Algonquin Highlands council has grounded plans to spend up to $122,000 on a consultant for a revised development plan for Stanhope Municipal Airport, opting to complete some of the work gradually in-house instead.
The township committed to the six-figure sum during budget deliberations to help advance several projects at the facility, with council also seeking advice on what to do with 10 developable lots, currently vacant but ripe for commercial or industrial use.
An initial plan was completed in 2014, but council put out an RFP to update the document in 2024. After receiving little interest, public works manager, Adam Thorn, pitched the job to Kitchener-based Avia NG Airport Consultants, which was hired last year to assist with tree clearing at the airport.
Jordan McDonald, a project manager with the firm, presented a proposal to council April 16. His seven-step plan included an in-person visit of the airport to assess existing infrastructure; consult with municipal staff and airport users; review the existing document; and put together detailed drawings outlining potential upgrades.
“We work specifically with smaller municipal and regional airports… specializing in operational service, runways, airspace and planning, development and design and terminal works,” McDonald said.
Janine Mitchell, another firm representative, said Avia NG recently partnered with the Town of Midland on a new plan for Huronia Airport.
“Very similar exercise to what you guys are looking for. We reviewed their property, figured out what land could be developed, what could be sold off,” Mitchell said.
Mayor Liz Danielsen felt the township already knew much of that information – asking Thorn if staff could handle tweaking the previous plan without any additional spending. The public works manager said he could, while also advocating for greater involvement from the airport committee.
Thorn said the first thing council has to decide on is what to do with the vacant lots.
“Does the township want to be landlords, or just sell the property?” he asked, suggesting council hire a commercial real estate agent to gauge interest.
Attracting new commerce and industry to the airport lands is key to balancing its books, Thorn said. The facility operates at a loss, though expenses were scaled back in 2026 – anticipated at $57,900 from over $107,000 last year.
“I think we have a lot of opportunities within the airport property, as well as the developable area, to sell lots to help offset costs to develop other lots for businesses,” Thorn said. “If we can sell-off, say, six lots and that covers us developing two lots [to manage ourselves], that would be very beneficial and efficient for us as a municipality and for our taxpayers.”
Several of the airport’s hangars are damaged, meaning they’re closed and not bringing in any revenue, Thorn said. The township has been told it will need to invest around $2.3 million to fix the roofs of five buildings.
Land is still set aside, too, for a longer runway – which could, one day, open the door for larger planes to utilize the airport. Last year, council also approved a spend of up to $100,000 to help bring a new food vendor to the site.
Land is still set aside, too, for a longer runway – which could, one day, open the door for larger planes to utilize the airport. Last year, council also approved a spend of up to $100,000 to help bring a new food vendor to the site.
As of Dec. 31, the township had just under $1.05 million in its airport reserves.
Danielsen liked the idea of breaking the airport plan into “bitesize pieces” and doing the work in-house. The $125,000 set aside for that would be added to the reserve fund.
Deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux worried that completing things step-by-step could prove more costly, but coun. Sabrina Richards felt it was more prudent.
“This is about trying to save costs and move the needle forward at the airport without spending money unless we have a firm return on it… we don’t want to build something unless we have somebody willing to move in and know it will be rented out,” Richards said.
Thorn said he would return to council’s next meeting May 7 with a breakdown of the property and its existing assets.
“I’m looking more basic – it doesn’t need to be an elaborate plan right now. We need to determine what council wants. Once we establish what properties we have and what we want to do, then we can move onto the next step… of developing it or leaving it and selling as-is,” Thorn said.
