Dear Editor,
On Friday October 26, 2018, Cornwall takes a giant leap… toward irrelevance.
Bad enough the city lost its bus terminal years ago, or that VIA Rail is about to chop it from the Windsor-Quebec corridor, but now, a first nail is being driven into the Cornwall Regional Airport coffin.
Friday October 26, is the last day to object to a Rogers Telecommunications cell tower being erected on airport land… yes, only Cornwall and South Glengarry (the airport owners), would condone building a telecom tower that – as Transport Canada phrases it – “present[s] a hazard to the safe operation of aircraft.”
The City of Cornwall knew the tower was planned since at least February 2014, and the Township of Glengarry knew well ahead of March 2018 when it finally was brought to the attention of the Airport Commission, which roundly objected to it.
Yet the Township in July 2018, still agreed to lease airport land to Rogers for their “accident waiting to happen” (even after being advised of the Airport Commission’s objection), and if that wasn’t inappropriate enough, the motion to lease the land was seconded by the Deputy Mayor of South Glengarry, Frank Prevost – the chair of the Cornwall Regional Airport Commission!
The City of Cornwall and the Township of South Glengarry are paying for that airport out of the pockets of their residents. And in spite of the 10’s of thousands of dollars put into airport operations and studies to enhance it, the airport is deteriorating from neglect by the City and the Township to run it as a going concern. It is not even maintained in a manner to attract new tenants or increased pilot training, or in a state that would appeal to a buyer.
What should be a piece of commercial infrastructure fueling the municipal economy is being undermined by its municipal owners– it may not even be sale-worthy now, courtesy of those partners.
Yours,
Alex Bell – Cornwall Ontario