Well the initial meeting happened this past week and we now have the Directors in place for the new Pemberton Airport Authority.

This group will be chaired by Mr. David MacKenzie.  David is the General Manager of the Pemberton Valley Lodge, is a Councillor for the Village of Pemberton, and is the Chair of Tourism Pemberton.  Other Directors include Mayor Jordan Sturdy, Councillor Mark Blundell, Area C rep Julie Kelly, 2 reps from the Mt Currie Band, plus 2 reps from Whistler.

One of the first actions taken was to approve a proposal and to hire a consulting firm to come in and assist with the development of a Strategic Plan.

Interestingly enough, this is part of what is described as Phase I work.  It is in Phase II, that the work plan includes an archaelogical dig and study.  Did you know that the Mt Currie Band believes this to be an ancient native burial ground.  If that proves to be true, then as far as the Band goes, that will be a “show stopper”.  Too bad the money is being spent on Phase 1, before this critical step [that is part of Phase 2] gets done.

Another interesting point, generally it seemed, that the feelings of the individuals at the table was that they “did not want large planes landing in Pemberton”.

And a final interesting point, raised by a General Aviation Pilot and a member of the Pemberton Flying Club — was that there are not true “users” of the facility represented on this new Board.  No General Aviation pilots, nor any representation from any of the companies that do business at or through the airport.

An interesting start — and it will be interesting to see how this evolves.

I’ll try to continue to attend the meetings as I am able, and to update this BLOG with news.