expect capital repair and replacement costs at the airport will exceed $1.5-million in the next two to five years.
A group of hangar owners presented a proposal to the city in March that would lower the annual cost to taxpayers of operating the Owen Sound Billy Bishop Regional Airport to about $200,000, Simmonds acknowledged in his report. Their plan was to remove the $35 landing fee but take other steps to raise revenues. Some of those measures included an annual airport user fee to be paid by hangar owners, the introduction of a dynamic fuel pricing model and assessing landing fees on commercial flights only at a higher amount of $235.
“The savings do not include any immediate or future capital costs,” Simmonds said in his report.
Several letters sent to city council concerning the airport sale proposal were read during the public question period of Monday’s meeting. The letters were from hangar owners and a flight instructor with Owen Sound Flight Services, which operates out of the airport. They raised questions about the potential impact on the city’s emergency management plans should operations at the airport cease, and the possibility of the city facing legal costs relating to what the hangar owners view as a breach of lease terms.
None of the submissions came from residents of Owen Sound.
There were also two letters sent from physicians at Grey Bruce Health Services: Dr. Sunil Mehta, the Chief of the Owen Sound Department of Emergency Medicine and Dr. John Caulfeild, Division Chief of General Surgery. They expressed concerns about the rare times during inclement weather situations when an ORNGE air ambulance is unable to land at the GBHS hospital helipad, the airport can still be used to land fixed wing aircraft for patient transfers. Dr. Caulfeild also identified other personal interests with the airport beyond his medical perspective, as a hangar owner and a pilot.
Merton, who voted against the motion, spoke to the concerns outlined by the two physicians. She said the city has not addressed the issue of emergency management planning and the decision about the future of the airport should not come down to just finances.
“As we move forward, I’m asking that we consider more than just dollars and cents,” Merton said. “I also recognize that as a council and as a city and taxpayers, we’re at a huge disadvantage with the financial deficit. If those who want the airport truly want the airport, help us help you.”
Tamming described the airport as a non-essential service unlike others that benefit the people of Owen Sound on a daily basis, such as the library, recreation facilities or parks. He said there’s “no way” a town of 20,000 people should be paying for an airport in Meaford.
“We’re done. The taxpayers are done,” Tamming said. “Every taxpayer I’ve talked to who lives in this town, as opposed to (being from Winnipeg) and appearing on our petition, everyone I’ve talked too with one or two exceptions has said it is time.”
Owen Sound’s city manager said since the Billy Bishop Regional Airport is located within the Municipality of Meaford, the city does not realize any property tax revenues from it.
“The notion that taxes collected help maintain the infrastrucure in a similar way as an Owen Sound resident’s property taxes pay for the roads we drive on and the parks we enjoy is not the same with this asset,” Simmonds said to councillors.
Simmonds noted when the airport was first conceived nearly 30 years ago, both the provincial and federal governments were involved with initial capital contributions and an ongoing commitment to operational costs. He said now, and for at least the previous decade, neither the provincial or federal governments are financially involved.
“Staff have researched grant opportunities for airports, but unfortunately Owen Sound does not meet the criteria,” explained Simmonds. “It is unlikely that either level of government will enter into a long-term granting or financial assistance relationship with the city.”
Moving forward, a process will begin to sell the airport starting with a notice seeking public input and all comments on the city’s intention to declare it surplus and dispose of it. Simmonds said those comments will be returned to council in a staff report this fall.
City staff will also be undertaking a land appraisal over the next couple of months which will take into account the total site and the buildings located at the airport.
Operations at the Billy Bishop Regional Airport will cease on Dec. 31, 2022, if no sale is completed by that date.
This story was updated from an earlier version to add more information and commentary from Monday’s Owen Sound council meeting.