The Beiseker Airport

Back in the early 1980s, Beiseker Mayor John Richter, deputy mayor Dan Benoit and myself decided to approach the provincial government and ask them to build a airport near our village as part of the provincial municipal airport project initiated by Premier Peter Lougheed. 

The province asked us to create a association of municipalities in our area, which could support a small airport. An airport association was created involving the villages of Acme, Beiseker, and Irricana plus the Municipal District of Rocky View (now, Rocky View County). After much planning and negotiation, a site was chosen for the new airport and the Association became the Airport Commission.

Under the leadership of the provincial Transportation  Department, the new airport was constructed and an AVPA was created for it. The Airport Vicinity Protection Area was designed to make sure that all buildings and all developments around the airport would not interfere with the airport's operation nor would the airport interfere with that development.  Any development in the AVPA and not following its guidelines had no recourse in the case of a disagreement.

The new airport became home to recreational flyers, who built small hangars for their airplanes and enjoyed the camaraderie of the small airport group. It was decided that the Village of Beiseker would provide the day to day maintenance for the airport, and each of the other members of would contribute a small amount supporting that operation.

Each village and the M.D. gave the airport commission a very small amount of money to accomplish this. Those funds, and the money collected from the leaseholders, contributed to the maintenance and operation of the airport.  The airport was still located with the Municipal District, and therefore all development permits and tax collection was to be done by them.  In those early days, the Village's contribution to maintenance and operation costs at the airport equal to about one half of 1% of Beiseker's yearly budget.

After several years, disagreements and legal challenges between the Association, the Municipal District, and one of the tenants at the airport forced the other three members of the Association to withdraw from the commission. This left Beiseker on its own to maintain and operate the airport.

The airport sputtered along for many years seeing little development and almost no maintenance. The village made little investment into the airport, but volunteers stepped up to keep the airport operational.  Eventually, the difficult tenant left the airport and operations there began to improve.

The provincial government eventually asked the village of Beiseker if they would be interested in taking over ownership of the airport. Village council indicated they would not be willing to take over the airport, until the neglected runway had been resurfaced. The province agreed and did resurface the runway and pave the main taxiways.  Rocky View County also agreed to provide a portion of the property tax collected at the airport back to the village for operations and maintenance. 

The future of this important Beiseker facility was looking quite positive!

An airport is an important facility to any community it serves.  Just like an arena, a swimming pool or a library, an airport adds to the fabric of any municipality lucky enough to have one!  When Beiseker was approved to get an airport, many municipalities were very jealous!  Ours was one of the last constructed under the program.  Beiseker has continued operating and maintaining the airport which does bring in some commerce into the village at very little cost.  In fact the cost to taxpayers to operate the airport has been almost nil for many years. 

At present we have a skydiving/parachute facility, a pilot training school, numerous recreational aviation hangars and a café at our airport.  Much of the normal maintenance is still done by volunteers, saving the village more money.

Presently, the Village and the hangar owners are in discussion now to officially subdivide the airport lot into separate hangar lots then explore the possibility of selling some of the lots to hangar owners.  The runways, taxiways and other areas will  still be owned and operated by the Village of Beiseker.  I support this move, and I hope an agreement will be reached in the near future. Stay tuned!

Questions for the Candidates: Heritage Savings Trust Fund

Back more than forty years ago, then-new Progressive Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed created the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

The fund was designed to be an investment in Alberta's future, and make funds available for those "rainy days" which occasionally strike this province.  I fully supported this fund, but I've never heard a definition of what would qualify as a "rainy day!"  By my calculation, we've had a couple of "rainy days" over the past few years yet I don't believe  the Fund was used to help any Albertans though those rough times.

We've heard the Prentice PCs talk about strengthening the Heritage Trust Fund, but I'd like to know what the other parties would do.

Question #4;  If your party forms Alberta's next government, what are you going to do with our Heritage Trust Fund and who and how will decide how it is spent,and by what criteria? 

The Floor Crossing

The strange happenings in Edmonton these past couple of days has left me totally baffled!  Members of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Alberta Legislative Assembly up and crossed the floor to join the government!

Although I thought Danielle Smith and her Wildrose team never really managed to reach the level of what I thought an opposition party should be doing, they were at least trying.  In my opinion, a strong governing party needs a strong opposition sitting across from them.  The Wildrose party had the potential of being that strong opposition.  There are some excellent, hard working MLAs sitting on the speaker's left, including our own Bruce Rowe!  I thought they were getting stronger as an opposition.  Apparently I was wrong.

The other thing that bothers me is that these Wildrose MLAs were elected by their constituents as Wildrose Party members.  Now, they're crossing the floor to become Conservatives!  I'm hoping they polled their constituents to see if those folks who elected them don't mind that they taking that stroll.  At least they must try to justify that walk across the floor! 

In the late 1960s, a young Peter Lougheed led a handful of Progressive Conservative MLAs to be Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, against the ruling Social Credit government.  The Social Credit majority was so overwhelming, some of the Social Credit members had to sit on the Speaker's left because there was no more room for them on the Government side!

Yet Lougheed plugged away.  His credibility rose higher every time he stood to oppose the government.  Soon after the next election, he and his party was the government!

That short walk across the floor of the Legislature is a short walk for a man, but a long journey across the Alberta political landscape!

Good Bye Peter, You Are Already Missed

Former Premier Peter Lougheed passed away earlier this afternoon. 

Premier Lougheed was recently named the most successful Canadian premier over the past four decades!  Our Heritage Savings Trust Fund, contributions to Federal constitutional reforms, and strong municipal governments in Alberta are all a part of his legacy.  And his battles over resource revenues with Pierre Trudeau were legendary, too! 

He is being referred to as Mr. Alberta, a title he most certainly would be proud of.

Peter Lougheed was the one person who inspired me most to enter politics -- and I met him not long after I was first elected to village council back in 1979.  He was one of the first who explained to me that municipal politics is "where it's at"!  He asked me where else in politics do you make decisions affecting friends and neighbours who you may meet on the street a few minutes after making those decisions?  Others have since mentioned that but I've always remembered that conversation throughout these years.

Thank you, Peter Lougheed.

My sincere condolences go to Peter Lougheed's family and many, many friends.