Goderich Council Looking at Future of Airport and Harbour

by Bob Montgomery

Goderich council is looking at the future of both the Goderich Airport and the Harbour.

Mayor Trevor Bazinet says the Airport Task Force has asked council to consider hiring a business manager to come up with a business plan and work towards a strategic plan. He says council has directed staff to come back with a report on things like the cost, who would they be hiring and for how long. Bazinet says some other municipalities in the area have sold their airports which has created a real opportunity for the Goderich Airport and all options are on the table. 

“We would like to see it continue on as an airport but anything they have that's operating at a deficit of about $140,000 a year and they put in $2,000,000 of capital in 2018 and it's still operating at a deficit, they have to take a hard look at it.”

They're also looking at an expansion of the port, but to do that they have to continue to advocate to both the Federal and Provincial governments because the expansion will cost millions of dollars. He says they do have plans in place and the advocating has started and will continue. The port is a good revenue-generator for the town but one thing he has learned recently is that everyone who has a port is looking at expansion, so there's a lot of competition. One advantage Goderich has is that the Goderich Port is the only deep-water port on this side of Lake Huron.

Bazinet says they're also very much aware of the environmental benefit of moving products by water rather than on highways so that's a significant part of the discussion as well.