Stephenville councillor 'confused' about status of airport sale, as town approves $50K grant
CBC
A Stephenville councillor expressed confusion about who owns the airport in the town, as he and his colleagues voted to approve a $50,000 contribution to keep the facility running.
"I'm just a little bit confused at this point," Coun. Lenny Tiller said at Thursday night's public town council meeting.
Tiller pointed to multiple online references that indicate the Dymond Group of Companies owns the operation, and it's been renamed Stephenville Dymond International Airport.
He said there are Twitter and LinkedIn accounts using the rechristened name. Tiller noted that the airport's own website steers inquiries to the Dymond Group's LinkedIn page.
However, the Stephenville Airport Corporation issued a statement in January saying it still owns the facility. There has since been no official announcement that any deal has been signed.
"There's a flaw here where the public domain says the airport has been bought and is renamed," Tiller said.
"And it's on multiple things, it's on the website, it's on the airport's website itself, and that's a pretty scary thing."
Tiller said it's no fault of the airport or the Dymond Group, but does make it difficult to vote on handing out taxpayers' money.
Mayor Tom Rose stressed that the cash is going to the Stephenville Airport Corporation to keep the facility running.
"That's 100 per cent. The bank accounts and the operation is still with the airport authority, until the terms are met," Rose said in reply to Tiller.
"Very good comment. It's a big file. Big issue. And fingers crossed that it's all going to work out to everybody's best interests."
The vote on the $50,000 grant passed unanimously. Some $30,000 of that total is allocated to operations, with the remaining $20,000 going to a Winnipeg company as part of a long-standing contract to provide airport management and safety management services.
A recent CBC News investigation raised questions about some of the Ottawa-based Dymond Group's past public comments about its business plans.
Last September, president and CEO Carl Dymond announced ambitious proposals to reinvigorate the struggling airport on Newfoundland's west coast.
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