(Editor's note: This article has been updated with more accurate information).
Giving retroactive approval to a grant application for federal funding to improve the airport does not sit well with some city councillors, who say there are more important priorities to handle.
The Moose Jaw Municipal Airport Authority (MJMAA) submitted an application to the federal government in June under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The MJMAA wants to extend the runway 300 metres (1,000 feet), strengthen the taxi way and apron, upgrade the lighting on the runway and taxi way, and certify the approach path. This is expected to cost $3 million.
The airport was constructed in 1977-78, but advancements in aviation mean it needs to be upgraded to meet today’s standards, the airport authority’s application says.
The City of Moose Jaw provided a grant of $500,000 in 2017 to the MJMAA, while the business community kicked in another $500,000. The Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw has also promised $300,000 over 10 years and the provincial government has committed $1 million over four years.
With the initial $1 million from the municipality and business community, the airport authority then pursued matching grant funding from the province and federal government.
The provincial Ministry of Municipal Infrastructure and Finance advised the MJMAA and city hall on June 13 that the deadline for applications was June 20, according to a report presented at city council on July 22. Due to the tight timelines, the application was processed and submitted before city council could give approval.
During city council’s July 22 regular meeting, council voted 4-2 to approve the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program grant application. Councillors Brian Swanson and Dawn Luhning were opposed. Coun. Chris Warren was absent.
It’s poor planning to submit an application to fix the airport when city hall has already sent in grant applications to fix basic infrastructure, the swimming pool, and to service the South East Industrial Park, said Swanson.
The ICIP application says the airport authority has also secured a private loan of $2 million, which concerned Swanson. He wanted to know more about that loan.
“We will follow up on that. They did the application. They would have a better idea of what that means,” said Jim Dixon, economic development officer for Moose Jaw.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie later told the Moose Jaw Express that this is not a loan, but simply the funding the MJMAA has already acquired.
The municipality provided a loan to the airport authority, while it also provided regular yearly funding of $30,000, Swanson said. That was increased this year to $150,000, with the goal of helping the MJMAA pay back the $500,000 loan.
“I don’t think taxpayers see that as their responsibility … ,” Swanson remarked. “This (application) shows that the wants of a very small select few usurp the community needs of Moose Jaw with respect to provincial and federal funding.”
City hall has been in contact with the provincial government about its top priorities, said Tolmie. Upgrading the water reservoirs is the top priority, followed by fixing the pool in Crescent Park.
However, he continued, the municipality is competing — unknowingly at times — for provincial and federal dollars with community groups such as the Western Development Museum and the Wakamow Valley. There are also other communities pursuing similar funding.
“If citizens want something, they have to pay for it,” Tolmie added.
Those groups don’t have to go through city council to have their applications approved, Swanson replied. As elected officials, they have to act in the best interest of the community and focus on the most urgent needs.
Moose Jaw has been fortunate to receive several provincial and federal grants to help improve water infrastructure, noted city manager Jim Puffalt. This includes money from transit grants and the federal Gas Tax Fund.
The next regular council meeting is Aug. 12.
