Sarnia has another year to build a new airport hangar.
But the building won’t have any extras, like washrooms or office space, after project bids late last year surged past the $730,000 budget limit set under a Regional Air Transportation Initiative (RATI) grant through FedDev Ontario, said city economic development director Kelly Provost .
“Right now our priority is to make sure that a building is there” for any potential future airline, she said.
Extras can be added later “as part of negotiations with a carrier,” she said.
Project bids last November ranging from $1.8 million to $3.2 million included those extras, she said.
Supply chain problems and a winter construction schedule – the RATI funding had to be spent by March 31 – pushed up costsProvost has said.
The deadline has now been extended to March 31, 2023, and discussions are underway with low-bidder Dixin Construction Limited to meet the time and cost parameters of the project, Provost said.
City council in December pre-approved staff to figure out something that would meet the FedDev grant requirements, given the time constraints.
“Now we’re able to revive those negotiations,” Provost said, adding hopes are there will be a contract in the near future.
“There will be a report back to council on ultimately what we decide in terms of advancing the hangar,” she said.
The $730,000 for the hangar is part of $1.9 million in RATI funding the city received. The rest has gone to equipment procurement like a de-icer and belt loader, creating an airport master plan – expected to come to council April 11, Provost said – automating sanitation and safety measures at the airport terminal, and supplementing airport operations after Air Canada pulled passenger service in 2020 and the city asset started losing money.
The deadline for some of the equipment deliveries, delayed by supply chain and border crossing complications, has also been extended to the end of next March, Provost said.
Final payment on those is pending delivery, Provost said, meaning the amount of RATI funding for which the spending deadline has been extended is $1.3 million.
“We’re so pleased that we’re able to receive the extension and the carryover of those funds so we can actually deliver on the full project that we proposed in the RATI application,” Provost said.