North Battleford lawmakers received a request from a resident to lease space to build a private aircraft hangar at the North Battleford airport at their recent meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff) 

By Angela Brown

Airport proposal

N.B. lawmakers eye request for private airport hangar

Oct 29, 2019 | 1:59 PM

A local pilot will need to postpone his wish to find a new home for his aircraft at the North Battleford Cameron McIntosh Airport for now.

Council reviewed a submitted request from Robert Turpin at its meeting Monday.

Turpin wanted to lease space at the airport to build a new private airport hangar. Currently, no lots are available to lease. He wrote in his letter he is aware of other aircraft owners who would also be interested in storing their aircraft at the airport as well if space was available.

According to Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Niesink, the city would need to complete a planning study in order to create more usable hanger space. She said the project would require ongoing maintenance and said once the new private hangar was built, the city would need to develop taxiways to accommodate the hangars.

Administration did not recommend pursuing the proposal at this time, especially since the city is already working on other infrastructure improvements for the airport that are more pressing.

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Following council, Mayor Ryan Bater said the city “already has a number of projects on the go and did not believe this was the best time to contemplate a project of this magnitude.

“While it is encouraging that private individuals see value in the airport and want to use it and develop hangars at the airport, it requires an airport development plan,” Bater said.

The main runway is still in the process of being upgraded as well as what is known as a crosswind runway, which are the city’s chief priorities. The city also needs to replace some lighting at the airport.

“These are all safety issues. We need to make those investments first before we can start talking about additional private developments at the airport,” Bater said.

The mayor also didn’t believe the proposed project would be feasible because of the expected high price tag for the initiative.

“We would likely be looking at completing the last portion of the runway this coming year,” Bater added.

He said council can discuss the issue further at budget time.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow