Airport funding up in air

By MARKUS ERMISCH Staff reporter Oct 25 2006 http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
An ambitious plan to expand Kelowna's airport may compete for funding with a similar plan for Fulton Field in Kamloops. Meanwhile, frustrations over a seeming lack of federal funding for the expansion of Kamloops Airport continue to simmer. "The whole thing is a crying shame because we need that airport expansion. It's vital for the future of our city," said local Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger, whose government is so far the only body to have contributed money toward the Kamloops Airport expansion. That $20-million expansion includes an extension of the runway and an enlarged terminal building. "We are a much better planned city than Kelowna - much better infrastructure," Krueger said. But we haven't had the participation from the federal government in our economy that Kelowna has had, not by a long, long shot. "I think it's ironic that they're competing with us for federal funding now because they've had so much of it in the past. "But we've got to get this federal government to start paying attention to Kamloops, and to help us get this important project done." When contacted Monday by KTW, Tory MP Betty Hinton replied by e-mail: "Further delay in the submission of an application is unacceptable," she wrote, noting that she made "an unprecedented request" to have a staffer of Western Economic Diversification Canada travel to Kamloops "to assist the city filling out the proper application forms with the correct information addressed to the appropriate minister." This assistance came in the form of a phone call from Ottawa to the mayor. Kelowna is expected to tap into the same federal infrastructure pots as Kamloops to fund the $150-million, 20-year project that is the expansion of its airport. Ron Cannan, Kelowna's Conservative MP, said "there isn't any specific pot of money I'm going for" to help pay for the $150-million expansion. But funding for the first step of that plan - a $9-million extension of the runway - could be in place soon, with the City of Kelowna chipping in $4 million through an $8 per passenger airport improvement fee. Grants from senior levels of government are expect to pay for the remaining $5 million. Kamloops has plans similar to Kelowna's, albeit on a smaller scale. Mayor Terry Lake said he is not concerned Kelowna's plan could compete with Kamloops for funds. "I don't think what Kelowna does impacts us," he said. "I don't generally worry about what Kelowna is doing. This is our project, and I'm sure the two can exist side by side. I don't see it as competition at all." Coun. John O'Fee, president of the Kamloops Airport Authority Society, said: "I don't think it's an either-or." But federal funding is finite, and all funding applications to federal infrastructure programs are adjudicated. The Canada-British Columbia Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF), which was announced earlier this month, contains $51 million worth of federal cash, which Victoria will match to bring the total to $102 million. Kamloops City Hall is applying for $1 million from Ottawa from this fund. Victoria is expected to match that sum to bring the total to $2 million. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District may also apply to the same program for another $2 million to go toward the airport expansion. Victoria, so far the only body to contribute funds, pledged $4 million in March toward the project that is expected to cost $20 million, if not more once construction begins. If Ottawa and Victoria approve the full MRIF applications from the City of Kamloops and the TNRD, bringing the total of secured funds to $8 million, Kamloops would still be $12 million short. Details of other programs under which the Kamloops Airport expansion may qualify remain to be announced, but Lake said Kamloops will explore all possibilities. The funding shortfall puts upward pressure on the airport improvement fee (AIF) that is soon to be implemented for passengers departing from Kamloops Airport. After originally contemplating an AIF of about $5, O'Fee said this week the fee could be as high as $10. O'Fee reiterated the promise, first made in spring 2005, that the fee will only be charged to help pay for the airport expansion. Once the expansion is complete, he said, the fee will be scrapped. Lake took issue with the Kamloops media, who, in his opinion, are paying excessive attention to the airport funding. "The media, I think, is beating this thing to the death about funding," Lake, a former radio reporter, said. "Every time they get a chance to talk about airport funding they do. Give it a rest already. It'll look after itself. It'll be fine." Meanwhile, in Vancouver this past weekend, Krueger met with David Emerson to ask the federal minister in charge of the Pacific Gateway program for help. Krueger said he will follow up with Emerson soon, and noted he hopes Hinton will do likewise. Hinton would not confirm any recent meetings she and Emerson may have had. Despite all the wrangling, Lake expects work on the extension of the runway to begin next year, to be followed by the upgrades to the terminal building.