WATERVILLE — The group suing the Municipality of the County of Kings over the looming closure of the Waterville airport says it will withdraw its lawsuit if a counter-proposal is accepted.
The Waterville Airport Co-operative, the group that manages the civilian airport, and the Annapolis Valley Flying Association submitted a 12-point proposal to the county. The Hangar Owners Group, which initially launched the lawsuit, agrees to the proposal, said a copy provided to The Chronicle Herald.
The proposal calls for the transfer of at least $1.8 million to a newly created governing body that will operate and manage a new airport. The money, the estimated sale price of the airport lands to Michelin, would finance the airport relocation.
The proposal calls for creation of a new entity that would be the chief negotiating party for a new airport site. It asks for $32,000 from the municipality to develop a 10-year business plan and another $10,000 to hire a consultant to develop a governance model.
It asks that the property on which the hangars are located be subdivided and granted to the hangar owners, and that all equipment and structures be handed over to the airport co-operative.
The group wants the county to delay the Sept. 30, 2014, closing date of the airport by one year, to Sept. 30, 2015, thus honouring the existing contract, along with an extension of the management agreement until a new airport is operating.
If the county accepts the terms, the group will agree to withdraw the lawsuit with no costs payable to any party, said the proposal.
The airport co-op has also formed a transition committee, to be chaired by businessman Paul Easson. Its mandate is to communicate with the Defence Department over a possible civilian airport at 14 Wing Greenwood. And it will investigate a second possible “greenfield” option and help encourage investment and growth at a new airport site.
Gordon Squires, president of the airport co-op, said the lawsuit is a defence against council’s “unilateral surprise actions” that he alleges violate the contract between the municipality and the co-op.
The co-op and hangar owners group have tried to negotiate but to no avail, he said in an email message Wednesday.
Squires said the co-op joined the lawsuit because the county has argued that the hangar owners don’t have legal standing.
The local aviation community, like the public, is not privy to the county’s negotiations with Michelin to purchase the airport lands for a possible future expansion, he said.
“We have no idea as to the likelihood or timing of a future Michelin expansion. The (consultant’s) report done by CBCL states that there are 2.1-million private dollars invested at (the airport) by individuals and businesses.
“The aviation community strongly supports Michelin and a future expanded Michelin in Waterville. All we ask is that we be sincerely respected in the process … not thrown under the … bus.”
He said the counter-proposal is a “constructive and reasonable” reply to council’s airport strategy.
Council in July approved a plan to relocate the airport to 14 Wing Greenwood. The 22-page strategy, with 18 recommendations, reaffirms council’s decision to close the airport and sell the lands to Michelin for a possible expansion.
The strategy calls for development of a civilian airport at the base, citing similar arrangements at Canadian Forces bases across the country. It said the airport closure deadline will be extended to May 31, 2015, if aviators agree to create a new governing body to negotiate with the Defence Department.
“Sometimes politicians have to make tough decisions,” Warden Diana Brothers said in a recent interview. “There is a bigger plan here. … We’re trying to bring jobs to Nova Scotia … while at the same time find a place for the airport. … We can have both things if we work together.”
- Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca
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