Airport Flying High, Street Work Grounded

The city’s Development and Infrastructure Committee met for the first time this term Thursday afternoon hearing updates on numerous projects and initiatives on the table.

The city’s Development & Infrastructure heard the municipal airport is currently one of the fastest growing along with updates on major deep utility and surface work on Third Street north and south.

Committee members councillors Cheyl Phaff, Dan Reynish and chair Yusuf Mohammed heard deep utility and surface upgrades to both Third Street south and north will be postponed for the 2026 construction schedule among a host of other items.

Linnsie Clark also attended as an ex officio member of all city committees as mayor, a standard privilege which was stripped by the last council but returned by the current one.

Pat Bohan, managing director of development and infrastructure, told the committee that issues uncovered regarding sewer and water lines on Third Street north will likely see that project postponed from its anticipated 2026 start.

Additionally, changes have been made to some of the surface upgrades which sparked controversy due to inclusion of a multi-use trail which also included “bulb outs” at intersections.

“We’ve removed almost all of the bulb outs,” stated Bohan regarding the street design feature which shortens the length of the road required for pedestrians to cross.

That topic sparked a larger discussion regarding initiatives linked to the Transportation Master Plan and public engagement. That included hints of a new public participation framework which administration is working on.

“We’ve got lots to learn,” Bohan told the committee. “We want public input before we start and we want to explain why we’re doing things.”

The committee heard that other cities incorporate elected officials into such initiatives

Regarding the Third Street south project, which include a continuation of the utility replacement work of century old infrastructure which began in the city centre and Southeast Hill more than a decade ago, that will be postponed, the committee heard.

That work will require Third Street south up to Division Avenue to be torn up. But to space disruptions for downtown businesses which saw much of those streets under construction through 2025 and into early 2026, that project will be deferred to 2027.

The committee heard more money will be required for the Heron Crossing trail planning which will require $14,000 more for design. A final buildout of the trail – which is currently unbudgeted – is around the $1 million mark.

Pat Bohan (Photo CMH)

The long-delayed new draft land-use bylaw is also anticipated to be revealed in 2026 along with additional discussions on the long deferred off-site levy issue. An off-site levy bylaw was presented but not passed in 2024 to allow for further discussions with developers.

The committee also heard of a nearly 50 per cent increase in usage at the airport driven largely by flight training including Prairie Rose School Division’s pilot academy.

“We’re trending year-to-year growth of 48 per cent over last year,” said Logan Boyd, municipal airport manager. “We’re one of the fastest growing airports in 2025.”

He added long-term growth over the past decade or so has been around 30 per cent or more.

Topics for discussion also included the unsightly property bylaw, better systems for providing councillors with project information.

City looking for a new chief financial officer

The city has officially posted an opening for a new CFO following the resignation of Dennis Egert in January and the sudden departure of his replacement Jillian Campbell over the summer.

The job posting can be found here.

A recording of Thursday’s committee meeting can be exclusively viewed at the Medicine Hat Owl.