Drag races will no longer be held at the Ponoka Industrial Airport after an engineering study showed the races were causing unwanted damage to the runway.
Another issue the town must review is what should be allowable use at the airport, said Dave McPhee, director of operations and property services to town councillors during their regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 8. McPhee said as the airport is considered a registered airport, something determined through the development of the airport master plan, and because of that hosting drag races, which are organized by the Ponoka 1/8 Mile Drag Racing Association, is not allowable.
“If we’re going to use it for anything else, we need to make an application to the minister,” said McPhee.
“It’s outside of the original respects of the design of the airport,” he added of the races.
Add to it that the damage of rutting from the races earned some complaints from pilots over rougher landings, said McPhee.
Members of the Ponoka Industrial Airport Development Board reviewed the findings from AllNorth Engineering, the company hired to inspect the airport after the races, and in a 4-2 vote a decision was made to have no more races at the airport. McPhee added that as airport operations are managed by the town, a motion was not necessarily needed, however, he wanted to apprise council of the situation.
Mayor Rick Bonnett suggested it would be ideal to have another location to host the races but he wasn’t sure where. Coun. Teri Underhill agreed.
“It is an important cause. We need to find somewhere for them to go,” said Underhill.
Coun. Tim Falkiner asked if there are legal ramifications if the town decides to agree to have the races at the airport to which McPhee replied that he would need to ask the minister regarding that.
Bonnett asked if there is another location to hold the races and McPhee said there might be with some investigation of locations but he had one concern: “At the end of the day, there has to be an understanding of who pays for the damage.”
Underhill made a motion that town administration and council help the association look for alternative locations, which was approved.
Parks and recreation committee approved
Council passed a bylaw to establish a Parks, Recreations and Culture Advisory Committee after hearing a need for a clear terms of reference on how it functions.
Wes Amendt, director of community services told councillors that this bylaw will also increase the committee’s membership to 10 people. Bonnett added that there is an increased interest in the committee with plans underway to develop the town’s recreation buildings.
Geographic information grant underway
A grant is being applied for by Parkland Community Planning Services to develop a geographic information system within the town.
New CAO Albert Flootman told council this survey would add to the town’s existing information alongside helping with planning and development. Council approved the request to send in the application.
Waste management bylaw passes third reading
Council approved third and final reading of the town’s waste management bylaw after putting it on hold for two weeks.
There was little discussion as the bylaw was discussed at a previous meeting.
Council remuneration policy tabled
The proposed Board and Committee remuneration policy was tabled after councillors debated the payment schedule.
Mayor Rick Bonnett suggested there may be a way to entice people to be councillors if the policy allowed a bit more payment. He said if a councillor has to go to a meeting in Edmonton and only gets paid for the meeting but spends travel time to get there, it may not be something a person would want to do.
Coun. Loanna Gulka disagreed. She suggested it’s a sacrifice a person makes when running for election. “We asked to do this job … we are paid for it,”said Gulka.
Bonnett suggested he had no issue with that but with a better payment policy, more educated people may want to take part in municipal elections. He added that he had no issue if the policy were to be approved and set for the new council.