KENTVILLE — Municipal
and airport officials in Kings County are hoping for some answers soon
on the future of the Waterville Municipal Airport.
They say a
study on its possible relocation, initiated at the request of the
provincial government and Michelin Tire officials last spring, is
holding up business.
“We’re in a situation where there are some people who want to build new hangars,” Warden Diana Brothers said in an interview.
“We need to have some of these things talked about so that we can start making some decisions.”
The
province hired consultant CBCL Ltd. of Halifax to examine options for
moving the 38-hectare airport to make way for a possible major expansion
of the Michelin truck tire plant.
The $82,000 study was
completed last fall and is now in government hands. It was carried out
in co-operation with Michelin, the Waterville Airport Co-operative Ltd.
and Kings County, which owns the airport.
The county has a copy but is keeping it under wraps until it meets with the province and Michelin to discuss its ramifications.
The
province paid for the study, so it’s up to the government to say if or
when it will be released, Brothers said. She said the county is trying
to set up a meeting for this month, possibly Feb. 19.
“We haven’t heard a thing one way or the other,” Walter Isenor, chairman of the airport co-operative, said Thursday.
“But it looks like the airport will be moving or closing, whether it’s tomorrow or 10 years from now.
“Michelin has indicated that they want that property.”
Isenor said until a new location is found, the airport’s business operations are on hold.
“We can’t expand because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Airport management has turned down a proposal from a business in Alberta that wanted to build a couple of hangars.
“We told them no because it looks like we’re going to have to move.”
The sooner the move can take place, the better, Isenor said.
“Where we’re going to find the money is another issue.”
Municipal
Services Minister John MacDonell said in a recent email message that
the consultant’s report presents some options for moving the airport.
But
it contains sensitive business information, particularly land and
economic data. Releasing it before a decision is made could have a
significant impact on the process, he said.
Michelin and the
province have been coy about any other expansion plans since the
announcement just two weeks ago of a $73-million expansion at the tire
plant that will include new equipment and an added 32,000 square feet of
production space.
That expansion will not affect the airport.
But Brothers said she is still hoping for more future expansion by the
global tire manufacturer.
“So the issue of relocating (the airport) is still an important one,” she said.
President
Dana LeBlanc of Michelin North America said Jan. 17 that although he
hadn’t seen the report yet, any future expansion would have to be in the
direction of the airport.
But he said no other expansion plans are in the works at this time.
The
study group was asked to come up with three recommendations for a new
location for the airport. It’s believed one could be at or near 14 Wing
Greenwood.
Story: http://thechronicleherald.ca
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