JULIE BERTRAND/Independent reporter
Stettler airport board members were jubilant to hear that Alberta Transportation had notified the town of a $688,200 grant for apron repairs.
“The existing base in that area is just at its age of deterioration,” said Melissa Robbins, director of operations for the town of Stettler.
“We’re going to excavate all that material out, put a new base in, new paving and hopefully we can address the drainage.”
Due to restrictions set as part of its conditions, grant money cannot be used to pay for the drainage repairs.
“Surveyors are going to start in the next week or two,” said Robbins in reference to planning work in preparation for actual repairs.
“They will be getting as much information as they can and then we’ll make a plan of attack on the best way to design it.”
The apron is the area of the airport that planes use to come off the runway and go to the tarmac or fuel up.
The town will also make sure that repairs won’t be a headache for the Stettler Car Club, which will use the airport for its annual Shout-Out event on July 23 and 24.
“We’ll try to have the repairs done before the shoot out or we will wait after the event is over to start construction around it,” said Robbins.
“We’ll be working around that event as best as we can.”
Government funding will be provided for the apron upgrade under the community airport component of the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP).
The objective of the program is to support municipalities in developing and maintaining key transportation infrastructure to promote economic growth and improve mobility, through strategic, project specific investment in capital construction and rehabilitation of important local transportation infrastructure, including local and regional roads, municipal bridges, airports and resource roads.