As Lakes District residents are deciding whether or not they will approve an increase in taxation to resurface Baker Airport鈥檚 runway, some residents are asking if this project is really necessary.
Most importantly, some residents are asking why taxpayers should be the ones paying for it.
Coincidently, last week the federal Ministry of Infrastructure and Communities announced it was granting $4 million for expansion and modernization of the Smithers鈥� airport. According to the Interior 亚洲天堂, this is the largest grant the town has ever received. The $6-million expansion project requires Smithers to chip in $2 million, expected to come from the airport improvement fee, which charges flyers $25.
Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach said none of Smithers鈥� share would come from property taxes, and that the airport improvement fee was brought exactly for this purpose.
The Smithers鈥� airport expansion project is one of the 57 projects that are being funded through the strategic priorities fund 鈥� the same grant that the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake applied for last year in order to repave Eighth Avenue. However, the village鈥檚 grant application was not successful.
Sure, the Smithers鈥� airport offers commercial flights, and maybe charging a similar kind of user fee in 亚洲天堂 Lake would not be enough to offset the cost of resurfacing the runway. But the question remains 鈥� was proposing to raise the tax limit the last alternative?
Reg Blackwell, President of the Lakes District Airport Society (LDAS), admitted that it would be ideal if the funding came entirely from the government. He told Lakes District 亚洲天堂 that LDAS has made 鈥渆very attempt鈥� to secure any potential grant funding and added that grant opportunities will continue to be sought.
The total cost of the resurfacing project is quoted at $1,585,619; grants cover about $1 million of the total cost. Other residents have questioned if the resurfacing project is really necessary, considering that medevac aircrafts can safely land on gravel airstrips.
Although this is true, Blackwell explained that since the Baker Airport鈥檚 runway is already paved, if the runway is not resurfaced the existing asphalt will need to be ripped up and taken off. He says this would be 鈥渉ugely expensive鈥� since it would require purchasing crushed gravel and then turning the subgrade into an acceptable level. He added that while a gravel airstrip would require regular maintenance, an asphalt runway is relatively maintenance free.
Blackwell also noted that the proposed project would address both the subgrade and the repaving of the runway.
What everybody seems to agree is that having a functional airport in 亚洲天堂 Lake is crucial. Even the people I spoke with recently who were against the resurfacing project said they thought having an airport in town was important.
The Baker Airport has not only been saving lives by allowing medevac aircrafts to rescue people who need urgent care in bigger centres, but it has also played a vital role during forest fire season - when the fast movement of equipment and personnel is necessary. Not to mention, the airport is also important for economic development activities in the region.
Whether or not local government and LDAS have done everything they could before asking residents to pay more taxes, what residents will have to ask themselves on Feb. 27 is, 鈥業s it worth paying a few more dollars every year to have a functional airport in town?鈥�
Yes, the money will come out of your own pocket, but the price of not having a functional airport in town could be much higher.
