Though earlier estimates from town staff suggested the sale of the Collingwood Regional Airport would be finalized in September, the sale is not yet closed.
According to Collingwood’s clerk, Sara Almas, town staff is still working on the sale and anticipate a closing date by the end of the month.
“Staff have been working closely with Winterland Development Inc. to fulfill the conditions of the purchase and sale agreement,” said Almas in an email to CollingwoodToday. “A media release is anticipated to be provided at closing by Winterland in conjunction with the town with details to the sale.”
The town announced the sale of the airport to Winterland on Aug. 2, originally suggesting the sale would be closed by Sept. 25.
Not much information has been provided about the sale except that the conditions of sale state the airport must remain a publicly accessible regional facility for at least 10 years.
There were three bids submitted to the town for the airport, including one from Clearview Township for $3.5 million. Winterland was the winning bid at $4.1 million.
Winterland Developments Ltd. does lease a hangar at the airport. There was also a reference to Winterland Developments in council meeting minutes from Sept. 9, 2013, about a possible sale of 7.5 acres of airport land to Winterland. That sale was never completed, according to Collingwood CAO Fareed Amin and former Communications Director Jennett Mays.
In an interview with CollingwoodToday in August, Amin said he understood the public’s frustration with a lack of information, but said the town had to proceed with caution since the sale also includes a third party.
“[The town] may have the inclination to provide as much information as we can in the public realm, but we also need to respect the interests of the other party,” said Amin in August. “These are commercial transactions, and getting information out there in the public realm, while desirable, might be a challenge because it could compromise the deal.”
