{"id":8504,"date":"2025-03-26T16:21:37","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T19:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=8504"},"modified":"2025-03-26T16:21:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T19:21:37","slug":"councillors-ground-south-shore-flying-club-rent-relief-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/03\/26\/councillors-ground-south-shore-flying-club-rent-relief-request\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors ground South Shore Flying Club rent relief request"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

The Region of Queens won’t give the South Shore Flying Club a break this year on its lease fee at the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield. (South Shore Flying Club)<\/p><\/div>\n

The South Shore Flying Club\u2019s request for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport had a rough landing at regional council on Tuesday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

Region of Queens councillors voted down a motion from District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins to forgive the flying club its $4,000 lease fee for 2025\/26.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jenkins was the only councillor who supported the motion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe club is more than just a club. They\u2019re stewards of the airport,” he told councillors. “Years in the past, this region used to pay somebody thousands of dollars a year to sit at the airport just in case there was a plane come in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The municipality owns the small airport in Greenfield, but two years ago, it planned to sell it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, the region signed 20-year leases in 2023 with the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association. The racing group pays $9,000 a year to lease the property for its events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the flying club\u2019s lease, it has access to the large hangar, but it also agreed to maintain the property for the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

The club says now that it can no longer afford the annual fee. President Peter Gow wrote the newly elected council last October looking for the rent waiver.<\/span><\/p>\n

He could not be reached Wednesday for an interview.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jenkins said the club\u2019s 34 members spend a lot of their own money maintaining the airport, terminal building, hangars and grounds. Three of the club\u2019s members are also on call to respond to any problems at the airport, or to refuel a plane that\u2019s landed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo we still have a viable airport. … But it\u2019s also an asset that this region should be looking at seriously. And it\u2019s also an asset that we pay very little to maintain. Everything else there is done by the club at their expense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the club\u2019s financial statements, it recorded a loss in 2024 of $2,639.48. As of Dec. 31, it had a bank balance of $15,562.64.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other councillors pointed to the club\u2019s bank balance and its $25 annual membership fee, and said they could do more to raise revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

The club also spent $2,245 on clothing last year, as well as $1,241 on a new highway sign. Councillors said the club likely won\u2019t have those expenses this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she appreciates what the club does for the airport, but they also have a whole year to fundraise to help cover their costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

And with budget talks coming up, she said she doesn\u2019t want to commit to the rent waiver, especially with other groups in the region like the Queens County Food Bank asking for help.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going into this budget process right now completely blind. We don\u2019t know what our bottom line is. … I think it’s probably fair to say there will be some surprises there. We know we have huge infrastructure challenges. When I think about our strategic priorities, food insecurity is one of them, I think that would be an easy one (to assist) the food bank with the rent, but I don’t necessarily feel the same way with this ask at this time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the meeting, Mayor Scott Christian said the club may be able to offset some of its operating costs through its application to the region\u2019s Community Investment Fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

The region usually announces the recipients of those grants later in the spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/flyingclubfolomar2625.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Shore Flying Club\u2019s request for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport had a rough landing at regional council on Tuesday evening. Region of Queens councillors voted down a motion from District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins to forgive the flying club its $4,000 lease fee for 2025\/26. Jenkins was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2963,1215,2593,2979,1668,2980,2982,95,241,1066,24,1574,615,2981,226,1065,1012,2597],"class_list":["post-8504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-airplanes","tag-airport","tag-council-meeting","tag-flying","tag-greenfield","tag-hangar","tag-lease-fee","tag-maddie-charlton","tag-nova-scotia","tag-peter-gow","tag-region-of-queens","tag-regional-council","tag-rent-relief","tag-rent-waiver","tag-scott-christian","tag-south-shore-flying-club","tag-south-shore-regional-airport","tag-stewart-jenkins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8507,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8504\/revisions\/8507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}