While examining a report on their municipal budget to this point in 2025, Town of Bashaw council discussed two items which a councillor flagged for concerns. The discussion was held at the Oct. 1 regular meeting of council.

Coun. Kyle McIntosh asked for the budget variance report to be moved from the consent agenda, which is typically automatically approved with little or no discussion, to its own agenda number which meant a proper discussion.

McIntosh brought up two parts of the budget variance report that he said he wanted to discuss. The first was Bashaw’s municipal airport. McIntosh stated he was looking at the airport revenue, essentially the money which the airport generates for the town, and observed that it remains “fairly low” at about $2,000 while the projected expenses at the airport to date are about $7,000.

Readers should note Bashaw council has discussed the airport recently with users and voiced the same concerns; councillors at that meeting voiced similar concerns about expenses versus returns but users argued the airport is useful to pilots and draws people to Bashaw. At that previous council meeting there was an understanding that airport users could examine what they could do to increase revenue at the airport.

During discussion at the current meeting councillors asked Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Theresa Fuller if the town received any response from the airport users. Fuller responded the responses she received from airport users included encouraging the Town of Bashaw to ask Camrose County for help with the facility or placing a banner or advertisement on the town’s website asking for donations to support the airport.

As councillors discussed the airport’s future, it was suggested that the Bashaw airport has room for more hangars to be developed, plus each hangar owner pays an annual fee for it. It was estimated there was room for 30 to 40 more hangars and that there is interest in the flying community for more hangars.

Coun. Cindy Orom suggested letting aviators know there could be an opportunity to build new hangars in Bashaw and see what the response was like.

Councillors also discussed the possibility that the airport grounds actually hold gravel that could be mined for construction. Gravel has substantial value in the construction industry.

Animal control

The second part of the budget variance report Coun. McIntosh wanted to discuss was animal licensing and related fines. McIntosh observed that looking at the budget report there is an estimated $2,000 in projected revenue from animal control while the projected expenses year to date was $4,500.

The CAO noted dogs running at large contribute to that large expense, plus the town also had to deal with a box of abandoned kittens. The CAO pointed out, for example, with the kittens taxpayers have to pay for kennel and surrender fees with most people unaware how expensive all these fees can get.

Bashaw, along with most municipalities, forbids dogs running at large, has a limit on the number of dogs one residence can contain and requires tags for each dog.

McIntosh stated he feels dog owners who allow their canines to run at large should face more financial consequences for that.

The report was accepted by council for information.