-0.7°C Light Snow 
The owners of a small, Pemberton-based air taxi service say they’re giving up their 30-year lease on a parcel of land next to the Pemberton Airport out of frustration over the slow pace of action on airport development from Mayor Jordan Sturdy and the Village of Pemberton’s council.
Merlin Air, which had planned to build a 24-passenger terminal and hangar facility on the land, is instead in the process of purchasing the former Pemberton Helicopter building and getting it ready to handle both aircraft and passengers, the company announced in a statement issued on Monday (Feb. 1).
“We believed that Village officials understood the benefits to the taxpayers and community that would be realized through millions of dollars of investment and risk capital put into economic development for Pemberton,” Fred Xavier, Merlin Air president, said in the statement.
“While the previous Village CAO, Lori Pilon, did her best to assist us in bringing these plans forward, Mayor Sturdy’s public statements that Pemberton Airport would be a significant ‘engine of economic growth,’ and that the ‘airport was open for business’ appear to be campaign slogans on which the mayor and apparently some other members of council do not plan to take action, preferring instead to study it more.”
Lori Xavier, Merlin Air vice-president, said that given the time and money the company has invested in the development plan, giving up the lease signed in October 2008 was a difficult decision. However, she said, “We consider it the best business decision under the current administration and until we see a more investment-friendly council, one that welcomes new jobs, tourism and economic development.”
Said Mayor Sturdy, “We continue to support quality economic development at the Pemberton Airport and we support anybody who backs up their actions, who commits to things and then follows through.”
Last week, the Xaviers voiced frustration over village officials’ denial of Merlin Air’s request to be allowed to clear snow from the airport runway at Merlin Air’s expense. In response, Mayor Sturdy said when that was done in early 2009, it wasn’t done according to Village of Pemberton and Transport Canada standards.
Lori Xavier said this week that the real issue with the runway clearing was not that it was done incorrectly, but that Merlin Air didn’t ask permission beforehand.
“We hired Mainroad, Mainroad clears YVR (Vancouver Airport). Mainroad’s going to do it wrong? No. What we did was we didn’t ask permission first. We did it right last year, so why turn us down now?” she said.
While Merlin Air is giving up its development plans, the company isn’t giving up on either Pemberton or its airport, Xavier said.
The company plans to continue working to begin air taxi service at the airport as soon as the runway is clear and is hoping to facilitate some helicopter flights during the upcoming Olympic Games, she said.
The Merlin Air statement says the Xaviers have begun discussing future plans with officials at both Squamish and Pitt Meadows airports. But that doesn’t mean they’ve given up on Pemberton, Xavier said, adding that the old Pemberton Helicopter building is a good facility.
“If Pitt Meadows says, ‘Hey, come on over,’ we'll still have that building there, but we don’t see it being as big in Pemberton as it could be here unless the political climate changes.
“We’re going to be out there, we’re going to open up and serve coffee and cookies and let people know that if there’s not something happening there now, there will be. We want to keep letting people out there know that we’re still interested.”
