Iqaluit councillors want info on new airport scheme before approving construction

Noel Best, lead architect with Arctic Infrastructure Partners for the Iqaluit Airport improvement project, describes the new airport terminal building to city councillors at a planning and development committee of the whole meeting, Nov. 18. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

The City of Iqaluit hopes to clear the way for its approval of the $300-million Iqaluit airport project by year’s end, once the city’s planning and development committee reviews the territorial government’s development permit application for the project.

The committee, which met Nov. 18 to discuss the project, met an unexpected hurdle that threatened to push council’s decision to 2014, when city administrators failed to provide the committee with the development permit application and other details on required land transfers between the government and the city.

“The development permit is really important,” said city councillor Kenny Bell, who chairs the planning and development committee.

“That’s what this council committee is for, is to make a recommendation to [city] council to commit to development projects,” Bell said

Administration’s plan calls for the city council to make a decision on the Iqaluit airport development permit at the next regular city council meeting, Dec. 10, said planning and lands director, Mélodie Simard, without allowing the committee to review details.

“That’s stuff that should have been discussed here,” Bell said. “That’s not what council’s for.”

“There’s some engineering and a bunch of other documents that haven’t come forward, and they wanted us to approve everything on Dec. 10 without seeing that – which is just not happening.”

After a recess, the committee set a meeting for Dec. 18 to review the development permit in detail, and an added special council meeting to immediately follow, in which council would decide on whether to pass the permit.

A public private partnership, or P3 deal between the territorial government and a consortium of private companies known as Arctic Infrastructure Partners, the airport project calls for a big air new terminal, a combined services building, repaving of the airport runway and new lighting.

Construction is slated to begin next year in the spring, with completion by the end of 2017.

In a related deal, the government has requested three parcels of land from the city, amounting to 5,800 square metres along airport boundaries, for road allowances and road connections.

The city will get some land from the government in exchange, mostly in the West 40 area, which is no longer used by the airport.

The city and government have worked out a “memorandum of understanding” on the land swap, which would allow the government to survey the three parcels.

Committee members said they also need more details about the memorandum before city council can agree to it, or any eventual exchange.

“I strongly suggest that we get that package so that we can review it in detail,” Coun. Joanasie Akumalik said at the Nov. 18 meeting.

City administration agreed to send the memorandum to councillors before for the Dec. 18 committee and council meetings.

Councillors and Mayor John Graham also said they hope to work out an agreement with the government to pave Federal Road, which will serve as the main artery to the new airport terminal.

“I’m going to assume that administration is working on that,” said Coun. Mark Morrissey, who noted that council had directed city administration to do so.

“Perhaps we can ask for an update on that at some point.”
Graham agreed, adding he believed that up to “half a million people” would use the road every year, once the new terminal is built.

“We’ve got to be thinking 40, 50 years [ahead] about what we’re going to do with that road out there,” he said. “Because it’s going to hold travellers for many, many years to come.”