Plane (Image from Tobermory municipal website)
West Grey is seeking legal advice before it determines what it wants the future of the Saugeen Municipal Airport (SMA) to look like.
Council approved directing staff to seek legal advice during a meeting on June 4 after being brought two options, either proceed with the sale of the facility, or review the cost sharing formula.
This is the latest after West Grey met with SMA member municipalities Brockton and Hanover in April.
A report from Director of Legislative Services and Clerk Jamie Eckenswiller says staff recommend obtaining legal advice to fully understand the legality and steps needed to sell the airport if one of the three partners wish to move forward with this option.
The legal advice would look at the impacts if a member municipality were to give up ownership.
While Hanover previously expressed interest in continuing to explore all options for the future of the facility, Brockton proposed either selling the municipality’s share of the airport to Hanover or West Grey, or to a private entity which would continue to run it as an airport.
Following the meeting in April, each municipality agreed to go back and look at the options proposed by Brockton and report back in two months.
Brockton initially approached West Grey and Hanover in November to start the process of discussing the airport’s future.
The airport was established in 1990 and the original partner municipalities included Arran-Elderslie, but it has since stepped away.
Each of the member municipality contributes money to cover the operating and general maintenance costs of the airport.
Brockton currently contributes 42.07 per cent, 26.74 per cent for West Grey and 31.19 per cent from Hanover.
“The past few budget years have been challenging for the SMA as there were significant unbudgeted legal expenses and upgrades to the fuel system that resulted in a deficit at the end of 2022,” says the report from Eckenswiller. “While a main goal of the SMA may be to become financially self-sustaining aside from the municipal contributions, it is clear that it will take some time for that goal to be accomplished.”
Should West Grey choose to move ahead with the sale of the airport, a buyer would need to be secured and the facility would continue to operate as an airport.
Eckenswiller says in the report while it is difficult to narrow down a sale price, the Wiarton Airport sold in 2021 for $2.6 million and the Billy Bishop Airport in Owen Sound was recently listed at $3.7 million.
Coun. Doug Townsend says, “I would hope if it went forward as a sale, that it stays an airport. I am not sure whether we have to be involved or whether someone else, but I would really like to see that stay there because I think there is a need.”
If West Grey instead wants to review the cost sharing formula, the result could see the municipality’s contribution to the airport increase.