Plans to remediate and develop Golden Municipal Airport can take flight, thanks to $2 million in funding from the BC Air Access Program.
Managed by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the grant program has traditionally targeted capital improvements to airports in B.C.
An elated Golden Mayor Ron Oszust says if the funding application had been denied, the airport would have had to have been closed.
The airport is owned and operated by the Town of Golden with financial operating support from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD).
Built in the mid- 1980s by volunteers, funded by donations and grants, the airport has since been a steadily operating facility without significant improvements.
In 2015, a condition assessment of the runway revealed a complete rehabilitation would be required within several years if the facility was to remain safely operational.
With a cost estimate for such work estimated in the $3.2 million range, a continued capital focus on (other) core infrastructure needs, the absence of a regional district partnership in capital planning for the facility and a general sense of uncertainty of the value of the facility to the overall community, council needed to determine if the airport was worth keeping.
In April 2020, the town commissioned HM Aero Aviation Consulting (HM Aero) to complete an economic viability study examining the current operation and future potential of the airport.
Based on the recommendations in their report, council voted unanimously that the airport should continue to be operated as an aerodrome, and that HM Aero should undertake the preparation of a strategic and tactical plan to facilitate this direction.
The application to the BC Air Access Program was made in December 2022, with the funding announcement coming in April.
Oszust is proud that along with the funding came feedback from adjudicators that the report was the “poster child” for applications.
Oszust says the airport plays a vital role in terms of search and rescue, wildfire suppression, fixed wing and rotor BC Ambulance and emergency management.
The airport is also important to economic development, tourism and recreational pilots.
Part of the economic development piece is the revenue stream created by leasing out land spaces.
“Without the airport, they’d be gone,” said the mayor. “From a navigation system perspective, our location is quite critical for flying across the mountains.
“We’re part of the navigation routes and when pilots run into inclement weather in the mountains, it gives them a safe haven to wait out the storm.”
The focus of the strategic and tactical plan is to assist the town in implementing targeted and practical actions over the next 10 years (2021-2030) that put Golden Airport on the path to long-term viability.
The plan does not attempt to rectify every deficiency over the next 10 years, but instead, takes a prioritized approach in addressing the most pressing matters first.
“We have to balance things out,” said Oszust, noting the town is contributing $200,000.
As a municipal director on the Columbia Shuswap Regional District board, Oszust is hoping to secure funding from the regional district.
“Garnering funding is a major catalyst to the viability of the airport but from a sustainability perspective we have to look longterm at the governance,” he said.
Oszust points out while the regional district contributes to the operating deficit, it has not been involved in any capital funding investments in the facility.
“When we entered into discussion about a shared services agreement in 2018, one of the things we talked about was including the airport, but because the future of the airport was unclear at the time it wasn’t part of the agreement.”
While the airport is municipally owned, it is a regional asset whose long-term viability will depend on asset management responsibilities in terms of rehab and replacement of capital components.
“Municipal Golden doesn’t have the fiscal ability to fund these projects on our own,” he added.
“I recognize there will be ongoing grants and we’ll chase as many as we can, but there will still be components that won’t be funded through grants.”
As the strategic and tactical plan rolls out, some of the issues to be addressed in the short- term are improved aircraft tie down positions, interior and exterior improvements to the airport terminal and a servicing study on potable water and sanitary sewer systems.
Plans to prepare new development lots are in the works for this year while a feasibility study for flight instrumentation is planned for next year.
As well, plans are in the works to form strategic partnerships and increase corporate and general aviation traffic.
Oszust is delighted with Town of Golden staff who were ready to go to tender and hosted a number of proponents on a site tour of the airport last Friday.
“There was more than one and it will be a matter of seeing what comes out of that,” he said. “The key part is what are the costs and how much work can we do for the money that we have?”
