Despite a study that says Stratford's local airport is financially unsustainable, Stratford City Council is holding out hope.
The City's Infrastructure, Transportation, and Safety standing committee decided not to sell the airport in hopes that one day it will at least break even.
Those in favour of keeping the airport spoke about the ‘intangibles’ that the asset offers at the committee meeting this week.
“Once it's gone, it's gone,” Coun. Brad Beatty said. “It's an unkept secret. It's one of our best resources...I know that with the opportunity to look for new revenue sources it can get there.”
Mayor Martin Ritsma agreed.
“I firmly believe that it is an asset that the City should retain,” Ritsma said. “I believe that there are opportunities out at the airport for us to make it a revenue-neutral investment. And I really do believe that. I also believe that there are services provided out there that we truly can't quantify with regards to a dollar figure.”
A study on the financial viability of the airport by HM Aero Inc. was presented to council in May of this year.
It found that the airport is not self-sustaining and that if a proactive approach to business development is taken, success may be achieved in increasing operating revenue. The resulting increase to the reserve funds will increase the tax-supported costs between 2024 and 2032.
That cost is estimated at $220,000 to $296,000 annually.
On top of the increases to the reserve funds, the airport will also be running a deficit as it has in the past. The operating deficit of this year is projected to be $167,240. That increases over the next nine years in HM Aero Inc.'s estimation. By 2032 the operating deficit is expected to be $273,806.
The study offered three options moving forward: divestment and transition to private ownership, retention of ownership by the City but entering into a head lease agreement for its operation, and the retention of ownership by the City with contracted operations done by a third party.
HM Aero Inc. recommended the latter option in the conclusion of the study, but noted that whether or not the services the airport provides outweighs the cost is something for council to consider.
As was previously discussed in the subcommittee, a deadline to get the airport breaking even was brought up by a few councillors. Conversation around the airport has been circulating for a number of years and there was concern that with other projects on the go at the City, the airport would slip through the cracks.
Coun. Mark Hunter, who had brought up a two-year timeline previously, had retracted his support for the idea. He said that such a time frame was unrealistic for staff and there was no need to create an arbitrary timeline for such a project. After all, he reasoned, there will be updates periodically and council will revisit the airport during budget season.
Coun. Cody Sebben on the other hand was keen to keep a timeline intact
“We have a dialogue here that is saying we really want the airport to be revenue-neutral … but we don’t want to know the progress on that,” Sebben said. “That’s very concerning for me.”
Coun. Larry McCabe also pointed out that with the Grand Trunk Renewal project underway, the City does not have all the resources that it needs.
“We have some really serious decisions about what we need to fund in this city,” McCabe said. “We're gonna have to make decisions that are hard and I think this is one of those decisions.”
In a recorded vote requested by Beatty, council voted 7-4 to continue to own and contract out the airport's operation, to consider increasing the airport capital reserves from $100,000 to $207,000 during next year’s budget deliberations, and to begin implementation of a few actions.
Those actions include:
- Updating of the airport development plan to identify lands for new growth, end users, and servicing costs.
- The formation of internal and external partnerships for business development, including the potential involvement of investStratford and Destination Stratford, and the initiation of opportunity marketing efforts.
- The development of strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation through collaboration with the City’s climate change programs manager, specifically in regards to the airport.
- The implementation of strategies outlined in the study for revenue generation.
- Enhanced reporting on the airport’s economic and social benefits to Stratford and the surrounding region on a proactive and ongoing basis.
Mayor Ritsma and councillors Beatty, Hunter, Nijjar, Geza Wordofa, Bonnie Henderson, and Taylor Briscoe were in favour of the motion.
Councillors Jo-Dee Burbach, Sebben, McCabe, and Lesley Biehn were opposed.
