City assuming ownership of Lethbridge Airport from County
TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY JUNE 1
The City of Lethbridge is taking over the Lethbridge Airport.
A special joint meeting was held on Friday at city hall where a combined vote including Lethbridge City Council and Lethbridge County Council voted to approve a memorandum of understanding for the ownership and governance of the airport. The transfer is expected to be completed by June 1, 2018.
The County and City will now work together to draft all formal agreements necessary to fulfil the intent of the MOU.
Mayor Chris Spearman called the acquisition of the airport “the most significant event” since the rail yard relocation in the mid-1980s.
He said the airport is an important economic asset for the region and that the City has the ability to take better advantage of per capita funding and matching grants from other levels of government.
Under the MOU, the County is handing over governance of the airport to the City during the transfer.
Until the City determines a new operating and governance model for the airport, the County will continue to operate it on a fee-for-service basis.
Reeve Lorne Hickey said the change of ownership was an important component of elevating the airport for local users.
“We’re able to access more government funding and make an airport that is more functional for everybody involved,” he said.
The City has been looking into the option of taking over the airport for two years. A 2016 airport study commissioned by the City and the County recommended a new ownership structure and governance model. A further recommendation was made to develop an Airport Master Plan identifying improvements and expansions.
“When the City owns the airport, our rate payers will be much more comfortable investing some City tax dollars into the airport,” said Spearman.
The City has identified about $30 million in upgrades for the airport, including high-priority areas such as improving and expanding the terminal, and possible runway extensions to allow for larger planes to land.
“We want to move forward and take advantage of provincial and federal funding opportunities to make sure the airport can be a modern (facility) that supports economic development both in the city and the region,” Spearman said.
To that end, the City is looking at priority-based budgeting for future capital projects — meaning some planned projects could be delayed in favour of improving the airport.
“We may have to say the airport is more important than some other things when it comes to capital and operating budgets,” Spearman said. “We have to make advancements in transportation infrastructure if we’re going to have a viable economy.”
The County has owned and operated the airport since 1997, when Transport Canada relinquished ownership of regional and local airports to regional and community interests.
Established in 1938 as a municipal airport by the City, the airport was later leased to the Canadian government during the Second World War as a military and civil aerodrome.
After the war, the federal Department of Transportation assumed the operation of the airport and eventually assumed full ownership in the 1960s
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