Airport unveils land-use plan

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This article was published 21/06/2022 (1347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After hiring a firm to develop a land-use plan last year, Brandon City Council got a firsthand look at the document Monday evening at its regular meeting.

Airport manager Greg Brown said that getting the land-use plan is the first step towards developing a master plan for the airport and its surrounding space.

Among the benefits of the land as currently developed are runways capable of handling planes as large as Boeing 737s and service being provided at the airport by a national carrier, WestJet.

Other positive factors for the airport include Brandon’s ability to charge lower landing fees compared to airports like in Winnipeg and Regina, that the city has a 24-7 Nav Canada office and that the city has the largest airport in Manitoba outside of Winnipeg.

An ongoing concern for the airport, Brown said, is failing water and wastewater systems, which will be a limiting factor in any attempts for the airport to grow. In a later presentation, city general manager of operations Patrick Pulak said those water services were first installed 80 years ago in 1942, when an Air Force training school was operating at the site.

Another concern is competition. When the Southport airport near Portage la Prairie converted from a military base to a commercial airport, it introduced a competitor for the Brandon Municipal Airport’s services.

With service limited to running between Brandon and Calgary, the lack of southern or eastern service is a turn-off for potential investors.

Where most airports lease their land on a 20- to 30-year term, the Brandon airport is on a five-year term. Brown said this could dissaude companies from coming in due to the potential rise in lease fees.

Going forward, Brown wants to see the local airport develop a longer-term lease plan.

Future goals at the airport include protecting land for a taxiway parallel to runway 08-26, opportunities to install a turf runway to allow gliders to land at the airport, the development of mixed-use areas and potentially relocating some of the radio antennas.

Though Brown presented the land use plan to council, he said he wasn’t asking councillors to approve it on Monday. His presentation, he said, was to provide council and residents with an update on the development as the master plan is developed.

To prevent the loss of opportunities at the airport site, Brown asked that council consider not selling any portions of the airport to outside interests.

Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) asked if the airport was looking into marketing opportunities with the city’s economic development department. Brown said it was.

After the airport land use presentation, Pulak stepped up to the podium to announce that not only would the city would be continuing its popular sump pump and backwater valve subsidy program, but it has almost handed out all the money set aside for it so far.

Of the $100,000 put aside in this year’s budget for the program, approximately $92,000 has been spoken for by residents and businesses.

However, a recent $150,000 grant from the Province of Manitoba from its Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness program, which will allow more residents to apply.

Residents can apply for the program by visiting Brandon City Hall at 410 Ninth Street or by visiting the city’s website at brandon.ca.

Coun. Shawn Berry (Linden Lanes) said the program was very popular with residents of his ward, who experienced flooding when storm drains backed up during the flood of 2020.

In response to a question from Coun. Barry Cullen (Victoria), Pulak said new businesses and residences are required to install sump pumps when being built.

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