By Thomas Goyer
After years of debate and planning, Muskoka District Council voted to discontinue work on the grass runway at the Muskoka Airport.
The grass runway or crosswind runway, has been a cause of discussion for several years. In March 2022, District council voted to close the grass runway, called 09-27, and begin working on a replacement known as 12-30. This is separate from the main runway at Muskoka Airport called 18-36. But after delays and significant cost increases the Board of Directors for the Muskoka Airport recommended halting all work on runway 12-30. The board recommended focussing on commercial development at the airport rather than continued work on developing a grass runway.
Muskoka Airport Chief Executive Officer Len O’Connor spoke to council at its May 15 meeting about halting work on the runway.
Since 2021 the Airport Board has also recommended to council that the runway project not go forward. The estimated costs for constructing the runway have increased to about $2 million dollars, around $1 million dollars over the approved budget for the project. O’Connor highlighted several other non-financial reasons for not moving forward with the project. These included a lack of evidence regarding the safety implications of not having a grass runway, and no incidents in which a grass runway was needed in the four years of operation at Muskoka Airport without 09-27. He also said that there are no regulations that say that the airport must have a grass runway. O’Connor also added that there is no business case for the 12-30 runway.
O’Connor also said that yearly maintenance on 12-30, if it were completed, would cost $20,000 to $30,000 a year. He said there is also evidence that the runway is not needed at Muskoka Airport. Between 2009 and 2018, 09-27 accounted for 1.37 per cent of activity at the airport. This, he said, equals to roughly 176 movements a year, while the main runway sees around 15,000 movements a year.
“What I’m asking is for the council to make a decision. For the Board’s sake and for my sake, we need direction on this. The Board’s recommendation is not to build 12-30,” O’Connor said.
A key element of the proposal debated by council was a motion in the report which stated the proposed location would be reserved for the potential development of a grass runway in the future. This provision split council between two groups. Between those that wanted to keep the space protected to ensure that if in the future a grass runway is required that there is space for it. And between those who advocated opening the space up to allow further commercial development.
Councillor Peter Kelley spoke in favour of reserving the lands for a future grass runway.
“To the extent that circumstances change and suddenly 12-30 is deemed to be relevant again, or less expensive to construct… I don’t know why we wouldn’t want to preserve that right?” Kelley said.
Councillor Guy Burry spoke in favour of opening the space to development to wean the airport off municipal subsidies.
“We have to put these guys on a plan that says you’re going to wean yourself from the subsidy by bringing in four or five or six different revenue streams. Which is what you need to do to have a municipal airport break even and get on with it,” Burry said.
Despite a long debate between members of council, most councillors expressed support for discontinuing the development.
Don MacKay, Chair of the Board for Muskoka District Airport, stated that the reason 12-30 was still being discussed was due to the support of council, not because the Board supports the runway. Mackay went further to say that council was ignoring the recommendations of the Board.
“Your board is very definitive – crosswind runways are not required at Muskoka Airport. If they were required at Owen Sound, they’d be required at North Bay or Parry Sound. They would all require them. They’re not required for safety. A good pilot does not require a crosswind runway,” MacKay said.
In the end, the majority of council voted to remove the development protection provision.
The vote was followed by another proposed amendment which directed staff to once again examine the costs of environmental implications of repairing the grass runway on 09-27. This amendment also generated strong opinions from councillors and was voted down.
O’Connor stated that the environmental assessments alone would take well over a year to complete before the results could be brought back before council. Councillor Scott Morrison spoke out against any efforts put towards the development of 09-27. He also stated that the Muskoka Airport Board should be empowered to make these decisions.
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