Texada Airport: Summary
qRD’s current top-down vision for our airport can be summarized in one word: expansion.
qRD envisions a busy airport with a longer runway to accommodate larger aircraft, including corporate jets to serve multi-million-dollar mansions that would be developed next to the airport facing the ocean.
qRD wants a bigger terminal building and parking for 300 vehicles. They want regularly scheduled air passenger service but don’t want to pay the price, which would require re-certifying the airport by Transport Canada at a cost of millions in infrastructure and staffing.
We need a new community-based vision for our airport that focuses on providing affordable benefits to all Texadans, and that’s what I’m proposing below.
Discussion:
If I’m elected Director, then I will immediately begin community organizing to develop and implement a detailed new vision and plan for our airport. Below are my ideas to start discussion, which I call the “Texada Airport Community Benefit Plan” as a working title.
A new vision for our airport could focus on the following purposes:
- provide a home for local recreational aviation, where private pilots can keep their small planes, which was one of three main reasons for building the airport in the 1950s and 60s
- provide a means for high-value, time-sensitive freight to arrive on Texada to benefit businesses and individuals, along with charter passenger flights (the other main reasons our airport was built)
- provide a safe night landing zone for BCEHS helicopter medivac, as is currently done
- provide a home for ongoing aviation education programs, including the Aviation Museum and Aviation Week. Given enough interest by volunteers, aviation education activities could be expanded year-round and could be linked with aviation programs at educational institutions
- provide a venue for community aviation-related social events, such as the Fly-In
- provide a means for itinerant pilots and their passengers to visit Texada, including overnight stays at island accommodations such as B&Bs, the hotel in Van Anda (when its rooms become available) and Shelter Point Park. Ground transportation for such visits would be provided by the accommodation owners, as was typical in the past, or by a possible future Texada taxi service. Free-use bicycles at the airport maintained by volunteers would continue to provide limited ground transportation between the airport and Gillies Bay.
- provide a venue for other community or business activities that may arise in the future, provided they are compatible with the Texada Airport Community Benefit Plan and government procedures and regulations required to operate the airport.
Regarding scheduled commercial passenger service, I concur with a 2023 qRD staff recommendation that such service is not realistic for Texada Airport due to the high cost. Scheduled commercial service is restricted by Transport Canada to certified airports only, and Texada taxpayers cannot afford such certification because it would cost several million dollars to upgrade the airport’s infrastructure, plus require ongoing full-time management and operations staff (and consultants) to comply with Transport Canada regulations for certified airports.
Passenger service on Texada is available on a charter basis at our airport and at the Boat Club dock in Van Anda’s harbour. Three float plan airlines already have agreements with the Boat Club to host charter service, and visitors travelling by float plane are a normal occurrence there.
Thus, the airport’s overall vision would be to serve the people of Texada Island foremost, using the existing airport infrastructure. It is not my vision to expand that infrastructure beyond a few more hangers. I explicitly oppose high-end residential real estate development on properties adjacent to the airport because such development would not serve the people of Texada or our airport.
Regarding hanger expansion, my vision supports adding a few (2 or 3) more hangers where appropriate, possibly in a strip of land adjacent to Airport Road where concerns about watershed and Agricultural Land Reserve can be alleviated. The cost of site development for these additional hangers would be borne by the individual hanger owners, not by taxpayers. No new infrastructure or services would be required for these few new hangers. Hanger leases would be written for a length of time appropriate to allow bank financing of hanger site preparation and construction.
My vision is for hanger leases to be fair and affordable to local hanger owners, and not to be structured as a revenue-generator for the regional district. To that end I advocate continued low lease rates and reducing the lease liability insurance requirement from $5 million back down to $2 million, as was the case for many years.
Regarding on-site camping, building new sleeping cabins and washrooms, and installing other facilities intended to serve itinerant pilots, my vision opposes such development. Camping and other overnight facilities at the airport increases risk of campfires in violation of fire bans, of people jeopardizing safety by unauthorized intrusion onto the runway and apron, and of accumulated trash and garbage needing clean-up. Camping and overnight accommodations also require administrative and operational overhead, thus increasing airport costs to the taxpayers.
This type of activity also uses public funds to compete with Texada’s accommodations businesses, and Texada already has ample overnight public parks. Because overnight visits likely would be very limited in use, overnight facilities fees at the airport can’t provide significant financial return to justify incurring these risks and costs.
Regarding the runway and apron, I advocate continuing a high level of maintenance, particularly by properly-done crack-sealing every 2 to 3 years, and by re-painting numbers and bar lines as needed. The runway pavement is 41 years old and in “very good” condition overall according to a 2017 qRD report. It can be maintained in that condition for decades into the future if current low usage levels persist. Therefore I classify the runway as having an “unknown” lifespan, which in asset management terms means that it cannot realistically be assigned a replacement or repaving date.
How might we implement the Texada Airport Community Benefit Plan? I advocate transforming the nearly dormant Texada Airport Advisory Committee into a vibrant new volunteer-run Texada Airport Commission, structured similarly to the Texada Heritage Commission (which provides our island with an excellent Museum and Archives). Texadans can and should be responsible for all decisions regarding the operation, planning and development of Texada Airport.
The role of the regional district would be limited to provide ongoing financial support, provide routine bookkeeping, provide liability insurance coverage and fulfill Transport Canada’s requirement that a designated qRD executive be named who would nominally have overall responsibility for the airport. Typically that executive would be the qRD Chief Administrative Officer, who would fulfill Transport Canada’s requirement on paper but would not be involved in day-to-day operations, planning or development decisions regarding our airport.
Because the Regional District Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for the airport and would be delegating authority, responsibility and resources to the Commission to run the airport, it would be appropriate for the Commission to issue an annual report to the Board (and to the people of Texada) covering the year’s activities and plans for the future. This would ensure accountability for the airport’s use of public funds, for its adherence to the Texada Airport Community Benefit Plan and for its compliance with government procedures and regulations.
I believe that a new community-based plan for our airport offers exciting opportunities for Texada community-building — which will attract a sufficient number of dedicated volunteers to serve on the Commission, thus turning a new vision into reality.