Kelowna airport needs a little advance on its allowance

KELOWNA – Kelowna International Airport is broke and needs a little advance on its allowance.

“During 2018, the Kelowna International Airport has encountered certain circumstances that were unforeseen at the time the airport submitted its 2018 budget,” writes airport finance manager Shayne Dyrdal in a report to Kelowna council.

The airport is asking for an increase of just under $2.2 million, half of it for a new chiller and cooling tower. The airport’s old chiller and tower broke down this year and the airport is making do with a rented unit.

A pair of taxiways, Alpha and Bravo, are in need of $170,000 worth of sooner-than-anticipated repairs to deteriorating concrete in hopes of extending their lifespan by five or six years.

Staff want to install glycol drain guards worth $90,000 to further improve its glycol mitigation plan, which involves the use of two primary capture vehicles. The drain guards help prevent glycol from entering the airport’s storm sewer system. Glycol is used to de-ice aircraft.

A culvert damaged during this year’s freshet needs replacement at $155,000 while extra snow clearing will take up another $540,000.

Some of the $2.2 million will be offset by a claim for the culvert replacement to the provincial disaster assistance fund, Dyrdal writes, while the rest of the request can be met from reserves without an increase in taxation.

Kelowna International Airport is Canada’s eleventh largest airport serving almost two million passengers in 2017.

Kelowna council will consider the request at its regular meeting 1 p.m. Monday, August 27 in Kelowna city hall.

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